Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume IV, Vietnam, 1966

223. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson¹

Washington, August 31, 1966.

Mr. President:

With reference to your note about General Taylorʼs comment² on General Westmorelandʼs message,³ I had a long and good conversation with Bob McNamara.

His view is that what is needed now is not a Washington exercise to review Westmorelandʼs message, but a reorganization of the military and civil resources in South Vietnam to produce concrete working plans, region by region, for pacification.

In turn, this requires clear-cut chains of command and assignments of responsibility on our side and the Vietnamese side.

The working out of this managerial task, he believes, can only be done on the spot. He envisages this as his primary mission when he next goes to Vietnam. This will be, he hopes, after the Erhard visit early in October. He would like Bob Komer to go and suggested that I also go (I am not sure the latter is wise, but would of course be quite willing).

It will be interesting for you to read Lodgeʼs weekly telegram⁴ in the light of Bobʼs comments. The first part wholly concerns pacification. They are drifting towards a recognition that the critical problem is how better to organize our military and other assets to do the job. On the basis of performance in the past, I suspect Bob McNamara is right in his assessment; namely, that much more radical changes in organization will be required if we are to move forward effectively.

I recommend we discuss this matter at the next Tuesday lunch.

W.W. Rostow⁵

Put on Tuesday agenda and have Taylor present⁶

See me

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—Walt W. Rostow, vol. 11. No classification marking. Copies were sent to Moyers and Komer.
2. See Document 221 and footnote 1 thereto.
3. Attachment to Document 220.
4. Attached but not printed is telegram 4923 from Saigon, August 31.
5. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.
6. The President indicated his assent and added by hand the request for Taylorʼs presence, but no record of the discussion at the next Tuesday luncheon, on September 6, has been found. According to a handwritten note at the bottom of the source text, the President also responded: “Letʼs get something to Westy so that he will not assume that we have approved.”