Office of the Historian

371. Memorandum for the Record0

Washington, September 9, 1963, 11:30 a.m.

MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT ON UNDER SECRETARY BALL’S DEBRIEFING ON HIS LISBON MEETINGS WITH SALAZAR

PRESENT

  • Secretary of State, Under Secretary Ball, Under Secretary Harriman, Deputy Under Secretary Johnson, Assistant Secretary Williams, Department of State; Secretary McNamara, Mr. Paul Nitze, Admiral George Anderson, Department of Defense; Messrs. McGeorge Bundy and William Brubeck, The White House

Mr. Ball reported on his Lisbon conversations on Portuguese Africa,1 concluding by saying he saw little hope for a satisfactory negotiation [Page 579] with the Africans based on the position Salazar had stated in Lisbon.

The President asked if he thought we could expect any new initiatives from the Portuguese in the near future on the Portuguese Africa territories. Mr. Ball said there was nothing significantly new apparent in his Lisbon talks but something might come from further discussions scheduled with Nogueira here and between U Thant’s representative and the Portuguese in Lisbon.

The President raised the question of the Azores bases and Secretary Rusk suggested the Portuguese want the continuation of the base as leverage on us on African problems. The President agreed but observed that the problem was how far we can go at the UN and still hold the Azores.

The President then asked about the status of our arms embargo on the South Africans and requested that State and Defense review their differences with regard to sale of submarines to South Africa and present him with recommendations not later than next Monday.2

William H. Brubeck3
  1. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Portugal, General. Secret. Drafted by Brubeck.↩
  2. As President Kennedy’s Personal Representative, Under Secretary Ball visited Lisbon, where he met with Prime Minister Antonio de Oliveira Salazar and Foreign Minister Franco Nogueira August 29-30 and September 6-7. Documentation on Ball’s mission is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 66 D 110, CF 2301; ibid., Central Files, POL 7 US/BALL, POL 19 PORT, POL AFR-US, and POL AFR-PORT; and Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Portugal Subjects, Ball Mission. Ball’s own account of his mission to Portugal is in The Past Has Another Pattern: Memoirs (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1982), pp. 276-279.↩
  3. September 16.↩
  4. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩