Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, Volume VI, Vietnam, January-August 1968

Released by the Office of the Historian

Sources
Sources for the Foreign Relations SeriesThe Foreign Relations statute requires that the published record in the Foreign
Relations series include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation on major U.S. foreign policy
decisions and significant U.S. diplomatic activity. It further requires that government agencies, departments, and other
entities of the U.S. Government engaged in foreign policy formulation, execution, or support cooperate with the
Department of State Historian by providing full and complete access to records pertinent to foreign policy decisions and
actions and by providing copies of selected records. Many of the sources consulted in the preparation of this volume have
been declassified and are available for review at the National Archives and Records Administration.
The editors of the Foreign Relations series have complete access to all the retired records and papers of the Department
of State: the central files of the Department; the special decentralized files ("lot files") of the Department at the bureau,
office, and division levels; the files of the Departments Executive Secretariat, which contain the records of international
conferences and high-level official visits, correspondence with foreign leaders by the President and Secretary of State, and
memoranda of conversations between the President and Secretary of State and foreign officials; and the files of overseas
diplomatic posts. All the Departments indexed central files for these years have been permanently transferred to the
National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland (Archives II). Many of the Departments
decentralized office (or lot) files covering this period, which the National Archives deems worthy of permanent retention,
have been transferred or are in the process of being transferred from the Departments custody to Archives II.
The editors of the Foreign Relations series also have full access to the papers of President Johnson and other White
House foreign policy records. Presidential papers maintained and preserved at the Presidential libraries include some of
the most significant foreign affairs-related documentation from the Department of State and other Federal agencies
including the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs
of Staff.
Sources for Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, Volume VI
In preparing this volume, the editor made extensive use of Presidential papers and other White House records at the
Lyndon B. Johnson Library. The large Vietnam Country File within the National Security File was one of the most important
sources. Other useful components of the National Security File were the NSC History File, the Files of Walt Rostow, and
Memoranda to the President. For Johnsons meetings on Vietnam, the Tom Johnson Notes were the most valuable
collection, although Meeting Notes Files were also useful. The Johnson tape recordings, of both telephone conversations
and meetings in the Cabinet Room, were another key source from the Johnson Library. Other Johnson Library collections
cited less frequently but still of value were the Office Files of White House aides, such as Harry McPherson and George
Christian, and the Papers of Clark Clifford, George Elsey, and General William Westmoreland.
Second in importance to the records at the Johnson Library were the central files of the Department of State. Documents
relating to the various peace initiatives are filed in POL 27-14 VIET or POL 27-14/[negotiating track code-name]. For
example, POL 27-14 VIET/CROC is the repository for Ambassador Harrimans initial peace negotiations documentation.
Basic reporting and recommendations on important developments in South Vietnam were often put in POL 27 VIET S, the
file reserved for military operations, but used as a catch-all. It was the most important Department of State Central File. Of
the Department of State lot files, the A/IM Files of Harriman and Cyrus Vance in Paris, Lot 93 D 82, were the most
important. The IS/OIS files relating to the records of the Paris Peace Conference, Lot 90 D 345, and the IS/OIS files of
Ambassador Bunkers weekly reports to the President, Lot 92 D 306, were also valuable. The files of Ambassador at Large
Averell Harriman, S-AH Files, Lot 71 D 461 are also important.
Of the records at the Department of Defense, which are at the Washington National Records Center, official files of
Secretaries Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, were significant: McNamara/OSD Files, FRC 330 71 A 3470, and the
Clifford/OSD Files, FRC 72 A 2457-2468 and FRC 73 A 1250. The official records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were also
valuable. In addition, the files of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam at the Institute of Military History and the
Westmoreland and Creighton Abrams Papers at the Center for Military History, contained useful information.
At the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, the two most important collections for the volume were the Averell
Harriman and Paul Nitze Papers.
For intelligence issues, DCI (Helms) Files, the DCI Executive Registry Subject Files and the Files of DCIs Special
Assistant for Vietnam, George Carver, at the Central Intelligence Agency, were most useful. The National Security

Councils Intelligence Files provided papers submitted to the 303 Committee and records of the Committees meetings.
Almost all of this documentation has been made available for use in the Foreign Relations series thanks to the consent of
the agencies mentioned, the assistance of their staffs, and especially the cooperation and support of the National Archives
and Records Administration.
The following list identifies the particular files and collections consulted in the preparation of this volume. The
declassification and transfer to the National Archives of the Department of State records are in process, and many of those
records are already available for public review at the National Archives. The declassification review of other records is
going forward in accordance with the provisions of Executive Orders 12958 and 13142, under which all records over 25
years old, except file series exemptions requested by agencies and approved by the President, should be reviewed for
declassification by 2003.
Unpublished Sources
Department of State, Washington, D.C.
Central Files. See National Archives and Records Administration below.
Lot Files. These files may be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park Maryland,
Record Group 59. See National Archives and Records Administration below.
INR/EAP Files: Lot 90 D 99
National and Special Intelligence Estimates, 1952-1985.
INR/IL Historical Files
Historical files relating to covert action and intelligence.
INR/REA/SA Files: Lot 75 D 352
South Vietnam Country files, 1968-1970.
INR/RSB Files: Lot 90 D 320
Soviet-Asia relations, 1965-1978.
National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
Record Group 59, Records of the Department of State
Subject-Numeric Central Files. The subject-numeric system is divided into broad categories: Administration, Consular,
Culture and Information, Economic, Political and Defense, Science, and Social. Within each of these divisions are subject
subcategories. For example, Political and Defense contains four subtopics: POL (Politics), DEF (Defense), CSM
(Communism), and INT (Intelligence). Numerical subdivisions further define the subtopics. The following are the most
important files consulted for this volume:
AID (US) VIET S, U.S. aid to South Vietnam
DEF 4 SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
E US-VIET S, economic relations, U.S.-South Vietnam
E VIET S, economic affairs, South Vietnam
E 12 VIET S, land reform, South Vietnam
FN 12 VIET S, balance of payments, South Vietnam
ORG SAIGON, organization and administration, Saigon Embassy
POL IT-US, political relations, U.S.-Italy
POL NOR-VIET N, political relations, Norway-North Vietnam
POL UK-US, political relations, U.S.-United Kingdom
POL US-USSR, political relations, U.S.-Soviet Union
POL 1 US-USSR, general policy, U.S.-Soviet Union
POL 1 VIET S, general policy, South Vietnam
POL 1-1 VIET S, contingency planning, South Vietnam
POL 7 US, visits and meetings, U.S.
POL 12 VIET S, political parties, South Vietnam

POL 15 VIET S, Government of South Vietnam

POL 15-1 VIET S, head of state/executive branch, South Vietnam
POL 15-1 US/JOHNSON, Head of State, the President
POL 15-1 VAT, correspondence and meetings with the Pope
POL 17 NOR CHICOM, diplomatic representation, Norway-China
POL 17 US-VIET N, diplomatic representation, U.S.-North Vietnam
POL 17 VIET N, diplomatic and consular representation, North Vietnam
POL 17-1 NOR-US, accreditation, U.S.-Norway
POL 23-9 VIET S, civil disturbances and revolts, South Vietnam
POL 27 US/HUMPHREY, Vice Presidents assessment of military affairs
POL 27 VIET S, military operations, South Vietnam
POL 27 VIET S/MARIA, cease-fires, South Vietnam
POL 27-7 VIET, prisoners of war, Vietnam-POL 27-7 VIET S/BUTTERCUP, prisoner exchanges, South Vietnam
POL 27-12 VIET, war crimes, Vietnam
POL 27-14 VIET/ASPEN, peace negotiations codenamed Aspen
POL 27-14 VIET/BAMBOO, peace negotiations codenamed Bamboo
POL 27-14 VIET/CROCODILE, peace negotiations codenamed Crocodile
POL 27-14 VIET/KILLY, peace negotiations codenamed Killy
POL 27-14 VIET/LION, peace negotiations codenamed Lion
POL 27-14 VIET/MARIGOLD, peace negotiations codenamed Marigold
POL 27-14 VIET/NIRVANA, peace negotiations codenamed Nirvana
POL 27-14 VIET/OHIO, peace negotiations codenamed Ohio
POL 27-14 VIET S, truce talks, South Vietnam
POL 30 VIET S, defections, South Vietnam
REF VIET, refugees, Vietnam
REF VIET N, refugees, North Vietnam
Lot Files
A/IM Files: Lot 93 D 82
HARVAN correspondence and telegrams, 1968-1969.
AmEmbassy-Saigon Files: Lot 75 F 193
Files and telegrams from classified and unclassified central subject files of the American Embassy in Saigon, 1950-1974.
Bundy Files: Lot 85 D 240
Files of William P. Bundy as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 1964-1969.
Bunker Files: Lot 74 D 417
Files of Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, including telegrams, personal and presidential messages, and correspondence,
1967-1973.
Bunker Files: Lot 77 D 146
Files containing Ambassador Ellsworth Bunkers official and personal correspondence, speeches and statements,
interviews, and briefing books, 1967-1973.
EA Files: Lot 74 D 246
Records relating to the Paris Peace Negotiations on Vietnam, 1966-1973.
EA Files: Lot 71 D 10
Files on the Paris Peace Talks, 1966-1968.
EA Files: Lot 72 D 33
Background papers on Asia, 1967-1968.
EA/ACA Files: Lot 69 D 128
Files of weekly reports on Vietnam peace negotiations, 1967-1968.
EA/ACA Files: Lot 72 D 175
Miscellaneous files of the Asian Communist Affairs Office, 1961-1969.

EA/VN Files: Lot 72 D 207

Files on the Manila Summit, the Clifford-Taylor trip to Southeast Asia, the Tet Offensive, and background material, 19641968.
EA/VN Files: Lot 73 D 141
General files of the interagency Vietnam Working Group.
EA/VN Files: Lot 73 D 461
Files on politics, defense, rural development, and elections in South Vietnam, 1967-1969.
EA/VN Files: Lot 74 D 51
Military files containing the record of the air war in Vietnam, 1963-1970.
EA/VN Files: Lot 75 D 167
Files on Vietnamese political-military affairs and meetings and trips of senior U.S. government officials with Vietnamese
and Asian leaders, 1963-1969.
EA/VN Files: Lot 75 D 303
Files relating to the Free World Assistance in Vietnam, 1963-1971.
HARVAN Files: Lot 93 D 82
Correspondence, telegrams, and records of meetings of the HARVAN (Harriman-Vance) mission to the Paris peace talks
on Vietnam, 1968-1969, including background material on Vietnam peace negotiations, 1962-1969.
IS/OIS Files: Lot 90 D 345
Chronological records of the Paris Peace Conference, 1968-1969.
IS/OIS Files: Lot 92 D 306
Telegrams transmitting the weekly reports of Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker to the President, 1967-1973.
Johnson Files: Lot 90 D 410
Files of Ambassador U. Alexis Johnson, 1958-1973.
Katzenbach Files: Lot 74 D 271
Files of Under Secretary of State Nicholas Katzenbach, 1966-1969.
Kohler Files: Lot 71 D 460
Files of Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Foy Kohler concerning his discussions with Soviet
Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin, 1967-1968; discussions between Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Soviet Foreign Minister
Andrei Gromyko, 1962-1968.
Komer Files: Lot 69 D 303
Files of Robert W. Komer, 1949-1969.
Rusk Files: Lot 72 D 192
Files of Secretary of State Dean Rusk, 1961-1969, including texts of speeches, miscellaneous correspondence files, White
House correspondence, chronological files, and memoranda of telephone conversations.
S/S-AH Files: Lot 71 D 461
Files of Ambassador at Large W. Averell Harriman concerning Vietnam peace negotiating channels, 1967-1968.
S/S-I Files: Lot 72 D 316
National Security Action Memoranda 1-371, 1961-1968.
S/S-I Files: Lot 72 D 318
National Security Council meeting memoranda and agenda, 1966-1968.
S/S-S Files: Lot 68 D 453
International conference chronologies and briefing papers, 1967-1968, including background material for the Vice

Presidents East Asian trip, Ambassador at Large W. Averell Harrimans Near Eastern and European trip, and the
Presidents visit to Australia.
S/S-S Files: Lot 69 D 217
Administrative history of the Johnson administration; foreign policy fact books for Republican candidates; transition books,
1968.
S/S-S Files: Lot 70 D 207
Vietnam briefing books and reports, contingency studies, and background papers on negotiations, 1965-1968.
S/S-S Files: Lot 70 D 48
Miscellaneous Vietnam reports and briefing books, 1949-1968, including briefing books on negotiating initiatives and
Senate committee reports.
S/S-S Files: Lot 70 D 48
Miscellaneous Vietnam reports from the Executive Secretariat.
S/S-S Files: Lot 71 D 228
Transition books for the incoming Nixon administration, December 1968.
S/S-S Files: Lot 76 D 435
U.S./U.S.S.R. Conversations on Vietnam and Southeast Asia, 1961-1968.
Record Group 84, Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the United States
Saigon Embassy Files of Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, 1967-1973.
Record Group 200, Records of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, 1961-1968
Record Group 273, Records of the National Security Council
National Security Action Memorandums
Record Group 407, Records of the U.S. Army Adjutant Generals Office
Westmoreland v. CBS Litigation Collection, 1966-1972
Record Group 472, Records of the U.S. Army in Southeast Asia
Headquarters, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
Command Information Publications
Assistant Chief of Staff
Office of Civil Operations for Revolutionary Development
Nixon Presidential Materials Project
National Security Council Files
Agency Files
Name Files
Paris Talks/Meetings
HAK Office Files, Country Files, Far East, Vietnam, Negotiations
Central Intelligence Agency, Langley, Virginia
William Colby Files, Job 80-M01009A

DCI (Helms) Files, Jobs 80-R1580R, 80-B01721R, 80-R01720R, 80-M01044A, 80-B01285A, 85-T00268R
DDI Files, Job 80-B01721R
DDO/ISS Files, Jobs 78-32, 78-06425A, 78-0064235A
DO/EA Files, Jobs 79-00207A, 80-00088A, 80-00106A
Executive Registry Subject Files, Jobs 80-R51580R, 80-R01284A
O/DDI Files, Job 78-T02095R
SAVA (Carver) Files, Jobs 80-R01284R, 80-R012850R, 80-R01720R
Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Texas
Papers of President Lyndon B. Johnson
National Security File
Agency File
Country File
Intelligence File
International Meetings and Travel File
Head of State Correspondence
Special Head of State Correspondence
Files of Robert Komer
Komer-Leonhart File
Memos to the President
Name File
National Intelligence Estimates
National Security Action Memorandums
National Security Council Histories
National Security Council Meetings File
Files of Walt Rostow
Files of Bromley Smith
South Vietnam and U.S. Politics
Speech File
Subject File
Unarranged Files
Warnke-McNaughton Files
Office Files of the White House Aides
George Christian Files
James R. Jones Files
Harry McPherson Files
Special Files
Meeting Notes File
Office of the President File
Presidents Appointment File (Diary Backup)
Presidents Daily Diary
Recordings and Transcripts of Telephone Conversations
Reference File--Vietnam
Transcripts of Meetings in the Cabinet Room
White House Central Files
Confidential File

Subject File
Reference Files, Vietnam
Other Personal Papers
Clark Clifford Papers
George Elsey Papers
Alain Enthoven Papers
Morton Halperin Papers
Tom Johnsons Notes of Meetings
William Jorden Papers
Oral History Collection
Dean Rusk Papers, Personal Appointment Books
Paul C. Warnke Papers, John McNaughton Files
William C. Westmoreland Papers
Department of Defense, Washington, D.C.
Official Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Southeast Asia Files, 1966-1968.
National Security Council, Washington, D.C.
Intelligence Files
Records of the 303 Committee
Subject Files, Vietnam
Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland
Record Group 330, Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense:
McNamara Files: FRC 71 A 3470
Files of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, 1961-1968.
McNamara Vietnam Files: FRC 77-0075
Vietnam Files of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, 1961-1968.
OSD Files: FRC 72 A 2467-2468, FRC 73 A 1250
Office of the Secretary of Defense Files.
OSD/General Counsel Files: FRC 75 A 0062
Files on the Pentagon Papers.
OSD/OASD/ISA Files: FRC 71 A 4919, FRC 69 A 6216, FRC 72 A 1498-1499, FRC 72 A 7500-7515, FRC 73 A 13501352, FRC 83 A 0119-0129
Files of the Bureau of International Security Affairs.

Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.

W. Averell Harriman Papers
Paul H. Nitze Papers
Henry A. Kissinger Papers
National Defense University, Washington, D.C.
Andrew Goodpaster Papers
Lyman Lemnitzer Papers
Maxwell Taylor Papers
U.S. Army Center for Military History, Washington, D.C.
Robert Komer Papers
DepCORDS/MACV Files
Files of the Deputy for Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
William Colby Papers
Creighton Abrams Papers
Thomas Thayer Papers
William C. Westmoreland Papers
History File, History Backup, and COMUSMACV Message Files, 1964-1968.
U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania
Army Chiefs of Staff Collection
Creighton Abrams Papers
William DePuy Papers
Richard Gard Papers
Harold K. Johnson Papers
Bruce Palmer Papers
John Paul Vann Papers
William C. Westmoreland Papers
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Headquarters Archive
Douglas Pike Collection
Published Sources

Documentary Collections
Barrett, David M., ed., Lyndon B. Johnsons Vietnam Papers: A Documentary Collection. College Station, TX: Texas A & M
Unviersity Press, 1997.
Council on Foreign Relations, Documents on American Foreign Relations, 1968-69. New York: New York University Press,
1972.
The Declassified Documents Quarterly Catalog and microfiche. Woodbridge, CT, 1975 onwards.
Herring, George, ed., The Secret Diplomacy of the Vietnam War: The Negotiating Volumes of the Pentagon Papers. Austin,
TX, 1983.
Pike, Douglas, ed., The Bunker Papers: Reports to the President From Vietnam, 1967-1973. 3 vols. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 1990.
The Pentagon Papers: The Department of Defense History of United States Decisionmaking on Vietnam, The Senator
Gravel Edition. 4 vols. Boston: Beacon Press, 1971.
U.S. Department of State, Department of State Bulletin, 1968-1969. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1968-1969.
U.S. House of Representatives, Armed Services Committee, United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967: Study Prepared
by the Department of Defense. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B.
Johnson, 1968-69. 2 vols. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970.
Memoirs
Bui Diem, with David Chanoff, In the Jaws of History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
Bundy, William P., A Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency. New York: Hill & Wang, 1999.
Califano, Joseph A., The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1991.
Chennault, Anna, The Education of Anna. New York: Times Books, 1979.
Clifford, Clark, with Richard C. Holbrooke, Counsel to the President: A Memoir. New York: Random House, 1991.
Colby, William, with James McCargar, Lost Victory: A Firsthand Account of Americas Sixteen-Year Involvement in
Vietnam. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1989.
DeLoach, Cartha D., Hoovers FBI: The Inside Story by Hoovers Trusted Lieutenant. New York: Regnery Publishing, 1995.
Humphrey, Hubert, Education of a Public Man: My Life and Politics. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
Johnson, Lyndon Baines, The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969. New York: Rinehart and
Winston, 1971.
Kissinger, Henry A., White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979.
McNamara, Robert S., with Brian VanDeMark, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. New York: Times
Books, 1995.
McPherson, Harry, A Political Education. Boston: Little, Brown, 1972.

Nguyen Cao Ky, Twenty Years and Twenty Days. New York: Stein and Day, 1976.
Nixon, Richard, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. New York: Grossett & Dunlap, 1978.
Palmer, Bruce, The 25-Year War: Americas Military Role in Vietnam. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1984.
Rostow, Walt W., The Diffusion of Power: An Essay in Recent History. New York: Macmillan, 1972.
Rusk, Dean, as told to Richard Rusk, As I Saw It. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990.
Taylor, Maxwell, Swords and Plowshares: A Memoir. New York: W.W. Norton, 1972.
Westmoreland, William C., A Soldier Reports. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976