Office of the Historian

11. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Kennedy0

Washington, January 24, 1961.

You asked that I put in writing my recollection of the subjects discussed at the meeting with President Eisenhower at the White House on Thursday, January 19. My notes taken at the meeting are not complete, but they indicate that the following statements were made:

A. With respect to Laos:

1.
President Eisenhower advised against unilateral action by the United States in connection with Laos.
2.
The President stated that the British and French were reluctant to fulfill their obligations under the SEATO Treaty.
3.
Secretary Herter1 stated that if the Phoumi government requested aid from SEATO, he, Herter, believed we would be bound by our obligations under the SEATO Treaty to supply such aid. In this event, he stated he believed the British would probably fulfill their treaty obligations, but that the French would not.
4.
Herter added that if a political settlement in Laos is not possible, we must support the Royal Laotian Government’s request for SEATO intervention.
5.
President-elect Kennedy inquired of President Eisenhower whether, in the event of intervention in the Laotian conflict by either the United States or SEATO, the Sino-Soviet bloc could be expected to counter with forces in excess of those provided by either the SEATO nations or the United States. President Eisenhower’s answer was not completely clear, but he implied that the Sino-Soviet bloc could support the Pathet Lao with resources of men and materiel substantially larger than those which the SEATO nations could be expected to provide for the support of the Royal Laotian Government.
6.
Secretary Herter stated that the introduction of communist members into the Laotian Government would undoubtedly lead to subversion of the government, and the ultimate replacement of a coalition government with a communist government. President Eisenhower replied he was not certain that this would be the result; he believed it might be possible to maintain indefinitely a coalition government including representatives of the communists.
7.
President Eisenhower stated without qualification, “If Laos is lost to the Free World, in the long run we will lose all of Southeast Asia.”
8.
President-elect Kennedy asked, “What action can be taken to keep the Chinese Communists out of Laos?” There was no answer to this question from President Eisenhower.

[Here follows discussion of unrelated matters.]

Robert S. McNamara2
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD Files: FRC 65 A 3464, 381. Top Secret.↩
  2. For Herter’s account of this meeting, see Document 9.↩
  3. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩