Kennedy-Khrushchev Exchanges
91. Oral Statement by Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. No classification marking. The source text is a Department of State translation. The Russian-language text is ibid. Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
92. Letter From Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. No classification marking. The Russian-language text is ibid.: Lot 77 D 163. Other copies are ibid., and in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence. Also printed in Documents on Disarmament, 1963, pp. 1-4, and American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1963, pp. 940-942.
93. Message From the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Soviet Ambassador to the United States (Dobrynin)
Source: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of History and Records. Secret. The Department of History and Records made the Russian text available to the Department of State in September 1995; the text was translated by Senior Foreign Service Officer Michael Joyce. There are no copies of the message in Department of State or White House Files. On April 3, 1963, Ambassador Dobrynin handed an English translation of this message to Robert Kennedy, who read it, returned it to Dobrynin, and summarized its contents and his reasons for returning it in an April 3 memorandum to President Kennedy (Document 94). Although the message was directed to Robert Kennedy, it was clearly intended that he pass it along to President Kennedy.
94. Memorandum From Attorney General Kennedy to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. Top Secret. The source text indicates that Rusk saw it. A copy was sent to McGeorge Bundy.
95. Message From President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Another copy is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
96. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence, Lot 66 D 204. Secret; Verbatim Text; Operational Immediate; Eyes Only. Drafted and approved by James E. Goodby of ACDA and cleared by Bundy, Foster (ACDA), and Davis (EUR). Repeated to Geneva and London. This message was delivered to Khrushchev by Kohler on April 24; see vol. VII, pp. 685–686. Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
97. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Secret; Operational Immediate. Drafted and approved by Thompson and cleared in draft by Rusk and at the White House. Repeated to London. Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
98. Message From Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. Secret; Eyes Only. This letter, which bears the notation “informal translation,” was handed to Thompson by Dobrynin on April 29. Four short memoranda of their conversations at that time are in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Dobrynin Talks.
99. Letter From Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Secret. The source text is a Department of State translation. Another English text is in telegram 2839 from Moscow, May 8. (Ibid., Central Files, DEF 18-4) Another copy is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
100. Message From President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. No classification marking. A note on the source text indicates it was handed to Dobrynin by Thompson at 6 p.m. May 13. Another copy is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
101. Letter From Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. Top Secret; Eyes Only. The source text is apparently a Russian translation. Another copy is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
102. Letter From Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. No classification marking. The source text is a Department of State translation of a commercial telegram from Moscow. Another copy is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
103. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Limited Official Use; Priority. Drafted by S/S-S Harrison; cleared by Davis, Henry (SOV), Anderson (EUR), Tully (P), and Bromley Smith; and approved by Harrison and Kriebel (S/S). Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
104. Message From President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. No classification marking. Another copy is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
105. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Top Secret; Operational Immediate; Eyes Only. Drafted and approved by Tyler and cleared by Bundy. Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
106. Letter From Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. No classification marking. The source text is a Department of State translation. The Russian-language text is ibid. Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, President’s Office Files, USSR. An Embassy translation was transmitted in telegram 3104 from Moscow, June 8; see vol. VII, pp. 714–715. According to telegram 3101 from Moscow, June 8, Gromyko handed this letter to Kohler at 4 p.m. that day. (Department of State, Central Files, US-USSR)
107. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Unclassified; Operational Immediate. Drafted by Bundy and approved by Weiner (S/S). Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
108. Message From Chairmen Khrushchev and Brezhnev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Files: Lot 66 D 204. No classification marking. The source text is a Department of State translation of a commercial telegram from Moscow. Another copy of this message and the transliterated Russian text is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
109. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Limited Official Use; Operational Immediate. Drafted by General Clifton at the White House and approved by Nobbe (S/S). Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
110. Message From Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. No classification marking. The source text is a Department of State translation of a telegram from Moscow. The Russian-language text and another copy of this message are in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
111. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Secret; Priority; Eyes Only Ban. Drafted by Bundy and approved by Read (S/S). According to telegram 364 (Document 112), this message was delivered to Khrushchev on July 15. Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence. The full text of telegram 306 is printed in vol. VII, pp. 797–798.
112. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Secret; Ban—Eyes Only; Operational Immediate. A slightly different translation is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
113. Telegram From Secretary of State Rusk to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Confidential; Priority; Eyes Only.
114. Letter From President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. No classification marking.
115. Letter From Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. No classification marking. The source text indicates it is an unofficial translation from Russian. Another copy is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.
116. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. Top Secret. Drafted by Thompson. Another copy is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Dobrynin Talks.
117. Oral Statement From President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. Secret. The source text is attached to a memorandum of conversation by Llewellyn Thompson that indicates that Thompson made the oral statement to Dobrynin on September 13.
118. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Limited Official Use; Priority. The Russian-language text is ibid., Central Files, DEF 18-4. Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence. A slightly different version is printed in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1963, pp. 1034-1035.
119. Letter From Chairman Khrushchev to President Johnson
Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Confidential. The source text is marked “unofficial translation.” President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22.
120. Letter From Jacqueline Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev
Source: William Manchester, The Death of a President, November 20-November 25, 1963 (New York, 1963), pp. 653-654. No classification marking. The original letter has not been located. The authenticity of the text printed here has been verified by comparing it to the Russian translation in the Department of History and Records of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mrs.Kennedy wrote the following note on a folder in which she presumably put the letter but which is now empty: “Important: Mrs. Lincoln/This is my letter to Khrushchev to be delivered to him by Ambassador Thompson.” (Kennedy Library, President’s Office Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence) According to Manchester, the handwritten letter was forwarded to Khrushchev by McGeorge Bundy after clearance at the Department of State by U. Alexis Johnson. Two undated typed drafts of the letter are at the Johnson Library. On one draft Bundy crossed out several words and added several other words in his hand. These revisions were incorporated in the second typed draft. (Bundy Files, Chron) In the final version, one phrase in the second typed draft was reworded and one sentence added.