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1969 Inbound To APB Part 2: July – Dec 1969 [3 of 4]
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1969 Inbound To APB Part 2: July – Dec 1969 [3 of 4]
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Alexander P. Butterfield's Files
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PLAYBOY September 17, 1969 Dear Mr. Butterfield; It is our pleasure to send you the enclosed article "Experts And Expertise" by Eliot Janeway, reprinted from our October issue. We would be delighted to hear -- and would certainly value -- any comments you have concerning the article which we might use in our Letters to the Editor column. Sincerely, A.C. Spectorsky A. C. Spectorsky Editorial Director THE PLAYBOY BUILDING . 919 N. MICHIGAN AVE. CHICAGO 60611 Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum EXPERTS AND EXPERTISE a president's decisions, the policies he forges and his place in the judgments of history depend not on the electorate or its chosen leaders but on his own selection of advisors on whose counsel he relies east of Southwest Texas State Teachers intellectuals, led him to confuse the article By ELIOT JANEWAY College. opinions of bank chairmen with the rec- "THIS WHOLE JOB, which is never easy, "Your job will be a damn sight eas- ommendations of economic advisors. will be a lot less difficult if you can ier," he told the heir to his misfortune, When Walter Heller, Johnson's holdover figure out a way to run it without the during their running dialog over the chairman of the Council of Economic help of expert advice-something I have impending changing of the guard, "if you Advisors, resigned in order to "go pri- never been able to do." can get rid of, at the start, all of your vate" and make some money, Johnson Lyndon Johnson was within days of technicians, including Dave Kennedy." made a man-bites-dog joke. "My econom- finishing his term as President when he A wide range of experts had earned ic advisor needs an economic advisor," he volunteered this advice to his successor. Johnson's mistrust, but he felt a peculiar said. So it seemed natural for Johnson to Bitter experience had qualified him to resentment against the practitioners of lump bank chairman Kennedy together testify as an expert on experts. For while economic occultism, as he showed when with the economists. But the irony of Johnson could thank his own native he singled out the Secretary-of-the-Treas- Johnson's mention of Kennedy was shrewdness for his success in accumulat- ury-designate for special mention among meant to convey a cabalistic warning ing power, he had good reason to blame all the experts to whose expertise he to his successor. For, as the incoming his failure to hold it on "the Harvard attributed his fall. For one thing, the President well knew, Johnson had been crowd," which was his generic term for awe in which Johnson held money, and on the verge of asking the select club any experts who had been trained north- the insecurity with which he regarded of major Reprinted from the October 1969 issue of PLAYBOY magazine. Copyright © 1969 by HMH Publishing Co. Inc. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum commercial bank chairmen to nominate which was his derisive term for the brass appointed him most for their cursory re- one of their number to serve as his own during the Korean War. view of the military plans. About [Allen] next Secretary of the Treasury, if he had In 1954, when Johnson sat in execu- Dulles and [Richard] Bissell [of the CIA], run for another term. And, as Nixon tive session with his senior colleague, he said little. I think he had made up his also knew, the designee of the group had Chairman Richard Russell of the Senate mind at once that, when things settled been David M. Kennedy. The banker Armed Services Committee (both of down, they would have to go. He expert who was the special target of John- them acting as the all-powerful check- set quietly to work to make sure that son's sharp tongue was the very one issuing duo of the Appropriations Sub- nothing like the Bay of Pigs could hap- Johnson would have picked to serve him, committee), Johnson had not felt the pen to him again. The first lesson was if the cards had fallen differently. need to consult any experts before he never to rely on the experts." Johnson spoke as the last individualist vetoed an interesting request from Presi- Unfortunately, Kennedy found this easier said than done. He soon discov- in the age of organization men when he dent Eisenhower, personally conveyed by ered that the White House cannot be singled out the experts as the villains Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. responsible for his undoing. But Johnson run without experts. By Kennedy's time, The request was for Congressional ac- a President's administrative ability had had never been fooled by experts in quiescence in America's first commitment come to be measured by the reputation fields he knew more about than eco- to South Vietnam. It was the considered of the White House staff for expertise; nomics. Throughout his political career, decision of Senators Russell and Johnson and with inescapable administrative de- he had known better than to let pundits to reject Dulles' request and immediately pendence on experts had come irresisti- and pollsters mislead him about elec- adjourn the 1954 session-in order to ble political incentives to operate behind tions. And early in his Congressional free themselves from further pressure a screen of continuity. A commitment to experience, he had learned to scrutinize from the President. As they were in- continuity with the source of his prede- military experts with tightly narrowed formed to their dismay a few weeks later, cessor's frustrations was enough to insu- eyes. From the day in 1937 when he their action prompted President Eisen- late a new President from blame if he arranged his assignment as a freshman hower's decision to initiate America's failed to solve problems he had inherit- member of the House to its Naval Affairs original involvement in Vietnam, with- ed. Although Kennedy lacked Johnson's Committee (as it then was), he began to out Congressional concurrence, through experience in auditing the propensity of build a distinctive if small power base the commitment of funds for which no military experts to err, he was quick to within the still tiny military establish- Congressional grant was required. To see that, just because they were a neces- ment; and his power there grew steadily Eisenhower's credit, he at least instructed sary evil, the safest experts to have on with the military's power over the Feder- Dulles to tell Russell and Johnson what display would be those whose presence al budget. At the climax of Johnson's he had done. A decade later, Johnson supported a plea of innocence by associa- Congressional career, his power was so would not be SO considerate. tion with Eisenhower. In other words, conspicuous that its sources were easily The military, who ended up being the experts Kennedy decided to depend overlooked or forgotten; and at the cli- held responsible for the Vietnam escala- on were the same ones who had per- max of his Presidential career, Johnson tion, never believed in-and always re- suaded Eisenhower to adopt their blue- was SO emotionally involved in the bitter sisted-the battle plan for a land war in prints for the liberation of Cuba. When controversy over the Vietnam war that to Asia, especially a war to be escalated on Kennedy took office, Eisenhower's name his critics-especially the younger ones the installment plan. It was Johnson still carried the imprimatur of authority -he seemed merely the dupe of the who ordered the step-up and at the same stamped on it during World War Two, "military-industrial-university complex." time restrained its effectiveness. the controversy over original sin in Viet- He was in some ways, though, much The dim view Johnson had learned to nam not yet having carried back far more its master. take of military expertise during his 23 enough to have compromised the reputa- While the generals and the admirals years in Congress was unforgettably con- tion for expertise he had brought home had learned to count on Johnson to be firmed during the first of his three years from Europe. At that time, he was still their best friend where preparedness was of captivity in the Vice-Presidency. As the principal military man in politics. concerned, they had also learned to fear John F. Kennedy's visible but silenced But the public wanted more than the him as their severest critic where unpre- partner, he saw from the inside the disas- assurance of continuity from Kennedy, paredness could be made an issue. Over trous Bay of Pigs episode, which was an whose success story, after all, announced the years, Senator Johnson used his stra- entrapment Kennedy had invited as the the long-awaited take-over by the now- result of his reliance upon military advi- mature post-War generation. The excite- tegic vantage point in the Congressional ment of change and the promise of establishment controlling military appro- sors whose credentials seemed unimpeach- priations to establish himself first as the able because they commanded bipartisan accomplishment were expected, too. How protégé of his seniors and then as "Mr. acceptance and enjoyed bipartisan con- to select the areas holding the promise of Defense Appropriations" in his own tinuity. According to Arthur M. Schles- new accomplishment, and how to differ- inger's definitive account of the Kennedy entiate them from the atmosphere of as- right, with whom those who wanted slices of the defense pie would have to Administration, A Thousand Days, Ken- sured continuity, always constitute the acid test of a new President's judgment. deal in order to get anything. Like the nedy exclaimed in uncharacteristically beadles in the New England Puritan illiterate dismay, "My God, the bunch of The sustained ring of Eisenhower's churches, who policed the aisles armed advisors we inherited. 1952 call for Peace and Prosperity limit- Can you im- ed Kennedy's freedom of action in 1961. with a double-purpose implement for tick- agine being President and leaving behind His choice of where to promise change ling dozing ladies and slapping dozing someone like all those people there?" and where to preserve continuity was gentlemen, Johnson used his large influ- Johnson felt entitled to add, "I told you dictated by the circumstances of his elec- ence over defense expenditures to favor so," and he made the point whenever the tion victory. Kennedy's youth had been a his allies, while simultaneously investigat- opportunity presented itself. Schlesinger decisive asset during the campaign of ing miscalculations by the beneficiaries of adds: "My impression is that, among 1960. The Affluent Society, whose Philis- this patronage inside the "Chair Corps," these advisors, the joint chiefs had dis- Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum tine achievements John Kenneth Gal- teams of "the best brains" was made to For 26 years Johnson had worked braith had memorialized during the order as a protective device for Johnson in complete isolation from the influ- quiet Eisenhower years, had become when his turn came to make the same ence of economists, while he built his ready for a cultural revolution, and Ken- choices between continuity and change. personal empire inside other people's nedy spoke with the voice it wanted to Ever since his emergence as a national power structures. Suddenly, he found him- hear. Kennedy found the Affluent Society figure, he had complained of his inabil- self catapulted into personal control of a taking Eisenhower's peace-keeping opera- ity to win credit for his accomplishments two-platoon team of economists-one tion for granted but complaining about -or to avoid blame for his methods. The playing by the rules of the old economics, the lean ration of the prosperity it deliv- rise of the expert as a priestly caste, the other by the rules of the new. The ered. By 1961, the country had come to privileged to administer power by advis- business and banking representatives- feel that it was stuck in a rut and it was ing politicians on the uses of power, devotees of the old economics-worried increasingly impatient with the Republi- offered him an overdue opportunity to about inflation and "fiscal responsibility." can Administration's obsessive fear of redress the inequity in his public rela- The academic types-advocates of the new inflation, an inflation that, in fact, was tions. Unfortunately, although Johnson economics-sought to extend the real suc- not to reach pernicious proportions for had learned the easy way what Kennedy cess of Keynes' contribution in preventing a decade after premonitions of it sent had learned the hard way-never to mass unemployment into a fanciful ability Eisenhower into a panic and prompted trust experts-he failed to apply his to "fine tune" the economy, as if the inter- him to permit the Federal Reserve Board knowledge beyond the specialized areas play between the way it performed and to plunge the country's markets into a where he knew enough to mistrust them. the way people expected it to perform recession in 1957. During the 1960 Presi- Johnson's approach to the Presidency could be governed by a computer. dential campaign, the overconservative was conditioned by the circumstances un- Johnson was shrewd enough to know der which he took over. As with Kenne- miscalculations of Eisenhower's eco- how to play on the politics of expecta- nomic advisors had swung the delicate dy before him, his chance of vaulting tions more expertly than the economists onto the right side of any potential plau- Election Day balance from Nixon's to had yet learned how to calculate the sibility gap hinged on his shrewdness in economics of expectations. On the tragic Kennedy's favor. The country was ready selecting areas of continuity and of night of Kennedy's assassination, when for the stir and bustle of inflation-in change. Johnson decided that continuity Johnson established his first connection ideals and aspirations as well as in in- called for a fight to put Kennedy's pro- across the airwaves with a shocked and comes and profits. Kennedy's memorable gram across and, meanwhile, to keep overwrought public, he was quick to campaign promise "to get the country Kennedy's expert staff-his link with shift his appeal from animal faith to the moving again" exploited popular dis- Kennedy's constituency. At the same less chancy area of the pocketbook. He satisfaction with Eisenhower's economic time, he bet that the demand for change passed from eulogy to practicality and, advisors and freed Kennedy from any would be satisfied by a demonstration by way of assuring the country that it temptation to select them or their eco- that he could succeed where Kennedy was going to "get moving again," he nomic theories as the area of continuity. had failed-first, in moving the compli- cited Dr. Pierre Rinfret, then still a At the same time, Kennedy's youth cated, inertia-bound machinery of govern- comparatively unknown young econo- had burdened him with a corresponding ment and, then, in winning the support mist, for his encouraging (and, as it liability. Johnson had blown it up to of business. Johnson killed both birds turned out, accurate) forecast that "capi- potentially embarrassing proportions in with one stone. Moreover, he got the tal expenditures in 1964 alone will be 20 his challenge to Kennedy's nomination stone back when he showed the country percent higher than last year." The in Los Angeles, where he warned that that he could produce a pragmatic con- country had been shocked into a state of "no man is qualified to be President in sensus within Washington. The evidence desperate susceptibility to any concrete that he did won him an emotional con- the nuclear age who does not have a reassurance that bore the mark of official- touch of gray in his hair." So while sensus outside Washington. Kennedy had dom. Johnson's stratagem worked. Kennedy selected his own advisory corps failed to keep his promise to get the "Follow the leader" being the name of of new economists to emphasize the country moving because he had failed to the game the Wall Street money manag- work with Congress. Johnson kept Ken- changes he meant to make, he elected to ers play, the stock market reacted to the nedy's promise because he managed with establish continuity with General Eisen- word that corporate management was Congress where Kennedy had not known hower's old team of military advisors to putting up its money by doing the same. how to try. show his maturity. Even after the Bay of The game even extended to Congress. Because Congress is oriented to serve Opinion on Capitol Hill took this joint Pigs, notwithstanding his angry outburst the special interests of its constituents, and spontaneous expression of confidence against Eisenhower for "leaving behind business is sympathetically oriented toward from corporate managements and investors someone like all those people there," Congress. Johnson's success with Con- as evidence that Johnson's persuasiveness, Kennedy disregarded the moral Schlesin- gress won him a double success with which they recalled so vividly, was work- ger reports that he drew from the deba- business. In fact, Johnson's success in winning the confidence of the business ing with businessmen as they had seen it cle his experts had organized. In fact, and financial establishment at the outset work in the Congressional cloakrooms. So Kennedy's failure to make a success of the Cuban liberation plan, formulated of his Presidency was so electrifying that it the legislative consensus decided that the by Eisenhower's military advisors, put prompted him to return the compliment old Johnson magic would prevail on and express his confidence in business- business to keep the money coming, and him in even greater need of the protec- by giving his confidence to its economic Congress jumped aboard the new Johnson tive cover of continuity after the Bay of advisors. Although Johnson regarded ex- band wagon, relieved to think that this in- Pigs than before. Consequently, he let them lead him further down the road perts on political theory with contempt, creasingly unpopular responsibility would that Eisenhower, disregarding the veto of and experts on military theory with suspi- no longer fall upon it. When the new Senators Russell and Johnson, had let the cion, he became vulnerable to the claims academic economists saw the business advisors pave for him into the Asiatic and presumptions of the fraternity of establishment lead Johnson's legislative land bog. economic advisors. Their more promi- cronies onto the band wagon, they made nent spokesmen commanded ready access the vote of confidence unanimous, on the The new practice of delegating Presi- dential responsibilities to specialized to him. practical enough assumption that, if Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum more business investment would substi- overestimated the capacity of the eco- ularly between economic and military ex- tute for more Government spending, the nomic mind to function in the political perts and their political clients-arises most fruitful contribution Government jungle under wartime conditions-espe- from the fact that the formulation of could make would, indeed, be the tax cially when it did not know that there policy generally requires an exercise in cut they had been advocating anyway. was a war on and when he had no qualitative analysis, while its implemen- Johnson's new best friends in the busi- intention of telling it that there was. tation at the working level always calls ness establishment and the Kennedy aca- The old saw about no one being able to for quantification by the technical staff. demics he inherited shared a common pull out of a hat anything that wasn't in But again and again, the politicians put enthusiasm for strong stock markets, the it to begin with applies to computers: their experts to work quantifying old corporate executives because they wanted No matter how high-powered they may problems after the politicians have already stock prices to go up enough to make be, their findings are only as usable as moved on to the formulation of new ones. their options worth exercising and the the premises that are fed into them. This was what went wrong during the Johnson jammed the computers of his new economists because they wanted formative phase of the Vietnam crisis. It economists by dictating the premises to their new boss to trust their recommen- be used. Little wonder that at the end he was where Johnson went wrong and it was dations. But if sometimes the two groups how he misled his experts. After he set felt disserved and actually cheated when agreed, other times they did not. At the out to win the war in Vietnam, he told the conclusions they fed back to "their outset, Johnson was not aware that he his economic advisors to take the measure- President" failed to alert him to the con- was better off when his old and his new sequences of his own deception. Clients ments of the Great Society-as if he economists disagreed, neutralizing each consult counsel at their peril when they meant to keep the war small enough to other and insuring him against the high fail to tell counsel what it must know in spare the economists the need to worry cost of acting on the advice of either. order to serve them. Johnson's arrogant about it. Moreover, he neglected to alert Not until it was too late for him to recoup his losses did he realize that any handling of his military advisors and his his economic advisors to the advice he time a President acts on a consensus of prayerful reliance on his economic coun- was getting from his military chiefs that old and new economists-as Johnson did selors exposed him to double jeopardy. the war was winnable. The patter of his Right down to his last day in office, his running dialog with the members of his in going all out for his ill-timed and generals took his orders as unflaggingly Pentagon team went on about "how ineffective surtax of 1968-he takes his as he took the advice of his economists. much more we need to do to scare them political life in his hands. The war was lost in Vietnam and the off" and "if we do a little more, maybe Where Johnson all along handled as- surances from the military with care, and Affluent Society was defeated at home- they'll back off." Bill Moyers, who was all because of what was essentially an er- Johnson's most intimate staff aide at that kept his military advisors on a tight rein from the day he took office (going as far ror in programing. stage of his Presidential career, and also The unmistakable mark of both pro- the one most alert to the entrapment during the Vietnam war as to veto deci- grammer and expert, as well as their threatening in Vietnam and most anx- sions on which hills to bomb and specify- fatal flaw, is a willingness to execute ious for a commitment of priorities to ing at what angles airmen were to circle authorized targets), he was as reckless at assignments rather than questioning the domestic welfare projects, looked back the outset in acting on the assurances of policy behind them. Errors on the part on what happened during that fateful his economic advisors as any eager stock- of the experts are generally small enough time as "an expression of the worst side to be quantitative and are more or less of Johnson's nature, as a commitment to market newcomer ever was in mistaking a hot tip as a certainty. Where Johnson's cheaply corrected without forcing sea action for action's sake. He got in too sophisticated sense of the military power changes in social direction. When the deep and kept getting in deeper," Moy- structure alerted him to the built-in class economic experts set their sights on a four ers recalled early in the Nixon Adminis- percent rate of unemployment among a tration, "without having any idea how distinction between presentation makers work force of 75,042,000 and a 31/2 percent he meant to get out." At the same time, and decision makers, his parting shot at rate results instead, the miscalculation the better side of Johnson's nature led Nixon's incoming Secretary of the Treas- stirs up more or less good-natured second- him to reach, with frenetic overenthu- ury revealed that he was unaware of a guessing among the professional frater- siasm, for sycophantic exercise in utopian- corresponding class distinction between nity, but no permanent harm is done and ism, publicized at the time as "the TVA advisors and chiefs in the financial pow- no upheaval is forced. But when the com- on the Mekong Delta." A former New er structure. Johnson made the double plaint is tolerated at the policy level and Deal assistant to Abe Fortas, by that time mistake of treating his military chiefs as the need for a cure is denied until the a permanent United Nations official, had if they were personal instruments whom numbers themselves become less important presented the Mekong Delta project to he could control once they were activat- than the condition of joblessness, the Johnson as reassurance that, like Roosevelt ed, while he treated his economic advi- problem outgrows the reach of quantita- before him, he could, indeed, keep his war sors as gurus whom he could count on for tive analysis and its solution becomes de- an authentic New Deal crusade. Of course, infallible guidance. pendent upon a new qualitative analysis- his economic advisors could meanwhile In short, Johnson behaved as if he by new policy makers. Social breakdowns have read in the public prints that Gen- were unaware of the existence of the war big enough to be demoralizing result from eral Goodpaster was insisting publicly, he was masterminding on his own pri- policy failures: like the Depression, these as all the generals were advising Johnson vate wires. Because he looked down on are breakdowns too big to need measuring. in private, that "Victory can be won in military expertise from his own experi- If experts at the computer-tending lev- Vietnam." ence of it, he underestimated the power el could only be assured that their clients As the great debate over Vietnam that gravitates to the military in time of at the policy-making level would ask flared up and superseded every other war, even when the orders they follow them the relevant questions, they could consideration, first establishing the war limit their freedom of action. And be- assure their clients that they would always as the issue and then focusing on John- cause Johnson looked up to economic come up with workable recommendations. son's plausibility as the issue overshad- expertise as long as he remained inno- The difficulty built into communication owing even the war, Johnson's most cent of firsthand experience of it, he between experts and their clients-partic- authoritative spokesman was Defense Sec- Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum retary Robert McNamara. By that time, to localize his Korean War militarily, of an American tradition, far predating McNamara had become de facto deputy even though his economic mobilization Lyndon Johnson. Slavery had represent- President by virtue of his self-advertised. for war represented a studied exercise in ed an obvious abuse; and, after the abo- officially respected and properly accepted expansion. Nevertheless, notwithstanding litionists and the moderates had finally reputation for expertise in quantitative the massive inflationary consequences of combined at great cost to legislate a analysis. McNamara employed the logic the Korean economic mobilization, the prohibition against it, it remained an of the computer to minimize the impor- crisis was limited in its military, political obvious abuse, but at least it was illegal. tance of Vietnam. The smaller he and economic consequences, SO that the In the post-Civil War era, big-business claimed it to be in public (while in test of strength in Korea did not weaken combinations had made too much of a private supporting the assertions of the the American social system to the point good thing for themselves and enough of generals that making it bigger was the of exposing it to an infection too viru- a bad thing for others to pose a problem. way to win it), the less of a diversion his lent to be confined. Legislation-all the way from the crea- tion of the Interstate Commerce Com- critics could charge it was from the man- The paradox of Johnson's Vietnam mission to the reduction of the tariff- date Johnson had won in 1964. Mc- war (he bitterly resented that designa- Namara's response to the passions stirred tion, insisting that it was "America's had promised to solve the problem. But, as the lawyers say, the case was won and up by the Administration's miscalcula- war" just as American opinion was repu- the client remained in litigation. tion in Vietnam was to present a ratio: diating the war) was that, while it re- The most celebrated fiasco of instant If the Gross National Product had come mained limited militarily, it did not lawmanship was staged during the com- to be counted in the hundreds of bil- remain limited socially. More paradoxical bined phase of synthetic hedonism and lions, the budgeted cost of Vietnam yet, the restraint that limited its military puritanical revival that maintained the could still be reckoned as a nominal scope was the very infection its economic "noble experiment," as it was called, in percentage (which he originally calculat- and intellectual backlash spread through the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. ed at nine percent when Vietnam was America's social system. The infection Alcoholism had been identified as a so- admitted to be costing only 20 billion proved fatal to Johnson's promise to cial abuse, and therefore the hoodlums dollars a year, and which he adjusted create a Great Society and, in the process, made common cause with the reformers downward by something like half when it killed America's older promise to ad- to pass a law that made the bootleggers the real cost of the war was admitted to minister the Pax Americana. rich and gave organized crime its start as be something like twice as much, justify- Because McNamara's appeal to the a major growth business. ing the statistical exercise because the quantitative logic of the computer ig- Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was resultant inflation had driven the Gross nored the qualitative logic of the spread addicted to instant lawmanship-it was National Product up more). If the budg- of a virulent infection, Johnson was un- sophisticated in its standard technique of eted cost of Vietnam was admittedly prepared to see his commitment to Viet- mobilizing redundant legislative programs creeping upward, McNamara argued, nam become so overpowering that it to fill the gap left by ineffective and self- nevertheless the Gross National Product reversed his domestic priorities and contradictory economic policies. Roose- was continuing to jump by tens of bil- frustrated his original commitments to velt's repeated response to evidence of lions at a time, guaranteeing to keep the stabilize the economy and to expand it to sluggishness in the economy was to pass burden minor. In other words, Mc- the ghetto. The ideals of America's Afflu- a new set of laws to create a new set of Namara invoked the very inflation Viet- ent Society had wandered far afield in the alphabet agencies, instead of groping for nam had irritated to talk down the decade since its age of innocence, when, simple policies that would avoid such alarm the war provoked and to demon- under the protective cover of Eisenhow- increasingly complicated and unworkable strate that its impact was easing when, in er's assurance of Peace and Prosperity. administrative complexes. Truman had fact, it was sharpening. Galbraith had discussed its conspicuous an alibi for his systematic retreat from Despite the pretensions of the war- virtues. Johnson's calculated exercise in policy making to slogan slinging while he game players, the logic of the computer political deception-no doubt it was also out-Roosevelted Roosevelt in his advocacy is singularly unsuited for analyzing the an exercise in personal self-deception- of instant lawmanship. He was happily complicated phenomenon of warmak- rationalized the propaganda about paci- spared the responsibility for administering ing. War is not an abstract hypothesis or fication in Vietnam as if Saigon could be the lost causes that he fought for during a rigorously rational proposition. Wars merchandised as a model city for democ- his term. and crises are infections, and their logic racy in the Asiatic jungle. This bet that When Eisenhower's turn came, he is the logic of pathology. The question it could doomed the hope that America hewed stubbornly to one policy line: about a war or a crisis arising from a war could finance model cities for itself in never to yield to the temptation to be is whether the head of the government time to shield its affluence from the de- drawn openly into a military engage- has the power to localize it-as, for ex- spair and violence latent in American ment. (His start-up venture in Vietnam ample, Bismarck demonstrated that he society. Johnson's miscalculations reversed was an exception to his policy only in had and as, in fact, Johnson admitted the terms of the test of strength he had substance, because the commitment was that he did not, when he and McNamara set out to impose on Vietnam. The ques- kept secret.) In the domestic area, he based their dealings with Russia on the tion he had originally posed-about how substituted drift for both policies and assumption that she would take time out long North Vietnam could stand the strain programs. from arming his enemy to end his war -became the question he forced America Kennedy had captured the imagina- for him. A war is the military equivalent to ponder for itself. tion of the country on TV at a time of of an infection. If localized, it calms Johnson's failure, which led to Nixon's critical transition from the years of Eisen- down and is forgotten; if not, it flares up take-over, confronted not merely Nixon hower's passivity, when the overorganiza- and becomes a carrier of poison through- but every participant in the crisis over tion of society had left the individuals in out the system. McNamara's blunder lay which Nixon found himself presiding. it haunted by a sense of inadequacy, if in confusing the algebra measuring the Johnson had left a legacy of "instant not downright irrelevance. At the level infected area with the pathology of the lawmanship": Pass a law and solve a infectious process. Truman had managed of popular fantasy, Jack and Jackie had problem. Actually, this was something staged a revival of the glamorous legend Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum of Camelot, in modern dress and in real bers depended on television for their violence ordered from Washington could life, for everyone to see. To their fellow connection with the worlds of both reality hope to rule it. But as long as the Big adventurers in opinion making, they had and make-believe. A continuous circus was Society looked better than it was and promised, as Gloria Steinem said, nothing staged. The spectators could not be manip- had a chance to grow into a Great Socie- less than a new Periclean age. ulated by rations of bread-they had all ty without falling apart, Johnson was Like Kennedy, Johnson started out by the cake they could eat. free to govern its members, to keep his capturing the imagination of the coun- Every man's home had become a castle mandate and to hold the Affluent Society try. Unlike Kennedy, he owed the hold crackling with power. Every man could together as a going society. It was intelli- he won on public confidence to no glam- play at being a king, sitting in front of gible philosophically and it was doable orous posturings. On the contrary, his the tube, enforcing his decrees on politi- politically. It was not too good to be personality was downright repulsive, em- cians, policies, products and the pollsters true, but it did depend on what Lyndon bodying the typical television watcher's who rate them all. The kingfish in the Johnson's sponsor and mentor, Franklin caricature of a political wheeler-dealer. White House was on notice that any Roosevelt, liked to call "an iffy proposi- But for just this reason, Johnson gener- management failure on his part would tion." For the trouble was that the inde- ated a distinctive and respectful appeal, turn the lonely crowd into a lynch mob. pendence that the Affluent Society gave which was irresistible while it lasted. To keep them quiet and watching from its President from the politics of princi- The public's confidence in Johnson last- outside the orbit of power, a manipula- ple left him dependent on the experts ed as long as Johnson's political magic tor was wanted at its center-and, in the who dominated the practical mechanics worked where it counted-with Congress person of Lyndon Johnson, he was ap- -specifically those of fiscal politics. Po- -and not a day longer. Kennedy had preciated for what he was as long as he litically, Johnson was as vulnerable to represented a reversion to the Truman functioned as what he was. Before the violent change as he seemed invulnera- technique of instant lawmanship advo- loose alliance of the establishment of ble, as long as he operated behind the cated but not passed-and thus not bigness-beginning with Big Govern- façade of continuity. Socially, the veneer needing to be administered. Johnson ment, including Big Business, Big Labor, of the Affluent Society was as flimsy as it represented a reversion to Roosevelt's Big Agriculture, and by no means ex- seemed solid. When the political storm reliance upon legislative overkill; like cluding Big Education and Big Welfare that drove Johnson from power cracked Roosevelt, Johnson got his laws passed, -faced the challenge to grow into the society's surface, it revealed a whirl of and thus was held responsible for admin- Great Society, it had come to be held confusion and activity against a back- istering them. And like Roosevelt, John- together by the belief that a master poli- ground that was big, rich and prone to son ran his version of instant lawmanship tician could be trusted to hold it together violence-but no longer a society. without policy guidance. No one could and by the evidence that the economic Johnson's failure determined the shape have passed more laws than Johnson, but pudding being enjoyed by everyone had of the challenge Richard Nixon found the policies he stumbled into finally ne- been baked by the experts who talked awaiting him. In assessing the options gated the benevolent thrust of them all. only to him. Earlier societies had tried and open to him for selecting the areas of Looking back on Johnson's 1964 hon- failed to fulfill the promise of continuous continuity and change, instant lawman- movement toward a better life for their eymoon with Congress, while he was still ship obviously seemed the course to avoid. citizens. But they, less ambitious than persuading his former associates to legis- For after a full generation of growth, the Affluent Society, had aspired merely late Kennedy's programs, one after the the apparatus of Big Government had to continuous betterment, not absolute other, Daniel Patrick Moynihan recalled taken on elephantine proportions. Every greatness. one of its functions-from the making that what surfaced as the all-important In order to tranquilize and lead the of strategic policy to manning the end- poverty legislation "represented not a Affluent Society, Johnson needed only to less crazy quilt of duplicative and com- choice among policies so much as a finance his programs to provide policy peting welfare agencies, and including the collection of them." Legislative action continuity for his experts and atmospher- agencies wielding the authority to regu- for action's sake, Moynihan complained, ic continuity for his crowd of silent fol- late the various sectors of the economy came to dominate a program-packaging lowers. The mechanics of fiscal politics and to finance the Government-had lost operation, SO that priority of purpose had replaced the need for any philoso- the capacity to work with one another, was lost in the ensuing shuffle of excite- phy of social purpose-that is, as long as much less to work toward the solution of ment. the mechanics of fiscal politics worked. the problems plaguing American society. The average voters who gave Johnson The mechanics of fiscal politics had Kennedy's characteristically ironical com- a good "job rating"-until they turned become the crucial framework holding plaint, uttered in reaction to his own against him and wanted him fired-did the Affluent Society together as the plau- recognition that his Administration was not know how Johnson did his job any sible precursor to that Great Society over developing into an exercise in showman- more than he knew how to explain it the horizon. And, for a brief time, fiscal ship rather than performance, was that the to them. They were the members of politics did work, in miraculous defiance President, although expected to run the what David Riesman called "the lonely of remembered assertions and expected Government, could no longer even find crowd"; and they participated in its reassertions about the economic equiva- out what was going on inside it. Johnson moods and decisions in the solitary con- lent of the law of gravity. Suddenly, finement of their living rooms, linked to subsequently insisted that he not only what went up did not come crashing could manage Government by meddling one another, to the White House and to down. As long as these policies worked, in it at all levels but that he meant to the violence in Vietnam and in the the momentum of money flows animating know every last detail of what was going streets by the television tube. The insti- the economy was accepted as a reliable tutionalization of the modern television on inside it, right down to what he could measure of the effectiveness of national audience built a sensitive and continu- fathom from personal scrutiny of the purpose. ous new dependence on political man- daily logs the White House drivers If, however, the methods of politics turned in, in order that he might check agement into economic society. Many once failed to finance the continuous up on who had been driven where and provocative old themes and slogans won circus, and if the lonely, well-fed, well- when. The reaction of the Nixon Ad- an uneasy new lease on life-subject to housed, tranquilized, respectable army ministration was less personal and more the moods and whims of the well-fed, participating in the TV fun turned vio- in keeping with the professional charac- respectable, tranquilized mob whose mem- lent and took to the streets, no counter- ter of auditors; namely, that merely to Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum identify the endless administrative arms Nixon was shrewd enough to opt for of the Federal apparatus was enough to policy making as the source of his own explain the impossibility of making any expertise. He stood pat on programs and of them work. concentrated on finding policy priorities. In an interview I published with Dr. The prudence that prompted Nixon to Arthur Burns, President Nixon's counse- draw back from the expected speculation lor, in the May 8, 1969, Chicago Tribune, on instant lawmanship drew critical fire. Burns summed up a new Administration's But his selection of priorities drew the problems in this way: lines of battle for the 1972 Presidential There is an extraordinary conti- contest before 1969 was many months nuity in American government. This old. "Do-nothingism" was not the issue is both good and bad. A new Ad- raised against Nixon. On balance, he ministration appoints new Cabinet had far and away the winning side of the members. They come from all walks argument provoked by his renunciation of life and at the start know very of instant lawmanship. His critics bene- little about the intricacies of their fited from the freedom his emphasis on new jobs. They depend on assistants policy gave them to concentrate their fire to fill them in, and these in turn on his priorities; and his policy-making depend on their assistants. Conse- operation benefited reciprocally from their quently, you get a cadre of career criticism. The old war he had inherited staff people who stay on from Ad- in Vietnam started out claiming his top ministration to Administration and priority; and the new war he had pro- provide continuity. The drawback is claimed against inflation claimed his that they become entrenched and second priority. "People" finished a poor given to doing things in their own third. But the experts in each area way, so that when a new Cabinet finished first-both in the department of member wants to make changes, he policy making and in the department of has trouble getting his staff to go policy implementation, where the ex- along. perts are pre-eminent. Altogether, there- The pendulum had, indeed, swung fore, while Nixon's strategy for harnessing since Roosevelt had set out in 1933 to the uses of Presidential power benefited make Government effective by giving it from Johnson's failure, he himself had more jobs to do. Nixon set out to make ignored Johnson's advice. Government more effective by stripping it down to workable simplicity. The root of the difficulties Nixon faced grew from three decades of simplistic faith in in- stant lawmanship. Each new assurance, from Roosevelt to Johnson, that a prob- lem had been solved because a law had been passed achieved a brief public-rela- tions success for the lawmaker; and each success transferred the burden of respon- sibility-and the onus of prospective bankruptcy-to the innocent and help- less arms of the bureaucratic octopus charged with fulfilling the promises of instant lawmanship. Roosevelt made the most of this buck-passing process to shift the burden of responsibility from his Presidency to the Government bureaus for which the people's Congress appro- priated their money. In his Senate days, Johnson had parlayed his power-oriented legislative leadership and a passive Presi- dency into an empire strong enough to supplement, if not actually to rival, the Presidency itself. But when he fell heir to the Presidency, he, too, exploited the technique of instant lawmanship to saddle the executive apparatus with the respon- sibility for future aimlessness of purpose and paralysis of function. The achieve- ments of instant lawmanship proved easi- er to legislate than to operate. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum FORMAT -- PRESIDENTIAL MEETING BRIEF THE WHITE house WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM FOR: THE PRESIDENT SUBJECT: Meeting with (Name of Individual or Group) September 26, 1969 (Date) 10:00 a. m. (20 minutes) (Time meeting to start and, in parenthesis, time allotted for President's participation) I. PURPOSE State concisely (in one or two sentences) the true purpose or purposes of the meeting. II. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS, AND PRESS PLAN A. Background: Pertinent general background information 'which you feel the President should be aware of before the meeting ... if any. But include here at least a short statement telling who requested the meeting. If necessary to submit more than 3-4 sentences of back- ground information, attach other than the most essential details at a Tab, and so indicate. B. Participants: A listing of all programmed participants and a very brief identification of each. List too the name(s) of the staff mem- ber(s) who will sit in. (Always confirm these names with Mr. Chapin's office during final preparation of the paper.) If there are to be more than 5 total participants, attach the list of names at a Tab, and so indicate. When the President should know of particular personal matters relevant to one or more of the participants, such information should be included in this section. C. Press Plan: State very simply the press plan which has been coor- dinated and approved; for example "There will be a brief photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting, and Messrs. Shultz and Ehrlichman will brief the press afterward" or "Ollic Atkins will take 2-3 quick photos" or "After a mid-meeting photo opportunity you will state to the press the purpose of the conference and the goals of the two task forces" or "No photos; no press Reproduced atlthe Richard Presidential Library and Museum 11 with Mr. Ziegler, FORMAT -- PRESIDENTIAL MEETING BRIEF THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM FOR: THE PRESIDENT SUBJECT: Meeting with (Name of Individual or Group) September 26, 1969 (Date) 10:00 a. m. (20 minutes) (Time meeting to start and, in parenthesis, time allotted for President's participation) I. PURPOSE State concisely (in one or two sentences) the true purpose or purposes of the meeting. II. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS, AND PRESS PLAN A. Background: Pertinent general background information 'which you feel the President should be aware of before the meeting ... if any. But include here at least a short statement telling who requested the meeting. If necessary to submit more than 3-4 sentences of back- ground information, attach other than the most essential details at a Tab, and so indicate. B. Participants: A listing of all programmed participants and a very brief identification of each. List too the name(s) of the staff mem- ber(s) who will sit in. (Always confirm these names with Mr. Chapin's office during final preparation of the paper.) If there are to be more than 5 total participants, attach the list of names at a Tab, and so indicate. When the President should know of particular personal matters relevant to one or more of the participants, such information should be included in this section. C. Press Plan: State very simply the press plan which has been coor- dinated and approved; for example -- "There will be a brief photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting, and Messrs. Shultz and Ehrlichman will brief the press afterward" .... or "Ollie Atkins will take 2-3 quick photos" or "After a mid-meeting photo opportunity you will state to the press the purpose of the conference and the goals of the two task forces" or "No photos; no press involvement. If (Always confirm the "press plan" with Mr. Ziegler, Mr. Warren, or Mr. Whelihan during final preparation of the paper. ) Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum NOTE: Continue numbering in order, but beyond this point include only the appropriate sections. III. ACTION SEQUENCE (optional) This section is applicable when the designated meeting place is other than the President's Oval Office .... or when a programmed Oval Office meeting is to involve actions which vary significantly from those which are considered "standard". When including this section, you should strive to make the President fully aware of the precise chronology of planned major and minor events -- with the emphasis, of course, on his actions. IV. PROBABLE TALKING POINTS (or POINTS OF DISCUSSION) OF (optional) VISITOR(S), AND RECOMMENDED RESPONSES (RR) A. A major talking point or point of discussion which you expect the visitor to bring up. RR: State concisely the response recommended for the President. B. A second major topic, talking point or point of discussion. If you think it essential that the President have more information on these items than the basic briefing paper will permit, attach the material at a Tab, and so indicate. RR: It will be the responsibility of the person preparing the brief to insure that recommended responses are well- staffed, i.e. that they reflect the judgments of appro- priate staff and Cabinet members. V. RECOMMENDED TALKING POINTS (or POINTS OF DISCUSSION) (optional) A. Identify a recommended talking point or point of discussion prefe ably in words sufficient only to convey the thought or idea. B. Identify the next topic or talking point. VI. OTHER POINTS YOU MAY WISH TO RAISE (optional) A. A statement relative perhaps to a personal matter if the President's mentioning the subject will serve a worthwhile purpose. B. A word or two about a particular administration program or policy, or about a legislative matter, when doing so will be beneficial. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum VII. ISSUES (TOPICS, POINTS, ITEMS, etc. ) TO AVOID (optional) A. Cite only those subjects which should not be discussed (or mentioned). B. State the reason(s) for your word of caution if you believe that information will be important to the President. VIII. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (optional) This section should be used only when it becomes necessary, or appears prudent, to add something (a point of discussion, a reminder, an important information item, etc.) to the paper after its final preparation and typing. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum FORMAT - - PRESIDENTIAL MEETING BRIEF THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM FOR: THE PRESIDENT SUBJECT: Meeting with (Name of Individual or Group) September 26, 1969 (Date) 10:00 a. m. (20 minutes) (Time meeting to start and, in parenthesis, time allotted for President's participation) I. PURPOSE State concisely (in one or two sentences) the true purpose or purposes of the meeting. II. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS, AND PRESS PLAN A. Background: Pertinent general background information 'which you feel the President should be aware of before the meeting ... if any. But include here at least a short statement telling who requested the meeting. If necessary to submit more than 3-4 sentences of back- ground information, attach other than the most essential details at a Tab, and so indicate. B. Participants: A listing of all programmed participants and a very brief identification of each. List too the name(s) of the staff mem- ber(s) who will sit in. (Always confirm these names with Mr. Chapin's office during final preparation of the paper.) If there are to be more than 5 total participants, attach the list of names at a Tab, and so indicate. When the President should know of particular personal matters relevant to one or more of the participants, such information should be included in this section. C. Press Plan: State very simply the press plan which has been coor- dinated and approved; for example - - "There will be a brief photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting, and Messrs. Shultz and Ehrlichman will brief the press afterward" or "Ollie Atkins will take 2-3 quick photos" or "After a mid-meeting photo opportunity you will state to the press the purpose of the conference and the goals of the two task forces" or "No photos; no press involvement. 11 (Always confirm the "press plan" with Mr. Ziegler, Mr. War Reproduced the Richard Nixon PresidentialiLibrary and Museum paration of the paper. ) NOTE: Continue numbering in order, but beyond this point include only the appropriate sections. III. ACTION SEQUENCE (optional) This section is applicable when the designated meeting place is other than the President's Oval Office or when a programmed Oval Office meeting is to involve actions which vary significantly from those which are considered "standard". When including this section, you should strive to make the President fully aware of the precise chronology of planned major and minor events - - with the emphasis, of course, on his actions. IV. PROBABLE TALKING POINTS (or POINTS OF DISCUSSION) OF (optional) VISITOR(S), AND RECOMMENDED RESPONSES (RR) A. A major talking point or point of discussion which you expect the visitor to bring up. RR: State concisely the response recommended for the President. B. A second major topic, talking point or point of discussion. If you think it essential that the President have more information on these items than the basic briefing paper will permit, attach the material at a Tab, and so indicate. RR: It will be the responsibility of the person preparing the brief to insure that recommended responses are well- staffed, i.e. that they reflect the judgments of appro- priate staff and Cabinet members. V. RECOMMENDED TALKING POINTS (or POINTS OF DISCUSSION) (optional) A. Identify a recommended talking point or point of discussion prefe ably in words sufficient only to convey the thought or idea. B. Identify the next topic or talking point. VI. OTHER POINTS YOU MAY WISH TO RAISE (optional) A. A statement relative perhaps to a personal matter if the President's mentioning the subject will serve a worthwhile purpose. B. A word or two about a particular administration program or policy, or about a legislative matter, when doing so will be beneficial. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum VII. ISSUES (TOPICS, POINTS, ITEMS, etc. ) TO AVOID optional) A. Cite only those subjects which should not be discussed ... (or mentioned). B. State the reason(s) for your word of caution if you believe that information will be important to the President. VIII. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (optional) This section should be used only when it becomes necessary, or appears prudent, to add something (a point of discussion, a reminder, an important information item, etc.) to the paper after its final preparation and typing. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum FORMAT - - PRESIDENTIAL MEETING BRIEF THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM FOR: THE PRESIDENT SUBJECT: Meeting with (Name of Individual or Group) September 26, 1969 (Date) 10:00 a. m. (20 minutes) (Time meeting to start and, in parenthesis, time allotted for President's participation) I. PURPOSE State concisely (in one or two sentences) the true purpose or purposes of the meeting. II. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS, AND PRESS PLAN A. Background: Pertinent general background information 'which you feel the President should be aware of before the meeting ... if any. But include here at least a short statement telling who requested the meeting. If necessary to submit more than 3-4 sentences of back- ground information, attach other than the most essential details at a Tab, and so indicate. B. Participants: A listing of all programmed participants and a very brief identification of each. List too the name(s) of the staff mem- ber(s) who will sit in. (Always confirm these names with Mr. Chapin's office during final preparation of the paper.) If there are to be more than 5 total participants, attach the list of names at a Tab, and SO indicate. When the President should know of particular personal matters relevant to one or more of the participants, such information should be included in this section. C. Press Plan: State very simply the press plan which has been coor- dinated and approved; for example -- "There will be a brief photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting, and Messrs. Shultz and Ehrlichman will brief the press afterward" or "Ollie Atkins will take 2-3 quick photos" or "After a mid-meeting photo opportunity you will state to the press the purpose of the conference and the goals of the two task forces" or "No photos; no press involvement. 11 (Always confirm the "press plan" with Mr. Ziegler, Mr. War Reproduced at the Richard Nixon and Museum paration of the paper. ) NOTE: Continue numbering in order, but beyond this point include only the appropriate sections. III. ACTION SEQUENCE (optional) This section is applicable when the designated meeting place is other than the President's Oval Office or when a programmed Oval Office meeting is to involve actions which vary significantly from those which are considered "standard". When including this section, you should strive to make the President fully aware of the precise chronology of planned major and minor events -- with the emphasis, of course, on his actions. IV. PROBABLE TALKING POINTS (or POINTS OF DISCUSSION) OF (optional) VISITOR(S), AND RECOMMENDED RESPONSES (RR) A. A major talking point or point of discussion which you expect the visitor to bring up. RR: State concisely the response recommended for the President. B. A second major topic, talking point or point of discussion. If you think it essential that the President have more information on these items than the basic briefing paper will permit, attach the material at a Tab, and so indicate. RR: It will be the responsibility of the person preparing the brief to insure that recommended responses are well- staffed, i.e. that they reflect the judgments of appro- priate staff and Cabinet members. V. RECOMMENDED TALKING POINTS (or POINTS OF DISCUSSION) (optional) A. Identify a recommended talking point or point of discussion prefe ably in words sufficient only to convey the thought or idea. B. Identify the next topic or talking point. VI. OTHER POINTS YOU MAY WISH TO RAISE (optional) A. A statement relative perhaps to a personal matter if the President's mentioning the subject will serve a worthwhile purpose. B. A word or two about a particular administration program or policy, or about a legislative matter, when doing so will be beneficial. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum VII. ISSUES (TOPICS, POINTS, ITEMS, etc. ) TO AVOID optional) A. Cite only those subjects which should not be discussed ... (or mentioned). B. State the reason(s) for your word of caution if you believe that information will be important to the President. VIII. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (optional) This section should be used only when it becomes necessary, or appears prudent, to add something (a point of discussion, a reminder, an important information item, etc.) to the paper after its final preparation and typing. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum MEMORANDUM THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON October 9, 1969 TO: JOHN EHRLICHMAN FROM: BUD KROGH air SUBJECT: SIX MONTH OBJECTIVES I DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA A. To insure that the subway and freeway systems proceed according to schedule. B. To rectify current unacceptable staffing in the District of Columbia Government. C. To pursue all measures available to reduce crime in the District of Columbia. II JUSTICE DEPARTMENT A. To urge quick implementation of improving correctional techniques in the federal penal system. B. To insure that a high-level effort to curtail heroin smuggling is begun and showing substantial results by the six months period ending in April. III INTERIOR A. To develop a comprehensive effort on environmental improvement working with OST and other departments as well as Interior. To insure that a satisfactory structure is located in the Executive Office of the President which can consider broad-gauge environmental questions. B. To put together an effective water pollution abatement program con- sistent with our budgetary restrictions. IV TRANSPORTATION A. To insure that legislation to increase the weight, width, and length of buses and trucks is not based on any form inconsistent with the President's position. B. To follow implementation of the urban mass-transit program intro- duced by the President in July. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum MEMORANDUM THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON October 9, 1969 TO: TOD HULLIN FROM: EDWARD L. MORGAN SUBJECT: SIX MONTH OBJECTIVES The following are the most important goals and objectives of this office for the coming six-month period, October '69 through March '70; 1. Complete hearings on Welfare legislation 2. Evaluate interim reports on, and determine future course for: Ghetto Insurance Drugs under Medicare 3. Complete proposals for revamping the service provisions of the Social Security Act 4. Complete the President's 1969 tax return and transfer all bookeeping to Kalmbach's office. 5. Complete appraisal of Presidential Papers 6. Present for the President's signature a new Executive Order on Emergency Preparedness 7. Continue review of Executive Orders, CAB Recommendations, and other legal matters referred to this office for handling. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum MEMORANDUM THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON October 9, 1969 TO: JOHN EHRLICHMAN FROM: HENRY C. CASHEN II SUBJECT: Six-Month Objectives 1. Better and more efficient coordination and cooperation between the various departments and agencies and the White House. This would include framing Administration policy, resolution of interagency conflicts, clearing testimony, etc. Generally, insure that we know what the departments are doing before it happens and also that the departments know where to go at the White House to present their problems. 2. An evaluation of the present model cities program to determine (a) whether the program can be improved and exist successfully; or (b) whether it should be slowly phased out. A good deal of this will depend upon the report of the Banfield task force and give us leverage to move either way. 3. Determination as to whether the antitrust policy presently voiced by Justice is headed in the right direction and if not how should the policy be so adjusted to reflect Administration positions. McLaren, Commerce and the Council of Economic Advisers all being queried. 4. Continued coordination with the BOB and the departments and agencies to do whatever possible to remain within the projected fiscal budgets. **** This list could keep going with issue comments but as we have discussed paragraph 1 presents our basic objective. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum MEMORANDUM THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON October 10, 1969 FOR: Alex Butterfield FROM: Bud Wilkinson The goals for this office during the next six months are as follows: 1. To bring into being the recommendations of our memorandum to the President of September 18, 1969, urging the establishment of youth affairs offices in the appropriate departments and agencies, and the creation of a quasi-governmental youth council. 2. To develop a basic Administration policy on the misuse of drugs that would be supported by all concerned departments and agencies. (I chair an ad hoc committee on drug abuse that is now working on this problem.) In addition, this office will see that the Ad Council's campaign on drug abuse gets under way. 3. To work closely with Secretary Romney to see that the National Program of Voluntary Action is launched in the near future. This office will continue to direct the college volunteer program until the National Program can take it over. 4. To be sure that the 1970 White House Conference on Children and Youth is organized effectively and focuses on meaningful problems. We have already made considerable progress on this point. 5. To oversee the operations of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which must report to the President by July 4, 1970. 6. To work with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the sports federations and the AAU to settle the current athletic controversy. (We are now working on our plan to solve the problem, and are prepared to supply full details.) 7. If approved by the White House, to set up a plan for visits to various campuses by appropriate White House staff members. 8. To develop more effective summer programs for the President's Council on Youth Opportunity. (I now serve as vice chairman of the Council.) Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum Mr. Alexander Butterfield-- - -2 October 10, 1969 9. To improve the executive intern and White House intern programs for next summer. 10. To continue to represent the Administration through political speeches and appearances on TV shows. Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum RICHARD NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY DOCUMENT CONTROL SHEET ITEM REMOVED FROM THIS FOLDER A RESTRICTED DOCUMENT OR CASE FILE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THIS FILE FOLDER. FOR A DESCRIPTION OF THE ITEM REMOVED AND THE REASON FOR ITS REMOVAL, CONSULT DOCUMENT ENTRY NUMBER 3 ON THE DOCUMENT WITHDRAWAL RECORD IN THE FRONT OF THIS FILE FOLDER. NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum TO: ALEX BUTTERFIELD (For the President) FROM: P. J. BUCHANAN NEWS SUMMARY November 29, 1969 (AP & UPI, 11/27) VIETNAM The S. Vietnamese government repeated that it will never accept a coalition government in any form or grant territorial concessions to the Viet Cong. The Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a statement to clear up what it termed a misunderstanding of remarks by Ambassador Lodge after the Paris talks Wednesday. * * Izvestia blamed "the highest authorities of the U.S." for the alleged massacre. Izvestia also said the incident was not "the sole case of genocide" com- mitted by U.S. troops in Vietnam. "If we are to trace the whole chain of events, it was the highest authorities of the United States that were behind Lieutenant Calley, 11 the paper said. * * Cyrus Eaton said he is going to Hanoi "to find out what the U.S. should do to end the war. 11 * * Theodore Sorensen said he fears the alleged massacre may tend to revive isolationism "as the details sink into the American public. " "The people did not fully grasp the horror of what happened in at least one village and possibly in others, " Sorensen said. "I am afraid America may have already lost her soul. " * * Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum 2 Porno publisher Ralph Ginzburg accused the Army with refusing to investigate charges that American helicopter pilots have been killing Vietnamese civilians "for sport. " Ginzburg said the charges were made in a 1967 article in his avant-garde magazine, "But were completely ignored. 11 "Apparently the Army wanted to hush up the charges in the same way that it hushed up the Song My massacre for nearly two years, " Ginzburg said. * * A former infantryman says he "witnessed many civilians being shot down like clay pigeons" while he served in the Chu Lai area. In one incident U.S. troops "shot into the village at people walking around. There you are with machine guns and they have none. " Afterward, Reid said, "We counted 60 dead bodies -- women, children and maybe a few old and decrepit men. " He said that he witnessed action by U.S. soldiers that "turned my stomach. 11 "I, with many of my comrades, had seen at least 100 Vietnamese lying in rice paddies shot -- women taken for inter- course and then shot. A private cannot get up and say what he thinks. You are a puppet on a string, especially in a war zone. What I learned out of war is that man does what he believes in. If I had been a man, I probably would have gone to jail for five years. So I played the game in order to get home. 11 * * * * NATO Brussels the US and its Western Allies plan a new peace bid to the Soviet Union to end the cold war in Europe, responsible Western allied sources said. They will do SO at the annual session of NATO Dec. 3-5. The Alliance plans to call on the Soviets and their Warsaw pact allies to join it in balanced mutual reduction of armed forces on both sides of the Iron Curtain in Europe. It also will call on Moscow to join in a serious effort to reduce the causes of East- West tensions on the continent. * * * Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum 3 MIDEAST London diplomatic sources said US-USSR efforts to work out a joint peace formula for the Middle East have all but foundered. Prospects for any early successful initiatives by the two powers are dim in view of the worsening of the Arab-Israeli crisis. * HUNGER Dr. Mayer has warned the head of a private anti- hunger organization that it could lose its tax-exempt status if it continues to attack White House aides and Congressmen. The warning went to John Kramer, Executive Director of the National Council on Hunger and Malnutrition. An exchange of sharply worded letters between the two was made public by the Wash. Star. "I think the time has come, " Kramer wrote Mayer, "for you to decide whether your con- ference, as opposed to the rest of the government, is going to be closed society. That is the policy adopted in June when you excluded everybody but your close personal friends from the planning structure for the conference Mayer said Kramer was complaining that he was not involved. He also said that Kramer told him "that you disliked our national administration so much that you hated to think of anything it did succeeding, even the conference. You have followed up your candid statement with a most thorough hatchet job. 11 * * FCC The FCC absolved the Post-Newsweek radio and tele- vision stations of charges of news distortion and undue concentration of media control. It voted 5-0 to renew for three years the licenses of WTOP-AM, FM and TV. The stations are owned by the Washington Post. * * AGNEW The ACLU said Vice President Agnew's criticisms of the media represent "a deliberate and concerted attack. on a central American freedom. " The ACLU letter to "friends of the first amendment" Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum 4 said Agnew's attacks indicate he and his supporters "either do not understand or do not believe in the free press. 11 It asked newsmen and editors to "stand firm in their rights to resist pressures from the government which intrudes upon professional news judgment. " * * 55% questioned in a Sindlinger poll said they believed VP Agnew was doing a good job as Vice President and agreed with his attacks on network news. 86% cor- rectly identified Agnew as Vice President or a govern- ment official. 14% said he was doing a bad job overall and 31% gave no opinion. * * * * MINERS Government investigators said that United Mine Workers president Tony Boyle raised salaries of some union officials without the required approval of the Executive Board. The Labor Department also said that union officials were routinely approved for unvarified expenses. In addition, the Department reported that the top three union officers had set up a $1. 5 million fund to give themselves retirement pensions at full salary, and that a number of relatives of Boyle, other top union officers were on the union payroll. * * * * COUR T At least three women are among those being considered for nomination to the Supreme Court now that Haynsworth has been rejected, Attorney General Mitchell said. Mitchell said he believes a law against appointing members of Congress to positions for which they have voted a pay raise would rule any lawmaker out. "If you had a college professor, you wouldn't have the same problem of going through Court cases for possible conflict, 11 Mitchell said. He quickly added that no inference should be drawn that a non- Judge was a frontrunner for the nomination. * * Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum 5 The Attorney General smilingly attributed the contro- versial comments of his wife about "liberal com- munists" to the fact "she doesn't understand the vernacular. 11 He said he had read some of the letters to the editor in the Washington Post about Mrs. Mitchell and chuckled over one which compared her to Marie Antoinette. * * James Allison, Deputy Chairman of the RNC, said he thinks Mrs. Mitchell "went a little too far" in quoting her husband. * * * * FESTIVAL Gov. Kirk paid a call on thousands of youths massed for a mud-bogged rock festival and ordered one of them arrested with a warning that he wouldn't tolerate Florida becoming a playground for hippies. He ordered the boy's arrest following a brief conversa- tion in which he asked the long-haired youngster how he felt. The teenager responded "pretty good" but refused to tell Kirk where he was from. "Take him," said Kirk, gesturing to the sheriff. "These kids think they can play in Florida, 11 Kirk said. "Well, they are wrong. You can't play anywhere in this State or in Palm Beach County. 11 (also reported by CBS) * * * Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON SENSITIVE December 3, 1969 MEMORANDUM FOR ALEX BUTTERFIELD FROM: Al Haig SUBJECT: Additional Information on My Lai Incident Attached are some additional chronologies on the Department of the Army's handling of the My Lai incident. Attachment SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C. 3 December 1969 SENSITIVE Captain Murphy: Attached, in response to your request, are two chronologies: 1. IG investigation into the My Lai (4) incident, and 2. CID phase of the My Lai (4) incident. K. B. Cooper, Colonel, GS Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Army SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential SENSITRE 1 December 1969 SUBJECT: IG Investigation into My Lai (4) Incident The Secretary of the General Staff referred Mr. Ronald L. Ridenhour's letter to the Inspector General on 23 April 1969 and directed him to conduct an investigation concerning the allegations contained in the letter and related matters. The Inspector General's investigation was conducted by Colonel William V. Wilson, one of the three field inspectors in the Office of The Inspector General, between 23 April and 4 August 1969. It resulted in the collection of more than 1000 pages of testimony and the referral of the case to The Provost Marshal General. A total of thirty-six (36) witnesses (twelve (12) civilians and twenty- four (24) military) from all parts of the country were questioned during The Inspector General's investigation. Discussion Following the referral of Ridenhour's letter to The Inspector General on 23 April, the investigation proceeded as rapidly as could be expected. Ridenhour was interviewed in Phoenix, Arizona, on 29 April, Gruver (3 May - Oklahoma City); Terry (2 May - Orem, Utah); Doherty (5 May - Fort Hood, Texas), LaCroix (2 May - Fort Carson, Colorado); and Bernhardt (8 May - The Pentagon), all of whom were referred to in Ridenhour's letter were interviewed shortly thereafter. During the course of Colonel Wilson's investigation, he learned the names of other possible witnesses. It took a SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE substantial amount of time to interview these individuals, particularly in view of the considerable amount of travel time involved because of dispersion of the witnesses. (A list of the persons interviewed and the location of the interview is attached. ) The last two witnesses (Meadlo and Storms) were interviewed in Terre Haute, Indiana, on 16 July. Colonel Wilson's report was prepared and arrangements were made to transfer the case and all relevant documentation to the Provost Marshal General between 16 July and 4 August. 2 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY 23 July 1959 SENSITIVE LIST OF WITNESSES (Pinkville Case) Place Interviewed Name (Duty Station) Date 1. Mr. Ronald L. Ridenhour Phoenix, Ariz. 29 Apr 2. Mr. Michael B. Terry Orem, Utah 1 May 3. SGT (E-5) Lawrence C. La Croix Ft Carson, Colo. 2 May 4. Mr. Charles D. Gruver Oklahoma City, Okla. 3 May 5. Mr. Richard Wayne Wyatt Oklahoma City, Okla. 3 May 5. SP 4 William F. Doherty Ft Hood, Texas 5 May 7. CPT Thomas K. Willingham OTIG (Ft Meade) 8 May 8. SGT Michael A. Bernhardt OTIG (Ft Dix) 8 May CPT Robert L. Hauck Ft Benning, Ga. 12 May 10. CPT Ernest L. Medina Ft Benning, Ga. 13 May 11. SSG Manuel Lopez Ft Benning, Ga. 13 May 12. MAJ Charles C. Calhoun OTIG (Ft Monroe) 19 May 13. SGT Jay A. Buchanon OTIG (Ft Bragg) 20 May 14. SGT L. C. Bacon Ft Jackson, S. C. 22 May 15. SFC Isaiah Cowan Ft Jackson, S. C. 23 May 16. COL Oran K. Henderson OTIG (USARHAW) 26 May 17. SSG David Mitchell OTIG (Ft Hood) 25 May 18. LTC William D. Guinn, Jr. OTIG (Pentagon) 28 May 19. MAJ Frederic W. Watke OTIG (Ft Leavenworth) 2-3 Jun 20. ILT William L. Calley, Jr. OTIG (Ft Benning) 91 Jun SENSITIVE FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY SENSITIVE Place Interviewed Name (Duty Station) Date 21 CW2 Hugh C. Thompson, Jr. OTIG (Ft Rucker) 11,12,13 Jun 22. Mr. Roy L. A. Wood Richmond, Va. 11 23. Mr. Roger D. Murray Waukegan, Ill. 14 Jun 24. Mr. John H. Paul OTIG (West Collings- wood, N. J.) 16 Jun 25. CW2 Dan R. Millians OTIG (Ft Wolters) 18 Jun 25. PFC Lawrence M. Colburn OTIG (Ft Hood) 19 Jun 27. SGT Esequiel Torres OTIG (Ft Bragg) 20 Jun 28. CPT Stephen J. Gamble OTIG (Ft Sill) 23 Jun 29. MAJ Glen D. Gibson OTIG (HQ Sixth US Army) 25 Jun 30. Mr. Ronald D. Grzesik Springfield, Mass. 26 Jun Mr. Dennis R. Vazquez Williamsburg, Va. 1 Jul 32. Mr. Diego Rodriguez Fort Worth, Texas 9 Jul 33. Mr. Andress Delgado Uvalde, Texas 10 Jul 34. Mr. Frederick Joseph Widmer New Kensington, Pa. 15 Jul 35. Mr. Paul D. Meadlo Terre Haute, Ind. 16 Jul 35. Mr. David M. Storms Terre Haute, Ind. 16 Jul SENSITIVE 2 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Reproduced at the Richard. Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE 3 December 1969 TALKING PAPER CID Phase of the My Lai (4) Investigation The Inspector General's investigation revealed that acts in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice may have been committed. Accordingly, on 5 August, the Provost Marshal General assumed responsibility for continuing the Department of the Army investigation. The Provost Marshal General directed his Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to proceed immediately with a thorough and detailed criminal investigation. The early part of August was spent reviewing the testimony of witnesses interviewed during the course of the Inspector General's investigation. However, additional interviews, particularly with persons not interviewed during the course of the Inspector General's investigation, were conducted.* By mid-October five individuals assigned to the CID were working on the case on a full time basis. One of the five arrived in South Vietnam on 17 October to coordinate the investiga- tion in that country. The CID group charged with the responsibility for conducting this investigation has recently been augmented. On 1 December a CONUS task force consisting of 20 individuals was assigned to help pursue the investigation. This augmentation will * Lt. Calley was charged with murder on 5 Sept 69 and on 6 Sept 69 a story appeared in the Columbus, Ga. Inquirer. The charge was confirmed by the public information officer at Ft. Benning pursuant to information provided by the Department of the Army on 4 Sept 69. SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE make available at least five additional field investigators. Additionally, a task force consisting of an additional nine individuals is being organized in Vietnam this week to expand the investigation there. To date, more than 80 individuals, military and civilian, have been interviewed during the CID phase of the Department of the Army's investigation (A list of those interviewed to date is attached). Every effort is being made to develop all the evidence relating to the facts and circumstances involving the incident in My Lai (4). This is a complicated, sensitive, and demanding effort which is being conducted as rapidly as a thorough and pro- fessional investigation will permit. SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE AUG. Haeberle, Ronald Lawrence 25 Aug 69 N. Ridgeville, Ohio 5763 Creekside Lane Simone, Daniel (NMN) 27 Aug 69 22 Englewood Blvd, Trenton, New Jersey Allen, Joseph Boyce 28 Aug 69 502 Brinley Avenue, Bradley Beach, N.J. Dursi, James Joseph 29 Aug 69 715 E. 42nd St. Brooklyn, N.Y. 11203 Olsen, Gregory Thomas 30 Aug 69 296th MP Company, 392nd MP Bn, Fort Lewis, Washington SEPT. Sledge, Charles (NMI) 1 Sep 69 Route 2, Box 576, Sardis, Mississippi Roberts, Jay Alfred 12 Sep 69 4814 South 1st Street, Arlington, Va. 22204 Garza, George Arsenio 17 Sep 69 507th Med Co (AA), Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234 Lee, Robert James 17 Sep 69 CO A, 1st Bn, Medical Field Service School, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas 78234 Flores, Abel Jr. 18 Sep 69 1135 NW 36th St. San Antonio, Texas 78228 Mauro, Robert Martin 18 Sep 69 1516 West 4th Street Brooklyn, N. Y. 11204 Meadlo, Paul David 18 Sep 69 Route 4, Box 533, West Terre Haute, Indiana 47885 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE Maples, Robert Earl 18 Sep 69 40 1/2 Avenue A, Freehold, N.J. 07728 Santellana, Eusebio Banda Jr. 19 Sep 69 1546 W Pyron Ave, San Antonio, Texas 78211 La Cross, Jeffrey Urban 19 Sep 69 Lake Leelanau, Michigan Polston, Larry Owen 20 Sep 69 Co A, 7th Bn, 6th Inf, 2nd Armd Div, Fort Hood, Texas 76547 Bain, Chester Mack 20 Sep 69 Hq & Hq Co, 1st Arm Div, Ft Hood, Texas 76545 Starkie, Preston Harris 21 Sep 69 Hq & A Co, 124th Maint B 2d Armd Div, Fort Hood, Texas Oliphent, John Lewis 21 Sep 69 C Co, 2nd Bn, 46th Inf, 1st Ard Div, Fort Hood, Texas Cabral, George Joseph Jr. 22 Sept 69 HHC, 7th Bn, 6th Inf, 2nd Armd Div, Fort Hood Texas 76546 Lamartina, Salvatore Sgt. 22 Sep 69 HHC, 7th Bn, 6th Inf, Fort Hood, Texas 76546 Fagan, Martin Edward 22 Sep 69 Co C, 4th Bn, 46th Inf, 3rd Bde, 1st AD, Fort Hood, Texas 76544 Maroney, Leo Milton 23 Sep 69 Co B, 1st Bn, 41st Inf, 2nd AD, Fort Hood, Texas 76544 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE OCTOBER Emerson, James Henry 6 Oct 69 123 Middle St. Old Town, Maine Mower, John Richard 6 Oct 69 P.O. Box 107, Shippenburg Pa. 17257 Holland, David 7 Oct 69 821 - 3d Ave. , Duncanville, P Grezesik, Ronald David 8 October 469 Beech St. , Holyoke, Mass. Widmer, Fredrick Joseph 8 Oct 69 221 Crescent Drive, Lower Burrell, Pa. Tucker, Robert James 9 Oct 69 228 Janet St. Auburn, New York Fastiggi, Kim 10 Oct 69 688 Ringwood Avenue, Wanaque, N.J. Cox, Bruce Umber 10 Oct 69 89 Burgundy Terrace, Amherst, N.Y. 14120 Delpome, Peter Robert 10 Oct 69 Newark, N.J. Widmer, Joseph P. 11 Oct 69 221 Crescent Drive, Lower Burrell, Pa. 15068 Holland, Howard David 11 Oct 69 821 3rd Avenue Duncanville, Pa, 16635 McBreen, James Michael Jr. 11 Oct 69 177 Covert St., Elmont, N.Y. Stanley, Harry 14 Oct 69 Apt 28, 1324 Peterson St., Long Beach, Calif. Lagunoy (Aquilino), Lenny 15 Oct 69 94459 Kahualena St. Battallones Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii 96797 Marshall, Richard Grant 15 Oct 1969 230 Joseph St. San Jose Calif., 95110 Webster, Jimmy Nolan 16 Oct 69 Intelligence Division, G2, HQ, USARPAC, APO SF 96558 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE Martin, Louis Bernard 16 Oct 69 Apt 202, 623 Tully Road Modesto, Calif. 95350 Blackledge, Richard Kurt 17 Oct 69 500th MI Group, Ford Island APO SF 96558 Johnson, John Parker Jr. (SPS) 20 Oct 69 Fort Hauchuca, Arizona Roberts, Randal Wayne 20 Oct 69 1709 Boyden St., Greensboro, N.C. Alaux, Roger L. Jr. 21 Oct 69 416 W. Parkway Blvd, Tempe, Arizona Partsch, Thomas Richard 21 Oct 69 12720 Wanda Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44135 Stewart, Johnathan 21 Oct 69 3721 146th St., Cleveland Ohio Winninger, Randy M. 23 Oct 69 72 Hamilton Park, Columbus, Ohio Oden, Leonard Guy 23 Oct 69 10324 Eastwood St. Dallas, Texas Hall, Charles Wayne 24 Oct 69 144 Calshan Rd, Columbus, Ohio 43207 Moss, Tommy Lee 25 Oct 69 380 Caulder Avenue, Spartanburg, S.C. Doines, Rennard 25 Oct 69 2709 Belzise Terrace Fort Worth, Texas Konwinski, Joseph Norbert 26 Oct 69 HHC, 11th BDE, Americal Div, APO 96217 Johnson, Dennis Harvey 27 Oct 69 Co D, USINTS, Fort Holabird, Md. PHU, Nguyen Denk (SGT) 27 Oct 69 CHU LAI, South Vietnam Wood, Roy Lee Augustus 28 Oct 69 302 West Baker Street, Richmond, Virginia Hutson, Max Dean 28 Oct 69 Company A, Infantry School Battalion, The Student Brigade SENSITIVE Fort Benning, Georgia Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE Burnett, Henry Jr. (PSG) 29 Oct 69 The Student Brigade, Fort Benning, Georgia Lopez, Manuel (PSG) 29 Oct 69 Fort Benning, Georgia Wan, Isaiah (NMN) 30 Oct 69 Company E. 10th Bn, 2d Bde, BCT, Ft Jackson, S. ( Conti, Dennis Irving 30 Oct 69 HHC, USA Depot, Qui Nhon, APO 96216 Brown, Harold (NMN) 30 Oct 69 Company A, 10th Bn, 2d BCT Bde, Fort Jackson S.C. SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE NOV. Buchanon, Jay (1SG) 3 Nov 69 Fort Bragg, N. C. Bergthold, James Robert 3 Nov 69 624 6th St. Niagara Falls, New York Flynn, James Michael 3 Nov 69 207 Paramount Pky Kenmore, N.Y. Schiel, Kenneth (NMN) 3 Nov 69 Hq Hq Co, 1st Bn, 504th Inf, 82 Abn Div, Fort Bragg, N.C. Stevenson, Leon James 3 Nov 69 B Troop, 7th of the 1st Air Squadron, 1st Avn Bde APO SF 96357 Anderson, Bruce Michael 4 Nov 69 374 Foxhurst Rd, Oceanside, N.Y. Cornwell, Smith William 5 Nov 69 6 Baily Drive, Amityville, Long Island, N. Y. 11701 Hunley, Ronnie Victor 5 Nov 69 761 Prospect Place Brooklyn, N.Y. Carter, Herbert Louis 6 Nov 69 Hou-Tex Hotel, 1206 1/2 Prairie St., Houston, Texas Graham, Robert B. 6 Nov 69 82d MP Det, 6th Spec Fcs, Ft Bragg, N.C. Millians, Dan Richard 7 Nov 69 Flight Department A, Flight A-3, US Army Primary Helicopter School & Center, Ft. Wolters, Texas Thiele, Patrick Allen 7 Nov 69 HHC, 1st Bn, 299th Inf. Schofield Barracks, APO 96557 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE Brown, Jimmy L (CW2) 7 Nov 69 Ft. Wolters, Texas Poteete, Wallace F (CW 2) 7 Nov 69 Ft. Wolters, Texas Carney, Billy Earl 9 Nov 69 1203 22d Avenue Meridian, Miss 39301 Simpson, Varnado (NMN) 9 Nov 69 1815 Ave K, Jackson, Mississippi 39213 Lloyd, William Calvin 10 Nov 69 4005 34th Street, Tampa, Florida 33610 Jolly, Joe Ted 11 Nov 69 677 Avenue B, S. W. Winterhaven, Fla. Van Toan, Nguyen BG 15 Nov 69 Commanding General 2nd ARVN Infantry Divisi on Hutto, Charles Edward 17 Nov 69 Hq & Hq Co, 3rd AIR Bde, Ft Lewis, WA 98433 Bernhardt, Michael Arnold 20 Nov 69 Co A, 1st Bn, 3rd Bde, USATC, Ft. Dix, N.J. Trinkle, Patrick M. 24 Nov 69 Department of Tactics, USMA, West Point, N. Y. Koster, Samuel William (MG) 24 Nov 69 Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York 10996 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C. 3 December 1969 SENSITIVE Captain Murphy: Attached, in response to your request, are two chronologies: 1. IG investigation into the My Lai (4) incident, and 2. CID phase of the My Lai (4) incident. K. B. Cooper, Colonel, GS Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Army SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Procide SENSITIVE 1 December 1969 SUBJECT: IG Investigation into My Lai (4) Incident The Secretary of the General Staff referred Mr. Ronald L. Ridenhour's letter to the Inspector General on 23 April 1969 and directed him to conduct an investigation concerning the allegations contained in the letter and related matters. The Inspector General's investigation was conducted by Colonel William V. Wilson, one of the three field inspectors in the Office of The Inspector General, between 23 April and 4 August 1969. It resulted in the collection of more than 1000 pages of testimony and the referral of the case to The Provost Marshal General. A total of thirty-six (36) witnesses (twelve (12) civilians and twenty- four (24) military) from all parts of the country were questioned during The Inspector General's investigation. Discussion Following the referral of Ridenhour's letter to The Inspector General on 23 April, the investigation proceeded as rapidly as could be expected. Ridenhour was interviewed in Phoenix, Arizona, on 29 April, Gruver (3 May - Oklahoma City); Terry (2 May - Orem, Utah); Doherty (5 May - Fort Hood, Texas), LaCroix (2 May - Fort Carson, Colorado); and Bernhardt (8 May - The Pentagon), all of whom were referred to in Ridenhour's letter were interviewed shortly thereafter. During the course of Colonel Wilson's investigation, he learned the names of other possible witnesses. It took a SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE substantial amount of time to interview these individuals, particularly in view of the considerable amount of travel time involved because of dispersion of the witnesses. (A list of the persons interviewed and the location of the interview is attached. ) The last two witnesses (Meadlo and Storms) were interviewed in Terre Haute, Indiana, on 16 July. Colonel Wilson's report was prepared and arrangements were made to transfer the case and all relevant documentation to the Provost Marshal General between 16 July and 4 August. 2 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY ( SENSITIVE 23 July 1959 LIST OF WITNESSES (Pinkville Case) Place Interviewed Name (Duty Station) Date 1. Mr. Ronald L. Ridenhour Phoenix, Ariz. 29 Apr 2. Mr. Michael B. Terry Orem, Utah 1 May 3. SGT (E-5) Lawrence C. La Croix Ft Carson, Colo. 2 May 4. Mr. Charles D. Gruver Oklahoma City, Okla. 3 May 5. Mr. Richard Wayne Wyatt Oklahoma City, Okla. 3 May 5. SP 4 William F. Doherty Ft Hood, Texas 5 May 7. CPT Thomas K. Willingham OTIG (Ft Meade) 8 May 8. SGT Michael A. Bernhardt OTIG (Ft Dix) 8 May CPT Robert L. Hauck Ft Benning, Ga. 12 May 10. CPT Ernest L. Medina Ft Benning, Ga. 13 May 11. SSG Manuel Lopez Ft Benning, Ga. 13 May 12. MAJ Charles C. Calhoun OTIG (Rt Monroe) 19 May 13. SGT Jay A. Buchanon OTIG (Ft Bragg) 20 May 14. SGT L. G. Bacon Ft Jackson, S. C. 22 May 15. SFC Isaiah Cowan Ft Jackson, S. C. 23 May 16. COL Oran K. Henderson OTIG (USARHAW) 26 May 17. SSG David Mitchell OTIG (Ft Hood) 26 May 18. LTC William D. Guinn, Jr. OTIG (Pentagon) 28 May 19. MAJ Frederic W. Watke OTIG (Ft Leavenworth) 2-3 Jun 20. ILT William L. Calley, Jr. OTIG (Ft Benning) 9 Jun SENSITIVE FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY SENSITIVE Place Interviewed Name (Duty Station) Date 21. CW2 Hugh C. Thompson, Jr. OTIG (Ft Rucker) 11,12,13 Jun 22. Mr. Roy L. A. Wood Richmond, Va. 11 23. Mr. Roger D. Murray Waukegan, Ill. 14 Jun 24. Mr. John H. Paul OTIG (West Collings- wood, N. J.) 16 Jun 25. CW2 Dan R. Millians OTIG (Ft Wolters) 18 Jun 26. PFC Dawrence M. Colburn OTIG (Ft Hood) 19 Jun 27. SGT Esequiel Torres OTIG (Ft Bragg) 20 Jun 28. CPT Stephen J. Gamble OTIG (Ft Sill) 23 Jun 29. MAJ Glen D. Gibson OTIG (HQ Sixth US Army) 25 Jun 30. Mr. Ronald D. Grzesik Springfield, Mass. 26 Jun Mr. Dennis R. Vazquez Williamsburg, Va. 1 Jul 32. Mr. Diego Rodriguez Fort Worth, Texas 9 Jul 33. Mr. Andress Delgado Uvalde, Texas 10 Jul 34. Mr. Frederick Joseph Widmer New Kensington, Pa. 15 Jul 35. Mr. Paul D. Meadlo Terre Haute, Ind. 16 Jul 35. Mr. David M. Storms Terre Haute, Ind. 16 Jul SENSITIVE 2 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE 3 December 1969 TALKING PAPER CID Phase of the My Lai (4) Investigation The Inspector General's investigation revealed that acts in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice may have been committed. Accordingly, on 5 August, the Provost Marshal General assumed responsibility for continuing the Department of the Army investigation. The Provost Marshal General directed his Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to proceed immediately with a thorough and detailed criminal investigation. The early part of August was spent reviewing the testimony of witnesses interviewed during the course of the Inspector General's investigation. However, additional interviews, particularly with persons not interviewed during the course of the Inspector General's investigation, were conducted.* By mid-October five individuals assigned to the CID were working on the case on a full time basis. One of the five arrived in South Vietnam on 17 October to coordinate the investiga- tion in that country. The CID group charged with the responsibility for conducting this investigation has recently been augmented. On 1 December a CONUS task force consisting of 20 individuals was assigned to help pursue the investigation. This augmentation will * Lt. Calley was charged with murder on 5 Sept 69 and on 6 Sept 69 a story appeared in the Columbus, Ga. Inquirer. The charge was confirmed by the public information officer at Ft. Benning pursuant to information provided by the Department of the Army on 4 Sept 69. SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE make available at least five additional field investigators. Additionally, a task force consisting of an additional nine individuals is being organized in Vietnam this week to expand the investigation there. To date, more than 80 individuals, military and civilian, have been interviewed during the CID phase of the Department of the Army's investigation (A list of those interviewed to date is attached). Every effort is being made to develop all the evidence relating to the facts and circumstances involving the incident in My Lai (4). This is a complicated, sensitive, and demanding effort which is being conducted as rapidly as a thorough and pro- fessional investigation will permit. SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE AUG. Haeberle, Ronald Lawrence 25 Aug 69 N. Ridgeville, Ohio 5763 Creekside Lane Simone, Daniel (NMN) 27 Aug 69 22 Englewood Blvd, Trenton, New Jersey Allen, Joseph Boyce 28 Aug 69 502 Brinley Avenue, Bradley Beach, N.J. Dursi, James Joseph 29 Aug 69 715 E. 42nd St. Brooklyn, N.Y. 11203 Olsen, Gregory Thomas 30 Aug 69 296th MP Company, 392nd MP Bn, Fort Lewis, Washington SEPT. Sledge, Charles (NMI) 1 Sep 69 Route 2, Box 576, Sardis, Mississippi Roberts, Jay Alfred 12 Sep 69 4814 South 1st Street, Arlington, Va. 22204 Garza, George Arsenio 17 Sep 69 507th Med Co (AA), Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234 Lee, Robert James 17 Sep 69 CO A, 1st Bn, Medical Field Service School, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas 78234 Flores, Abel Jr. 18 Sep 69 1135 NW 36th St. San Antonio, Texas 78228 Mauro, Robert Martin 18 Sep 69 1516 West 4th Street Brooklyn, N. Y. 11204 Meadlo, Paul David 18 Sep 69 Route 4, Box 533, West Terre Haute, Indiana 47885 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE Maples, Robert Earl 18 Sep 69 40 1/2 Avenue A, Freehold, N.J. 07728 Santellana, Eusebio Banda Jr. 19 Sep 69 1546 W Pyron Ave, San Antonio, Texas 78211 La Cross, Jeffrey Urban 19 Sep 69 Lake Leelanau, Michigan Polston, Larry Owen 20 Sep 69 Co A, 7th Bn, 6th Inf, 2nd Armd Div, Fort Hood, Texas 76547 Bain, Chester Mack 20 Sep 69 Hq & Hq Co, 1st Arm Div, Ft Hood, Texas 76545 Starkie, Preston Harris 21 Sep 69 Hq & A Co, 124th Maint B 2d Armd Div, Fort Hood, Texas Oliphent, John Lewis 21 Sep 69 C Co, 2nd Bn, 46th Inf, 1st Ard Div, Fort Hood, Texas Cabral, George Joseph Jr. 22 Sept 69 HHC, 7th Bn, 6th Inf, 2nd Armd Div, Fort Hood Texas 76546 Lamartina, Salvatore Sgt. 22 Sep 69 HHC, 7th Bn, 6th Inf, Fort Hood, Texas 76546 Fagan, Martin Edward 22 Sep 69 Co C, 4th Bn, 46th Inf, 3rd Bde, 1st AD, Fort Hood, Texas 76544 Maroney, Leo Milton 23 Sep 69 Co B, 1st Bn, 41st Inf, 2nd AD, Fort Hood, Texas 76544 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE OCTOBER Emerson, James Henry 6 Oct 69 123 Middle St. Old Town, Maine Mower, John Richard 6 Oct 69 P.O. Box 107, Shippenburg Pa. 17257 Holland, David 7 Oct 69 821 - 3d Ave. , Duncanville, P Grezesik, Ronald David 8 October 469 Beech St. Holyoke, Mass. Widmer, Fredrick Joseph 8 Oct 69 221 Crescent Drive, Lower Burrell, Pa. Tucker, Robert James 9 Oct 69 228 Janet St. Auburn, New York Fastiggi, Kim 10 Oct 69 688 Ringwood Avenue, Wanaque, N.J. Cox, Bruce Umber 10 Oct 69 89 Burgundy Terrace, Amherst, N.Y. 14120 Delpome, Peter Robert 10 Oct 69 Newark, N.J. Widmer, Joseph P. 11 Oct 69 221 Crescent Drive, Lower Burrell, Pa. 15068 Holland, Howard David 11 Oct 69 821 3rd Avenue Duncanville, Pa, 16635 McBreen, James Michael Jr. 11 Oct 69 177 Covert St., Elmont, N.Y. Stanley, Harry 14 Oct 69 Apt 28, 1324 Peterson St., Long Beach, Calif. Lagunoy (Aquilino), Lenny 15 Oct 69 94459 Kahualena St. Battallones Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii 96797 Marshall, Richard Grant 15 Oct 1969 230 Joseph St. San Jose Calif., 95110 Webster, Jimmy Nolan 16 Oct 69 Intelligence Division, G2, HQ, USARPAC, APO SF 96558 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE Martin, Louis Bernard 16 Oct 69 Apt 202, 623 Tully Road Modesto, Calif. 95350 Blackledge, Richard Kurt 17 Oct 69 500th MI Group, Ford Island APO SF 96558 Johnson, John Parker Jr. (SPS) 20 Oct 69 Fort Hauchuca, Arizona Roberts, Randal Wayne 20 Oct 69 1709 Boyden St., Greensboro, N.C. Alaux, Roger L. Jr. 21 Oct 69 416 W. Parkway Blvd, Tempe, Arizona Partsch, Thomas Richard 21 Oct 69 12720 Wanda Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44135 Stewart, Johnathan 21 Oct 69 3721 146th St., Cleveland Ohio Winninger, Randy M. 23 Oct 69 72 Hamilton Park, Columbus, Ohio Oden, Leonard Guy 23 Oct 69 10324 Eastwood St. Dallas, Texas Hall, Charles Wayne 24 Oct 69 144 Calshan Rd, Columbus, Ohio 43207 Moss, Tommy Lee 25 Oct 69 380 Caulder Avenue, Spartanburg, S.C. Doines, Rennard 25 Oct 69 2709 Belzise Terrace Fort Worth, Texas Konwinski, Joseph Norbert 26 Oct 69 HHC, 11th BDE, Americal Div, APO 96217 Johnson, Dennis Harvey 27 Oct 69 Co D, USINTS, Fort Holabird, Md. PHU, Nguyen Denk (SGT) 27 Oct 69 CHU LAI, South Vietnam Wood, Roy Lee Augustus 28 Oct 69 302 West Baker Street, Richmond, Virginia Hutson, Max Dean 28 Oct 69 Company A, Infantry School Battalion, The Student Brigade SENSITIVE Fort Benning, Georgia Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE Burnett, Henry Jr. (PSG) 29 Oct 69 The Student Brigade, Fort Benning, Georgia Lopez, Manuel (PSG) 29 Oct 69 Fort Benning, Georgia Wan, Isaiah (NMN) 30 Oct 69 Company E. 10th Bn, 2d Bde, BCT, Ft Jackson, S. ( Conti, Dennis Irving 30 Oct 69 HHC, USA Depot, Qui Nhon, APO 96216 Brown, Harold (NMN) 30 Oct 69 Company A, 10th Bn, 2d BCT Bde, Fort Jackson S.C. SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE NOV. Buchanon, Jay (1SG) 3 Nov 69 Fort Bragg, N. C. Bergthold, James Robert 3 Nov 69 624 6th St. Niagara Falls, New York Flynn, James Michael 3 Nov 69 207 Paramount Pky Kenmore, N.Y. Schiel, Kenneth (NMN) 3 Nov 69 Hq Hq Co, 1st Bn, 504th Inf, 82 Abn Div, Fort Bragg, N.C. Stevenson, Leon James 3 Nov 69 B Troop, 7th of the 1st Air Squadron, 1st Avn Bde APO SF 96357 Anderson, Bruce Michael 4 Nov 69 374 Foxhurst Rd, Oceanside, N.Y. Cornwell, Smith William 5 Nov 69 6 Baily Drive, Amityville, Long Island, N. Y. 11701 Hunley, Ronnie Victor 5 Nov 69 761 Prospect Place Brooklyn, N.Y. Carter, Herbert Louis 6 Nov 69 Hou-Tex Hotel, 1206 1/2 Prairie St., Houston, Texas Graham, Robert B. 6 Nov 69 82d MP Det, 6th Spec Fcs, Ft Bragg, N. C. Millians, Dan Richard 7 Nov 69 Flight Department A, Flight A-3, US Army Primary Helicopter School & Center, Ft. Wolters, Texas Thiele, Patrick Allen 7 Nov 69 HHC, 1st Bn, 299th Inf. Schofield Barracks, APO 96557 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum SENSITIVE Brown, Jimmy L (CW2) 7 Nov 69 Ft. Wolters, Texas Poteete, Wallace F (CW 2) 7 Nov 69 Ft. Wolters, Texas Carney, Billy Earl 9 Nov 69 1203 22d Avenue Meridian, Miss 39301 Simpson, Varnado (NMN) 9 Nov 69 1815 Ave K, Jackson, Mississippi 39213 Lloyd, William Calvin 10 Nov 69 4005 34th Street, Tampa, Florida 33610 Jolly, Joe Ted 11 Nov 69 677 Avenue B, S. W. Winterhaven, Fla. Van Toan, Nguyen BG 15 Nov 69 Commanding General 2nd ARVN Infantry Divisi on Hutto, Charles Edward 17 Nov 69 Hq & Hq Co, 3rd AIR Bde, Ft Lewis, WA 98433 Bernhardt, Michael Arnold 20 Nov 69 Co A, 1st Bn, 3rd Bde, USATC, Ft. Dix, N.J. Trinkle, Patrick M. 24 Nov 69 Department of Tactics, USMA, West Point, N.Y. Koster, Samuel William (MG) 24 Nov 69 Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York 10996 SENSITIVE Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum