September 19–November 27: Manila Conference; Debates Over Pacification and Stabilization of the War


239. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, vol. LIX. Top Secret; Sensitive.


241. Draft Paper by the Presidentʼs Special Assistants (Rostow and Komer)

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—Walt W. Rostow, vol. 13. Secret. Forwarded to the President by Rostow on September 28 under cover of a memorandum stating: “Here is the strategy paper which Bob Komer and I put together and talked over with Bill Bundy. We are all in basic agreement.” (Ibid.) Also sent to Komer and William Bundy.


242. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, International Meetings and Travel File, POTUS Trip, vol. 1. Secret. The source text is marked with an indication that the President saw the memorandum.


243. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Vietnam

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 30 VIET S/Thrush. Secret; Priority; Nodis; Thrush. Drafted by Unger; cleared by Thompson, U. Alexis Johnson, and Rostow in substance; and approved by Ball.


245. Draft Memorandum From Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Johnson

Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, McNamara Files: FRC 71 A 3470, SVN Trip, October 1966. Secret. McNaughton sent copies of this draft memorandum to Ball, Gaud, Helms, Marks, Wheeler, and Komer under cover of a September 22 memorandum, in which he stated that McNamara had been asked to prepare a draft reorganization of pacification responsibilities and wanted to discuss his draft memorandum the following week with a view to having it ready for the President during the first week of October. (Ibid.)


246. Memorandum From the Ambassador at Large (Harriman) to President Johnson and Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, box 212, Amb Harriman—Negotiations Comm. Secret. The source text is marked with an indication that the President saw the memorandum.


247. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, S/S-Vietnam Briefing Books: Lot 70 D 207, Viet-Nam Negotiations, 1968. Secret; Exdis. Drafted on September 26 by William D. Krimer of the Language Services Division, Department of State. The meeting was held at the Soviet Mission to the United Nations in New York. A memorandum prepared on September 30 in the Bureau of European Affairs analyzed “new elements” in Gromykoʼs conversation with Rusk. (Ibid.)/1/


248. Memorandum From the Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency (Carver) to Director of Central Intelligence Helms

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DCI Executive Registry, Job 80–B01580R, McNamara Project. Secret/Sensitive.


249. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Komer) to Secretary of Defense McNamara

Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, McNamara Files: FRC 71 A 3470, SVN Trip, October 1966. Secret. Copies were sent to Rusk, Gaud, Marks, and Helms.


250. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Press Secretary (Moyers) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, Office Files of Bill Moyers, BDM Memos, Sept. 1966–Feb. 1967. No classification marking.


251. Memorandum From the Ambassador at Large (Harriman) to President Johnson and Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, box 212, Amb. Harriman-Negotiations Comm. Top Secret; Nodis.


252. Action Memorandum From the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Johnson) to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Department of State, S/S Miscellaneous Vietnam Reports: Lot 70 D 48, Briefing Materials on Vietnam. Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by Unger.


253. Memorandum From Colonel Robert Ginsburgh of the National Security Council Staff to the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Rostow)

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, vol. LX. Top Secret. Rostow forwarded the memorandum to the President on October 1 under cover of a memorandum suggesting that he read it and calling Ginsburgh a “superb JCS liaison officer” who “has made important contributions to our work on negotiating positions” and other Vietnam issues. (Ibid.)


254. Telegram From Secretary of Defense McNamara to the Embassy in Vietnam

Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, McNamara Files: FRC 71 A 3470, SVN Trip, October 1966. Secret. Repeated to CINCPAC. McNamara visited Vietnam October 10–13, accompanied by, among others, Katzenbach, Wheeler, McNaughton, and Komer.


255. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—Walt W. Rostow, vol. 14. Top Secret. Rostow forwarded the memorandum to the President at 9:30 a.m. on October 4 under cover of a memorandum stating that he concurred with McNamaraʼs recommendation. (Ibid.) During a telephone conversation with McNamara that began at 7:48 a.m. on October 5, the President indicated that he had read McNamaraʼs memorandum and thought his decision was justified but also thought McNamara should get the Joint Chiefs and their adherents to point out how disastrous it would be for the United States to inaugurate a new policy of this type during the closing days of Congress and on the eve of the Manila Conference, and “how the propaganda people would just wreck us.” (Ibid., Recordings and Transcripts, Telephone Conversation between Johnson and McNamara, Tape F66.27, Side B, PNO 2)


256. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, International Meetings and Travel File, POTUS Trip, vol. 1. No classification marking.


257. Memorandum From the Ambassador at Large (Harriman) to President Johnson and Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, vol. LX. Top Secret. Rostow forwarded the memorandum to the President at 1 p.m. on October 4. In his covering memorandum he expressed his doubts that the Russians had the “power to make Hanoi end the war” and his opposition either to abandoning the hardware option or to letting the Germans “off the hook on balance of payments offsets.” (Ibid.)


258. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Priority; Nodis. The source text does not indicate the time of transmission; the telegram was received at 9:08 a.m.


259. Letter From Secretary of Defense McNamara to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, vol. LX. Secret.


261. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Confidential. Approved in S on October 12. The meeting was held at USUN.


262. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Komer) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Komer Files, Memos to the President, July-Dec. 1966. Secret. Komer sent a copy of the memorandum to Katzenbach on November 29 under a covering memorandum stating that he believed it had “had considerable impact.” (Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S)


263. Memorandum From the Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency (Carver) to Director of Central Intelligence Helms

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DCI-Executive Registry, Job 80–B01580R, McNamara Project. Secret.


264. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL US–USSR. Secret; Nodis. Approved in the White House on October 13. The meeting, held in the Oval Office, lasted from 5 to 6:41 p.m. (Johnson Library, Presidentʼs Daily Diary) The President discussed his meeting with Gromyko in a telephone conversation with Senator Fulbright that began at 5:20 p.m. on October 11. Both a recording and a transcript of the conversation are ibid., Recordings and Transcripts, Tape F66.28, PNO 2; the transcript is in Chron Series.


265. Research Memorandum From the Deputy Director of Intelligence and Research (Denney) to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Department of State, EA/ACA-Vietnam Negotiations: Lot 69 D 277, Communist Positions and Initiatives, DRV North Vietnam. Secret; No Foreign Dissem; Controlled Dissem; Limited Distribution.


266. Letter From Senator Mike Mansfield to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—Walt W. Rostow, vol. 15. No classification marking.


267. Memorandum From the Ambassador at Large (Harriman) to President Johnson and Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, box 212, Amb. Harriman—Negotiations Comm. Top Secret; Nodis.


268. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, NSC Meetings File, Manila Conference. Top Secret. Also printed in The Pentagon Papers: Gravel Edition, vol. IV, pp. 348–355. McNamara submitted the report to the President after visiting Vietnam October 10–13.