Sources

The Foreign Relations statute requires that the published record in the Foreign Relations series include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation on major foreign policy decisions and actions of the U.S. Government. It further requires that government agencies, departments, and other entities of the U.S. Government cooperate with the Department of State Historian by providing full and complete access to records pertinent to foreign policy decisions and actions and by providing copies of selected records. The editors believe that in terms of access this volume was prepared in accordance with the standards and mandates of this statute, although access to some records was restricted, as noted below.

The editors have complete access to all the records and papers of the Department of State they deem necessary: the central files of the Department; the special decentralized files (“lot files”) of the Department at the bureau, office, and division levels; the files of the Department’s Executive Secretariat, which contain the records of international conferences and high-level official visits, correspondence with foreign leaders by the President and Secretary of State, and memoranda of conversations between the President and Secretary of State and foreign officials; certain intelligence-related files maintained in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research; and the files of overseas diplomatic posts.

The editors of the Foreign Relations series also have full access to the papers of President Johnson and other White House foreign policy records. Presidential papers and the collections of principal officials of the Johnson administration maintained and preserved at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library include much of the most significant foreign affairs-related documentation from other federal agencies including the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. All of this documentation has been made available for use in the Foreign Relations series thanks to the consent of these agencies, the support of the National Archives and Records Administration, and the special close cooperation of the staff of the Johnson Library.

Department of State historians also have access to records of the Department of Defense, particularly the records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretaries of Defense and their major assistants.

Thanks to the cooperation of Johnson Library Director Harry J. Middleton and the Library staff, Department of State historians were given access to the collection of audiotapes of more than 7,000 telephone conversations of President Johnson. The collection is far too large for the Department historians to review in detail and also maintain the accelerated [Page XVI] schedule for the preparation of Foreign Relations volumes for the Johnson Presidency. Working with the Library staff, Department historians developed a plan for the selective review of those conversations that occurred during major foreign policy crises and negotiations. The first audiotapes became available to the editors in late 1994, after this volume had been compiled. The editors decided not to delay publication of this volume since very few telephone conversations concerned Eastern Europe, but if relevant records are found among the conversations, they may be included in a later Foreign Relations volume. The Johnson Library also gave Department historians access to its collection of audiotapes of President Johnson’s meetings in the Cabinet Room during 1968. Records of three important meetings concerning Czechoslovakia during 1968 have been included in this volume.

Department of State historians’ access to intelligence records still in the custody of the Central Intelligence Agency is arranged by the History Staff of the Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency. Department of State and CIA historians coordinate the procedural and scholarly aspects of the access. The variety of intelligence documentation made available and selected for publication in Foreign Relations volumes has steadily expanded since 1991. This volume, which was compiled in 1992 and 1993, includes four documents from the CIA records and one CIA document from other repositories.

The following are the particular files and collections consulted and cited in this volume.

Unpublished Sources

• Department of State
  • Subject-Numeric Indexed Central Files. In February 1963, the Department changed its decimal central file system. The new system was divided into broad categories: Administration, Consular, Culture and Information, Economic, Political and Defense, Science, and Social. Within each of these divisions were subcategories. For example, Political and Defense contained four subtopics: POL (politics), DEF (defense), CSM (Communism), and INT (intelligence). Numerical subdivisions further defined them.
    • The following were the most important files used in this volume. Other files are indicated in the annotation to the documents.
      • AV 12–1 CZECH, aviation issues
      • AV 9 CZECH–US, aviation issues
      • DEF 12–5 FIN–SWE, defense arrangements between Finland and Sweden
      • FIN 19 CZECH, financial affairs of Czechoslovakia
      • POL 7 USSR, visits of Soviet leaders
      • POL 27–1 COMBLOC–CZECH, political relations between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union
      • POL AUS–US, political relations with Austria
      • POL AUS–USSR, political relations between Austria and the Soviet Union
      • POL BUL–US, political relations with Bulgaria
      • POL CZECH, internal politics of Czechoslovakia
      • POL CZECH–US, political relations with Czechoslovakia
      • POL CZECH–USSR, political relations between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union
      • POL EUR E, political relations with Eastern Europe
      • POL EUR E–US, political relations with Eastern Europe
      • POL FIN–US, political relations with Finland
      • POL HUNG–US, political relations with Hungary
      • POL POL, internal political Affairs of Poland
      • POL POL–US, political relations with Poland
      • POL RUM–US, political relations with Romania
      • POL YUGO–US, political relations with Yugoslavia
  • Lot Files. Documents from the central files have been supplemented by materials from the Lot Files of the Department of State. A list of the Lot Files used in the preparation of the volume follows.
    • Bohlen Files: Lot 74 D 379
      • Files of Ambassador Charles E. Bohlen, 1942–1970.
    • Conference Files: Lot 66 D 110
      • Collection of documentation on international conferences abroad attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials, May 1961–December 1964.
    • Conference Files: Lot 66 D 347
      • Collection of documentation on international conferences abroad attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials for 1965.
    • Conference Files: Lot 67 D 568
      • Collection of documentation on international conferences abroad attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials, September 1966–April 1967.
    • Conference Files: Lot 68 D 453
      • Collection of documentation on international conferences abroad attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials, May 1967–January 1968.
    • Conference Files: Lot 69 D 182
      • Collection of documentation on international conferences abroad attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials for 1968.
    • INR Files
      • Files retained by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
    • Policy Planning Council Files: Lot 71 D 273
      • Papers prepared in the Policy Planning Council of the Department of State, 1964–1968.
    • Polish Desk Files: Lot 71 D 158
      • Records maintained by the Officer in Charge of Polish Affairs of the Bureau of European Affairs, 1966.
    • Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204
      • Exchanges of correspondence between the President and heads of foreign governments, 1953–1964.
    • Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 294
      • Exchanges of correspondence between the President and heads of foreign governments, 1964–1965.
    • Presidential Correspondence: Lot 67 D 272
      • Exchanges of correspondence between the President and heads of foreign governments, 1966.
    • President’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 70 D 217
      • Collection of the President’s memoranda of conversation with foreign visitors, 1965–1968.
    • Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 65 D 330
      • Memoranda of conversation of the Secretary and Under Secretary of State, 1961–1964.
    • SIG Files: Lot 74 D 164
      • Records of the Senior Interdepartmental Group.
    • S/S Files: Lot 70 D 216
      • Miscellaneous S/S Files, 1964–1966.
    • S/S-I Files: Lot 74 D 164
      • Secretary of State’s memoranda for the President’s evening reading and for luncheon meetings, 1964–1971.
    • S/S-NSC Files: Lot 70 D 265
      • Master set of papers pertaining to the National Security Council meetings, including policy papers, position papers, and administrative documents, 1961–1966.
    • S/S-NSC Files: Lot 72 D 316
      • Master file of National Security Action Memoranda (NSAMs), 1961–1968.
    • S/S-NSC Files: Lot 72 D 318
      • Cabinet and National Security Council records, 1966–1968.
• Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Texas
  • Papers of Lyndon B. Johnson, National Security File
    • Agency File
    • Country File
    • Files of McGeorge Bundy
    • Files of Robert Komer
    • Files of Walt W. Rostow
    • Memos to the President
    • National Security Council Histories
    • NSC Meetings File
  • Papers of Lyndon B. Johnson, Special Files
    • Meeting Notes File
    • President’s Office File
  • Papers of Francis M. Bator
  • Rusk Appointment Book
  • Tom Johnson’s Notes on Meetings

[Page XIX]

Published Sources

Only those publications cited in the volume are listed here.

• Beam, Jacob D. Multiple Exposure. New York: Norton, 1978.
• Remington, Robin Alison, ed. Winter in Prague, Documents on Czechoslovak Communism in Crisis. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1969.
• U.S. Department of State. American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• ———. Department of State Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968–69. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.