this article is about the history of the united states national security council during the johnson administration, 1963-1969. the abrupt transition of power to the johnson administration brought no dramatic change in the formal role of the national security council. like kennedy, johnson much preferred small, informal advisory meetings to large council meetings supported by an elaborately organized staff. according to one of his aides, johnson felt the nsc was "not a live institution, not suited to precise debate for the sake of decision." moreover, johnson thought nsc meetings were prone to leaksâthey were "like sieves," he once remarkedâand he inherited advisers who shared his views. secretary of state dean rusk later observed that during the kennedy presidency neither he nor secretary of defense robert mcnamara liked to "get into much discussion" in the nsc with "so many people sitting around the room" and the possibility of leaks so great. despite his misgivings about the council, johnson started out convening it fairly regularly, about every 2 weeks on average during his first 11 months in office. the sessions dealt with a broad range of issues but were relatively brief in duration and, after may 1964, consisted largely of briefings. with the approach of the presidential election in november, johnson suspended nsc meetings, but then in early 1965 he shifted gears. from february 1965 through mid-1966 he convened the nsc almost exclusively to discuss vietnam, doing so irregularly and, following a flurry of meetings in february 1965, infrequently. several participants later charged that johnson used the nsc during 1965 not to consult on vietnam as he committed major u.s. ground forces but to "rubber stamp" decisions made beforehand. the other major foreign policy crisis of the period, the intervention in the dominican republic during april and may 1965, was not brought before the council at all. as the council's formal advisory role diminished, so too did its institutional support. johnson treated the nsc staff as a personal staff, and dropped meetings of the nsc standing group, which convened intermittently under kennedy to deal with planning and operations problems. official records of council actions were discontinued, and national security action memorandums, which kennedy had instituted to inform government agencies of presidential decisions requiring follow-up action, were issued with decreasing frequency. whereas kennedy had issued 272 nsams in less than three years, johnson issued 46 in 1964, 35 during 1965 and 1966, and a mere 14 during his final 2 years in office. disinclined to use the council meetings for advice, johnson, like kennedy, relied heavily on his national secu
Presidency_of_Lyndon_B._Johnson United_States_National_Security_Council