Office of the Historian

168. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between the Under Secretary of State (Ball) and the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)0

Washington, November 9, 1962, 5:30 p.m.

Ball told Bundy he hoped to get over to him by 10 a.m. tomorrow a memorandum1 which is a general kind of planning memo which incorporates some views of the DOD which came out of their meeting this afternoon.2 It sets up various courses of action based on pretty much the same assumption that we if we don’t get the IL-28s out or any security against reentry, but that we take the Russians at their word. It amounts to a consideration of direct military action to achieve it or a continued system of surveillance with the expectation of Cuba drawing fire and then taking some action on that. He is attaching a proposal of Stevenson,3 which Ball does not endorse, but which he wanted the President to see on negotiating with Castro. It will give good plane reading if he wants it.

  1. Source: Department of State, Ball Files: Lot 74 D 272, Telephone Conversations—Cuba. No classification marking.↩
  2. Document 169.↩
  3. No other record of this meeting has been found.↩
  4. See the attachment to Document 167.↩