Office of the Historian

17. Memorandum of Conference With President Johnson1

Washington, March 4, 1964, 6:10 p.m.

OTHERS PRESENT

  • General Taylor
  • General Wheeler
  • General McKee (for General LeMay)
  • Admiral McDonald
  • General Greene
  • General Clifton

General Taylor introduced the subjects to be discussed in the order in which they appear on the attached agenda from General Taylor (Tab A).2

On the Furtherance document,3 General Taylor gave the President a summary memorandum. This memorandum reflects the Chiefs’ recommendations and was approved by the President (Tab B).4 (Note: a blue-covered document entitled “Furtherance” and classified Top Secret was given to the President and later taken to Mr. Bundy’s office to be filed there.) The Furtherance document consists of currently approved instructions for the expenditure of nuclear weapons in emergency conditions as brought up to date and containing minor changes.

In the situation described in the document, the Chiefs described that [10–1/2 lines of source text not declassified].

General Taylor said there is a Furtherance document here at the White House and that he would like to have it back and the new one, which he gave to me, substituted for it. The President directed that this be where it can be available to all who should know about it.

(Mr. Bundy, the Military Aide, Bromley Smith, and whoever else Mr. Bundy directs should know about this.) The decision on it should be held very closely.

General Taylor also pointed out that they have modified the emergency action book called the “Gold Book” and that they would give this [Page 49] new Gold Book to us.5 They would like the superseded one returned to the Joint Chiefs.

[Here follows discussion of unrelated topics.]

C.V. Clifton
Major General, USA Military Aide to the President
  1. Source: Johnson Library, Clifton Papers, Joint Chiefs of Staff Meetings with the President, Vol. I, Box 2. Top Secret. Another record of this meeting prepared by Taylor is in the National Archives and Records Administration, RG 200, Defense Programs and Operations, Presidential Meetings, Box 142.↩
  2. Not attached, but reference may be to a memorandum from General Taylor to President Johnson (CM–1229–64), February 28, containing a list of topics the Joint Chiefs of Staff wanted to discuss with the President. (Johnson Library, Clifton Papers, Joint Chiefs of Staff Meetings with the President, Vol. I, Box 2)↩
  3. Not found.↩
  4. The “summary memorandum” is not attached, but may be Document 16.↩
  5. Not found.↩