Office of the Historian

224. Record of Meeting1

Washington, August 14, 1967, 6:50–7:35 p.m.

ATTENDING

  • The President
  • Secretary Rusk
  • Secretary McNamara
  • Secretary Fowler
  • Walt Rostow
  • Francis Bator
  • George Christian
  • Marvin Watson

The President said he thought he would tell the Chancellor that the U.S. has a 30 billion dollar deficit but is ready to go through hell to stay with McCloy’s agreement;2 that if the [Page 564] Germans do go through with an adjustment of their troops the U.S. would have to do it proportionately.

Secretary Rusk said that Kiesinger has four plans. One calls for the reduction of men in uniform and a cut of about 15,000 in civilians. He said that if the Chancellor says he has to make a troop reduction, the President will have to say what he indicated.

Rusk said there were two contingencies: Failure to get satisfactory execution of tri-lateral agreements; and failure to keep a satisfactory number of Germans in uniform.

The Secretary suggested that the President use this approach in talking with the Chancellor: 1. Count our blessings—that in the political and economic sphere, we are in good shape with the Germans; that we are doing a respectable job in foreign aid. 2. They have gotten away from Adenauer’s rigid attitude towards the East. 3. In the broadest sense, the U.S. and Germany have a lot of common policy. 4. He is on the rebound from talks with De Gaulle, so be prepared for that.

The Secretary said it is well for everyone to remember that we are working against a pretty solid background—that the Germans are solid partners in NATO compared with others. He said a thorough explanation of each other’s problems would be a good way to start the discussions.

George Christian
  1. Source: Johnson Library, Meeting Notes File. No classification marking. Drafted by Christian. The meeting was held in the Cabinet Room prior to Kiesinger’s arrival.↩
  2. Reference is to an agreement regarding troop deployment and related financial arrangements announced by the United States, United Kingdom, and Federal Republic of Germany on May 2. For text of the U.S. statement, see Department of State Bulletin, May 22, 1967, pp. 788–789.↩