Office of the Historian

13. Memorandum From the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (Bell) to President Johnson1

Washington, October 7, 1964.

SUBJECT

  • Legislative Results—Foreign Aid

Our initial assessment is that the legislative results of the session just ended are the most favorable in many years:2

  • —foreign aid funds were cut below your request by only 8 per cent, the lowest percentage cut since foreign aid began;
  • —nothing at all was cut from military assistance at either the author-izing or the appropriation stage;
  • —an ample record was made which would support a supplemental request for funds if one should later be found necessary;
  • —no significant new restrictions were written into the foreign aid bill; and
  • —we achieved all the legislative improvement we asked for, with the single (but important) exception of the special personnel authorities we requested.

These good results came about in our judgment primarily because of the following factors:

  • —the President’s strong personal support at every stage, manifested both publicly and directly to Members of Congress;
  • —the soundness of the strategy of asking for a minimum budget figure;
  • —Mr. Mahon’s strong leadership at the appropriations stage in the House;3
  • —some demonstrable progress in tightening up the program, reducing AID staff, phasing out countries where aid is no longer necessary, etc.

One might conclude that the logical approach to next year’s legislation would be to follow the lines that were so successful this year. However, the heavy demands on the time of the President, and the extensive legislative controversy, which are required by the present pattern lead to the question whether we should not ask for a multi-year instead of an annual authorization. Furthermore, Senator Fulbright has said to Secretary Rusk that he wants us to consider again the fragmented legislative package he proposed last winter.

We will examine these and other alternatives and have recommendations ready after the election.

David E. Bell 4
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 286, AID Administrator Files: FRC 68 A 2148, ADM 7–4 (White House) July–November, FY 1965. No classification marking. A covering note by Frederick F. Simmons, Executive Secretary of AID, reads: “Please distribute only to Gaud, Assistant Administrators, and Tom Farmer.” Copies were sent to Rusk, McNamara, McGeorge Bundy, Director of the Bureau of the Budget Kermit Gordon, Under Secretary George W. Ball, Thomas C. Mann, Lawrence O’Brien, and Ralph Dungan.↩
  2. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1964, P.L. 88–633 (78 Stat. 1009), was approved on October 7, 1964. The President had many telephone discussions during the legislative debate running up to October 7 in which he defended his $3.5 billion request as both reasonable and essential. Good representative examples are his conversations with George Mahon on June 15 and AID Administrator Bell on June 17. On June 17 President Johnson also discussed his foreign assistance request with New York Times reporter James Reston. The President regretted Republican opposition to his foreign assistance request and told Reston the $3.5 billion he requested was less than the $4.9 billion President Kennedy had requested the year before and was below the level requested in any year of the Eisenhower administration. (Johnson Library, Recordings and Transcripts, Recording of a Telephone Conversation, Tape 6406.06, PNO 22)↩
  3. Representative George H. Mahon (D.-Texas) became Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on May 12, 1964.↩
  4. Printed from a copy that indicates Bell signed the original.↩