Briefing Paper for President Gerald Ford's Meeting with Ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin

Digitized from Box 18 of the NSA. Presidential Country Files: East Asia and the Pacific at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library C4024 4 THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN def. THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON SECRET MEETING WITH GRAHAM A. MARTIN, AMBASSADOR TO THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Friday, September 13, 1974 11:30 a.m. (15 minutes) The Oval Office From: Henry A. Kissinger HK I. PURPOSE To demonstrate your interest in Vietnam and to convey to President Thieu a message of support. II. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS & PRESS ARRANGEMENTS A. Background: Recent Congressional cuts in U.S. assistance to South Vietnam undermine South Vietnamese confidence in continued U.S. support and in South Vietnam's ability to resist Communist pressures. Your meeting with Ambas- - sador Martin and your conveying through him assurances of our support to President Thieu can help bolster South Vietnamese confidence at a critical time. Ambassador Martin will want to express his own concerns about inade- quate aid levels; the need to minimize Defense charges against military assistance to Vietnam; and the necessity of an energetic campaign to inform the Congress about Vietnam. B. Participants: Graham Martin and Secretary Kissinger. C. Press Arrangements: Press photo session. Meeting to be announced. FORD a SECRET DECLASSIFIED E.O. 12958, Sec. 3.5 NSC Memo, 11/24/98, State Dept. Guidelines By KBH .NARA, Date 2/10/00