2. Editorial Note
On March 30, 1964, John C. Bullitt, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, distributed to the members of the Executive Committee of the Cabinet Committee on the Balance of Payments for their comment and review an early draft report to the President from the Cabinet Committee on the Balance of Payments. (Johnson Library, National Security File, Balance of Payments, Volume I, November 27, 1963 thru October 31, 1964, Box 1, Confidential) The March 30 memorandum was sent to Assistant Secretary of State Johnson, Assistant Secretary of Defense Hitch, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Holton, Deputy Special Representative for Trade Negotiations Roth, Assistant Budget Director Schultze, Dr. Chenery at AID, and Ackley at the Council of Economic Advisers.
[Page 3]On April 13, Bullitt sent the Executive Committee a revised draft report to the President on the balance of payments incorporating “most of the comments which were received on the March 30 draft.” The transmittal memorandum indicated the Executive Committee would meet on April 21 “for the purpose of agreeing on a final text for submission to the President.” (US/3/106; Washington National Records Center, RG 56, OASIA Files: FRC 75 A 101, Cabinet Committee on the Balance of Payments) The April 13 draft amended very little the March 30 draft.
On April 24, Bullitt sent the Secretaries of the Treasury, Defense, and Commerce, the Under Secretary of State, the AIDM Administrator, the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and McGeorge Bundy at the White House, all of whom were the members of the Cabinet Committee on the Balance of Payments, the proposed memorandum to the President from the Cabinet Committee, which had been revised following discussion of an earlier draft by the Executive Committee, for their consideration at the Cabinet Committee meeting on April 28. (US/3/113; ibid.) The draft version of the report to the President distributed on April 24 and classified Secret, included a significant restructuring of the last half of the April 13 draft and was quite close to what finally went to the President on May 1.
Under cover of a May 1 memorandum to the Cabinet Committee, Secretary Dillon sent its members copies of “the Report to the President from the Cabinet Committee on Balance of Payments as delivered to the President today. The attached report has been revised in accordance with the discussion at the April 28 meeting of the Cabinet Committee.” Dillon continued: “The language classified ‘Secret’ on page 4 of the Summary and Recommendations, paragraph numbered 9, third sentence, has been deleted from all copies of the Report except those delivered to the President and to each member of the Committee.” (Ibid.) For the May 1 report, see Document 5. A separate, May 1 memorandum from Dillon also went to members of the Committee with the less sensitive version of the report. (US/3/13; Washington National Records Center, RG 56, OASIA Files: FRC 75 A 101, Cabinet Committee on the Balance of Payments)