June-July 1961: The Summit Conference at Vienna June 3-4; NSAM No. 58; the Western Reply to the June 4 Soviet Aide-Memoire
32. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 66 D 110, CF 1901. Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by Akalovsky and approved by the White House on June 23. The meeting was held at the Soviet Embassy. A summary of the conversation was transmitted in Secto 25 from Paris, June 5. (Department of State, Central Files, 751J.00/6-651) For two other accounts of this conversation, apparently based on this memorandum of conversation, see Sorensen, Kennedy, pp. 504-505, and Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, pp. 370-373. The texts of all the memoranda of conversation between Kennedy and Khrushchev at Vienna are printed in Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, volume V.
33. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 66 D 110, CF 1901. Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by Akalovsky and approved by the White House on June 23. The meeting was held at the Soviet Embassy. Brief summaries of this memorandum of conversation with quotations based on the last three paragraphs are in Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, p. 374, and Sorensen, Kennedy, pp. 585-586.
34. Record of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 66 D 110, CF 1901. Top Secret. The source text bears no drafting information. The meeting was held at Admiralty House. In a private meeting from 10:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. the President had briefed Prime Minister Macmillan on his meetings with de Gaulle and Khrushchev. (Note of the Points Made During the Private Discussion, June 8; ibid.) For Macmillan’s account of the briefing and the President’s visit to London, see Pointing the Way, pp. 355-359.
36. Telegram From the Embassy in Germany to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 661.62B/6-861. Secret; Limit Distribution.
37. Memorandum From Henry Owen of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)
Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Staff Memoranda, Henry Owen. Secret.
38. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Kennedy
Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Germany, Berlin, Aide-mémoire. Secret.
40. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/6-1461. Secret. Drafted by Moffett, initialed by Kohler, and approved in S on June 26.
41. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/6-1561. Confidential. Drafted and initialed by Vigderman and approved in U on June 22.
42. Record of Meeting of the Interdepartmental Coordinating Group on Berlin Contingency Planning
Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Germany, Berlin, BQD-CCI. Top Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Cash. Attached to the source text was a distribution cover sheet.
43. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Germany
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/6-1761. Secret. Drafted by Hillenbrand and approved by Kohler. Also sent to Paris and London and repeated to Moscow, Berlin, and USUN.
44.Memorandum From the Chief of Naval Operations (Burke) to Secretary of State Rusk
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/6-1961. Secret.
45. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/6-2461. Secret. Drafted and initialed by Tyler and approved in S on June 29.
46. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.0221/6-2461. Secret. Drafted and initialed by Hillenbrand, also initialed by Kohler, and approved in S on July 3.
48. Telegram From the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (Norstad) to the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/6-2761. Secret; Priority. Repeated eyes only to the Department of State, which copy is the source text.
49. Report by Dean Acheson
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/7-561. Secret. Attached to a July 5 memorandum from Bundy to Rusk, which states that access to the report should be limited and permitted only in Rusk’s office, and to a June 28 memorandum of transmittal from Rusk to the President, which states that this was a preliminary version of the report. A table of contents, also attached, is not printed.
51. Circular Telegram From the Department of State to Certain Diplomatic Missions
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/6-2861. Confidential; Priority. Drafted by Lehmann on June 27; cleared by Kohler, Hillenbrand, Tubby, and Fessenden; and approved by Rusk. Sent to 17 missions in Europe and Canada.
52. Memorandum for the Record
Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda, NSC Meetings. Top Secret. The source text bears no drafting information.
53. National Security Action Memorandum No. 58
Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, NSAMs. Secret.
54. Memorandum of Telephone Conversations Between Secretary of State Rusk and the President’s Special Counsel (Sorensen)
Source: Department of State, Rusk Files: Lot 72 D 192, Telephone Conversations. No classification marking. Secretary Rusk was in Washington.
55. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/7-561. Secret. Drafted by Mautner (S/O).
56. Paper Prepared by Thomas C. Schelling
Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Germany, Berlin, General. No classification marking. The source text bears Bundy’s notation: “Sent to H[yannis] P[ort] Weekend of 7/21.” Bundy noted that the study had made a “deep impression” on the President.
57. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Schlesinger) to President Kennedy
Source: Kennedy Library, President’s Office Files, Germany. Secret. Printed in part in Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, pp. 387-388. According to Schlesinger, on July 6 he, Chayes, and Kissinger had discussed their misgivings about Acheson’s report (Document 49), and Schlesinger prepared a memorandum for the President expressing their thoughts. He gave the memorandum to Kennedy at lunch on July 7. Kennedy in turn asked Schlesinger to prepare an unsigned memorandum on the Berlin problem. (A Thousand Days, pp. 386-387) The memorandum is printed here in full.
Under Secretary of State Bowles sent Rusk a similar memorandum on July 7, expressing his concern about the trend of U.S. thinking on Berlin. Bowles stressed that Acheson’s report robbed the United States of control over the course of action, was an all-or-nothing policy, and appeared to be largely devoid of political objectives. While Bowles favored low-key military preparations, he also believed more emphasis should be placed on negotiations, including the preparation of a draft peace treaty. Finally the Under Secretary suggested that a study based on his ideas, “in confrontation with Dean Acheson’s proposal would focus the major policy issues for decision by the President.” (Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/7-761)
58. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to Secretary of State Rusk, Secretary of Defense McNamara, and Secretary of the Treasury Dillon
Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Germany, Berlin. Secret. The source text bears no drafting information but a marginal notation reads: “Sent to H[yannis] P[ort] week end of 7/8/61.”
59. Telegram From the Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Regional Organizations to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/7-861. Secret; Priority. Repeated to Bonn, London, and Moscow.
60. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Regional Organizations
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/7-961. Secret. Drafted by Rusk and cleared by Hillenbrand.
61. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Turkey
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/7-961. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Rusk and cleared by Hillenbrand. Also sent to 10 other NATO countries and repeated to Paris, London, and Moscow.