Office of the Historian

336. Memorandum From the President’s Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bator) to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Smith)1

Washington, April 19, 1967.

Brom:

The President has ordered me to set up a small and secret command group operating from the White House to manage last minute Kennedy Round strategy. The group will consist of Eugene Rostow, John Schnittker, Alexander Trowbridge and myself.

By instruction of the President, all communications on this subject will be distributed on a strictly need-to-know basis. State has set up a separate communications link to be used by the group. The slug will be “Limdis-Potatoes”. Distribution within the State Department (made by the Secretariat) will be limited to the Secretary, the Under Secretary and Gene Rostow. Five copies will be sent to the White House Situation Room. One of these is for Walt, for personal information; the other four should be sent to me. I will manage further distribution from here.

Many thanks.

Francis M. Bator 2
  1. Source: Johnson Library, Bator Papers, Kennedy Round, March–April 1967, Box 12. Secret; Sensitive.↩
  2. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩