Preface

The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity of the United States Government. The Historian of the Department of State is charged with the responsibility for the preparation of the Foreign Relations series. The staff of the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, under the direction of the General Editor of the Foreign Relations series, plans, researches, compiles, and edits the volumes. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg first promulgated official regulations codifying specific standards for the selection and editing of documents for the series on March 26, 1925. These regulations, with minor modifications, guided the series through 1991.

Public Law 102–138, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 established a new statutory charter for the preparation of the series, which was signed by President George Bush on October 28, 1991. Section 198 of P.L. 102–138 added a new Title IV to the Department of State’s Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 USC 4351, et seq.). The statute requires that the Foreign Relations series be a thorough, accurate, and reliable record of major United States foreign policy decisions and significant United States diplomatic activity. The volumes of the series should include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation of major foreign policy decisions and actions of the United States Government. The statute also confirms the editing principles established by Secretary Kellogg: the Foreign Relations series is guided by the principles of historical objectivity and accuracy; records should not be altered or deletions made without indicating in the published text that a deletion has been made; the published record should omit no facts that were of major importance in reaching a decision; and nothing should be omitted for the purposes of concealing a defect in policy. The statute also requires that the Foreign Relations series be published not more than 30 years after the events recorded.

Structure and Scope of the Foreign Relations Series

This volume is part of a subseries of volumes of the Foreign Relations series that documents the most important issues in the foreign policy of the 5 years (1964–1968) of the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson. The subseries presents in 34 volumes a documentary record of major foreign policy decisions and actions of President Johnson’s [Page IV] administration. This volume is in two parts. The first part documents the organization and management of U.S. foreign policy. The second part documents U.S. policy toward the United Nations.

Focus of Research and Principles of Selection for Foreign Relations, 1964–1968, Volume XXXIII

The editors of the volume sought to include documentation illuminating the foreign policymaking process of the U.S. Government, with emphasis on the highest level at which policy on a particular subject was determined. The documents include memoranda and records of discussions that set forth policy issues and show decisions or actions taken. The emphasis is on the development of U.S. policy and on major aspects and repercussions of its execution rather than on the details of policy execution.

Lyndon Johnson made the major foreign policy decisions during his Presidency, and the editors sought to document his role as far as possible. Although the foreign policy record of the Johnson administration is voluminous, many internal discussions between Johnson and his advisers were not recorded. The record of Johnson’s involvement as well as that of Secretary of State Rusk in the policy process often had to be pieced together from a variety of sources.

The volume focuses on the issues that primarily engaged high-level U.S. policymakers. The portion of the volume concerning the Organization and Management of Foreign Policy focuses on several important issues: efforts to improve the management of the Department of State and strengthen its overall direction and coordination of U.S. foreign policy; the increasingly informal operation of the National Security Council and the enhanced role of the National Security Adviser and his staff; problems confronted by the Director of Central Intelligence in coordinating the intelligence community, exercising influence over the National Reconnaissance Office, and advising the President; and the reexamination of the approval process for covert actions. The portion of the volume covering the United Nations focuses principally on the Article 19 dispute over financing United Nations peacekeeping efforts and on the creation of a United Nations peacekeeping force for Cyprus. Other topics include the reelection of U Thant as UN Secretary General in 1966, developmental and trusteeship issues, the Celestial Bodies Treaty of 1967, and the appointment of U.S. Permanent Representatives by President Johnson. Several major issues considered by the United Nations during the Johnson Presidency are documented in other Foreign Relations volumes: the Vietnam war, volumes I–VII; Arms Control and Disarmament, volume XI; the Arab-Israeli Crisis and 1967 War, volume XIX; South Asia, volume XXV; and China, volume XXX.

[Page V]

Editorial Methodology

The documents are presented chronologically according to Washington time or, in the case of conferences, in the order of individual meetings. Memoranda of conversation are placed according to the time and date of the conversation, rather than the date the memorandum was drafted.

Editorial treatment of the documents published in the Foreign Relations series follows Office style guidelines, supplemented by guidance from the General Editor and the chief technical editor. The source text is reproduced as exactly as possible, including marginalia or other notations, which are described in the footnotes. Texts are transcribed and printed according to accepted conventions for the publication of historical documents in the limitations of modern typography. A heading has been supplied by the editors for each document included in the volume. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are retained as found in the source text, except that obvious typographical errors are silently corrected. Other mistakes and omissions in the source text are corrected by bracketed insertions: a correction is set in italic type; an addition in roman type. Words or phrases underlined in the source text are printed in italics. Abbreviations and contractions are preserved as found in the source text, and a list of abbreviations is included in the front matter of each volume.

Bracketed insertions are also used to indicate omitted text that deals with an unrelated subject (in roman type) or that remains classified after declassification review (in italic type). The amount of material not declassified has been noted by indicating the number of lines or pages of source text that were omitted. Entire documents withheld for declassification purposes have been accounted for and are listed by headings, source notes, and number of pages not declassified in their chronological place. All brackets that appear in the source text are so identified by footnotes.

The first footnote to each document indicates its source, original classification, distribution, and drafting information. This note also provides the background of important documents and policies and indicates whether the President or his major policy advisers read the document.

Editorial notes and additional annotation summarize pertinent material not printed in the volume, indicate the location of additional documentary sources, provide references to important related documents printed in other volumes, describe key events, and provide summaries of and citations to public statements that supplement and elucidate the printed documents. Information derived from memoirs and other first-hand accounts has been used when appropriate to supplement or explicate the official record.

[Page VI]

The numbers in the index refer to document numbers rather than to page numbers.

Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation

The Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation, established under the Foreign Relations statute, reviews records, advises, and makes recommendations concerning the Foreign Relations series. The Advisory Committee monitors the overall compilation and editorial process of the series and advises on all aspects of the preparation and declassification of the series. The Advisory Committee does not attempt to review the contents of individual volumes in the series, but it makes recommendations on problems that come to its attention.

Declassification Review

The Information Response Branch of the Office of Information Resources Management Programs and Services, Bureau of Administration, Department of State, conducted the declassification review of the documents published in this volume. The review was conducted in accordance with the standards set forth in Executive Order 12958 on Classified National Security Information and applicable laws.

The principle guiding declassification review is to release all information, subject only to the current requirements of national security as embodied in law and regulation. Declassification decisions entailed concurrence of the appropriate geographic and functional bureaus in the Department of State, other concerned agencies of the U.S. Government, and the appropriate foreign governments regarding specific documents of those governments.

The final declassification review of this volume, which began in 1998 and was completed in 2002, resulted in the decision to withhold 12 documents in full, excise a paragraph or more in 9 documents, and make minor excisions of less than a paragraph in 33 documents.

The chapter entitled “The Director of Central Intelligence, the Intelligence Community, and the President” contains the most deletions and excisions partly due to the need to protect intelligence sources and methods when disclosure will clearly and demonstrably damage the national interests of the United States.

Acknowledgements

The editors wish to acknowledge the expert archival assistance of officials at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library of the National Archives and Records Administration, especially Christina Lawson, Regina Green-well, Charlaine Burgess, John Wilson, and two former staff members, David Wallace and John Powers. The editors also wish to acknowledge [Page VII] the assistance of historians Woodrow Kuhn and Michael Warner at the Central Intelligence Agency as well as of Suzanne Forbes, formerly at the John F. Kennedy Library of the National Archives and Records Administration. In addition, David Langbart of the National Archives and Records Administration provided very helpful guidance in identifying files on Department of State management, while former Foreign Service officer Robert Pace reviewed documentation on the management of foreign policy in the Department of State and provided valuable comments and suggestions.

David C. Humphrey collected, selected, edited the documentation on the organization and management of U.S. foreign policy and prepared the lists of names, sources, and abbreviations. James E. Miller collected, selected, and edited the documentation on the United Nations. General Editor Edward C. Keefer supervised the final steps in the editing and publication process. Vicki E. Futscher and Rita M. Baker did the copy and technical editing. Susan Weetman coordinated the declassification review. Breffni Whelan prepared the index.