69. Editorial Note
The first plenary session of the Honolulu Conference convened at 10 a.m. on Monday, February 7, 1966. The U.S. delegation included President Johnson, Secretary of State Rusk, Secretary of Defense McNamara, Secretary of Agriculture Freeman, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Gardner, AID Administrator Bell, Ambassadors Harriman and Lodge, and Generals Wheeler and Westmoreland. The South Vietnamese delegation included Chairman Nguyen Van Thieu, Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Huu Co, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tran Van Do, Minister of Economy Truong Thai Ton, and Minister of Rural Construction General Nguyen Duc Thang.
During the first plenary session, members of both delegations made presentations on the situation in Vietnam, placing particular emphasis on the importance of pacification and other non-military programs. Prime Minister Ky enunciated four goals: defeat the Viet Cong, eradicate social injustice, establish a viable economy, and build true democracy. After lunch four working groups convened to discuss rural construction, economic stabilization, health and education, and the diplomatic track. That evening the President held private talks with Thieu and Ky, which are described in Document 75.
At the second and final plenary session on February 8, the working groups presented their reports, and the President summed up the work of the conference and outlined follow-up measures. The conferenceʼs “Conclusions and Decisions for Further Action” are described in Document 83. For text of the Joint Communique and the Declaration of Honolulu, released in Honolulu on February 8, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966, Book I, pages 152–155.
Plenary session records, working group reports, public statements, and other documentation of the conference are in the Department of State, S/S-International Conferences: Lot 67 D 305, Honolulu Meeting. Comprehensive documentation on the conference, including background and follow-up material, is also located in the Johnson Library, National Security File, NSC History of the Honolulu Conference; and ibid., International Meetings and Travel File, Honolulu Meeting Papers and Presidentʼs Honolulu Conference. Audiotape recordings of the plenary session on February 7 are ibid., Recordings and Transcripts. For President Johnsonʼs impressions of the conference, see Document 71. Although the conference emphasized non-military issues, military discussions also took place during the U.S. delegationʼs stay in Honolulu; see Document 70 and footnote 2 thereto.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles from Honolulu on February 8, President Johnson announced that Vice President Humphrey would fly to [Page 216] South Vietnam the next day, accompanied by Secretary Freeman, Ambassador Harriman, and McGeorge Bundy, to carry forward the mission agreed upon at the conference. The Vice President was then to visit other Asian capitals to report on the conference. For text of the Presidentʼs remarks in Los Angeles, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966, Book I, pages 155–157. Regarding the Vice Presidentʼs Asian trip, see Document 84 and footnotes 3 and 6 thereto. Reaction in Vietnam to the conference and to Humphreyʼs visit are described in Document 74. After discussing non-military organization with U.S. officials in Saigon, McGeorge Bundy presented his observations and recommendations to the President on February 16; see Document 77.