Office of the Historian

598. Memorandum for the Record1

Washington, November 30, 1964.

SUBJECT

  • Lockheed Aircraft

In accordance with the President’s decision, I have informed Mr. Vernon Johnson of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation that the United States Government is not able at this time to give its approval for the sale of P–3 aircraft to South Africa. I made it clear to Mr. Johnson that this decision implied no judgment on either side of any possible future consideration of this question, and I gave him no time limit on the present judgment. I did, however, make it clear that I had no reason to suppose that there would be a different judgment in the next few weeks or months.

McG.B.
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Africa, Union of South, Vol. I, Memos and Miscellaneous, 11/63–10/64. Secret. Prepared by McGeorge Bundy. Copies were sent to Rusk and McNamara.↩