Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXXIII, Organization and Management of Foreign Policy; United Nations

286. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)¹

Washington, January 23, 1964.

Mac—

The likelihood of a real Chirep crisis in UNGA this fall, as result of French recognition² and what it will trigger, underlines importance of postponing GA session till after US election.

Desirability of postponing Arab-Israeli hassle in UN is an additional good reason. I’ve pushed Sisco on this (Cleveland is in Europe) and was told they fully agreed. Rusk had already made decision to seek GA delay before French problem hotted up. SYG seems sympathetic; he and our own people are making soundings with an eye to a decision in June.

I’m a bit concerned about slow pace of this exercise. The sooner we get GA delay taped down, the happier we’re going to be. Ergo, you might want to do a little prodding on this too.³

RWK

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, United Nations, China Representation. Secret. The memorandum is marked “Hold for Bundy.”
2. France announced its recognition of the People’s Republic on January 27. Documentation relating to the U.S. position on Chinese participation in the United Nations is in Foreign Relations, 1964–1968, volume XXX.
3. In a January 31 memorandum to Bundy, Samuel Belk of the NSC Staff reported that “We will have no difficulty in getting a postponement until around November 14.” (Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, United Nations Miscellaneous)