505. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) and the Under Secretary of State (Ball)1
RE
- Southern Rhodesia
B reported things are going well in the meetings with Roll2 and Dean re above. They have until the 15th on the ultimatum—that means they [Page 861] should have an announcement by Monday3 or Tuesday so that the Africans don’t start a stampede which would be hard to reverse. B feels the thing that would have the most effect on the Africans would be oil. We have gone into this in detail; there are only three companies involved. If the British, as sovereign in Rhodesia, took some kind of legal action against the import of oil and we could get our companies to go along with the British; B felt the French would also join, etc.
The immediate question B needs guidance on is: Does Bundy think the President would object to our getting the American companies in on the assumption the British get theirs, asking them to comply. Bundy thought this would be all right but suggested Ball send the President an informational memorandum in the night’s reading, saying this is what we are doing, following the British lead which is designed to tamp down African reaction. We could back it up later, if the President should need it. It would be better coming from Ball to the President than any other way.
- Source: Johnson Library, Ball Papers, S. Rhodesia, 10/2/65–5/10/66. No classification marking. The source text bears the typed initials “vh.”↩
- Sir Eric Roll, Permanent Under Secretary, U.K. Department of Economic Affairs.↩
- December 13.↩