13. Editorial Note
On February 19, 1961, President Kennedy issued an executive order abolishing the Operations Coordinating Board (OCB), which, during the Eisenhower administration, had provided a mechanism for coordinated interdepartmental implementation of national security policies adopted by the National Security Council and approved by the President. The President’s statement is printed in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961, pages 104–105. With this action the President transferred to the Department of State a number of OCB responsibilities including the preparation of papers delineating [Page 32] regional and country policies. Between 1961 and 1963, the Policy Planning Council coordinated preparation of these papers that were drafted in the relevant geographic bureau and sent for comment to the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and other U.S. Government agencies. A complete set of the final papers, various drafts, and memoranda containing comments on the drafts is in Department of State,S/S Files: Lot 67 D 396.