133. Editorial Note
Acting Secretary of State Ball called the President at 8:20 p.m. on February 3, 1965, to tell him that the Senate had voted 44 to 38 to give the President the discretion Rusk had requested for P.L. 480 sales to the United Arab Republic. (See Document 127.) According to notes of the conversation prepared in Ball’s office, after some discussion of the vote in the Senate, the President told Ball “not to let Talbot go and make any deal.” He stressed that Talbot should not make any agreement, declaring, “This is a very explosive thing. We can never get anything in the Congress again unless we are careful. That foreign aid of forty to fifty million every year that runs to half a billion total, the King should think twice about.” He told Ball to be sure to tell Talbot to hold the line. (Johnson Library, Ball Papers, Jordan)
At 5:05 p.m. on February 4, Ball talked on the telephone to Myer Feldman, who said he had discussed Jordanian arms with the President the day before and was left with the impression the President’s instructions at the NSC meeting had been modified so that Talbot was not [Page 298] authorized to make any agreement. Ball told Feldman that Talbot had authorization to make an offer on ground material including some tanks. Feldman said his understanding was that the President was concerned about even that and asked that when Ball saw the President he should tell him Feldman was writing a memorandum suggesting that Talbot should simply explore the situation and report back. Ball replied that he would tell the President about Feldman’s feelings and that a meeting in the morning might be in order. (Ibid.)