March 31, 1961

Personal

Honorable James M. Gavin
Ambassador to France
American Embassy
Paris, France

Dear Jim:

We never had a chance to get together before your departure.
Let me therefore take this opportunity to extend to you my warmest
wishes for what I know will be a most successful diplomatic career.
You certainly could not have assumed your post at a more delicate
moment.

When we last spoke, I promised to collect some names for you
of people you might not ordinarily meet. You know Raymond Aron,
of course; I will simply include his telephone and address in
case the Embassy should not have gotten you in touch with him;
34 Quai de Passy, Paris; AUT 52-55. He is an old friend of
mine and one of the profoundest sociologists and political
commentators there, and also a good friend of the United States.

Another man you might meet if you do not already know him,
is General Pierre-Marie Gallois. He is somewhat opiniated, but
very intelligent and very well connected within the French military
establishment. His address is 8 rue Rembrandt, Paris 8.

Another military man well worth your attention is General
Paul Stehlin, who, when I last saw him, was Chief of the French
Air Force. He has an American wife and spent many years in
Washington. He has a broader perspective than the average
French military man, and in private conversations with me has
been astonishingly frank about trends within the French military
establishment. I think he would be worth cultivating. He
is at 14 rue Saint Dominique.

Personal

Honorable James M. Gavin

-2-

March 31, 1961

Another person I like very much is at the other end of the spectrum: Jean-Marie Domenach, Editor of Esprit, 27 rue Jacob, Paris 6. Esprit is on the Catholic left and I suppose many of our people consider it too far left. On the other hand, they are devout Catholics and profoundly democratic. Domenach is not a genius, but he has made a serious attempt to think through the political problems of the West and is much more honest than some of the more brilliant, but also more dogmatic, French intellectuals. I think it is very important that he and his friends understand our point of view and you will find him basically well-disposed towards us. He, unhappily, does not speak English very well.

Still another person who might be worth your while is J.B. Duroselle at 15 rue Gaudet, Le Chesnay, Seine & Oise. He is a leading diplomatic and political historian and very intelligent.

All of the above are people I know very well, and they will already have received letters should you wish to call them. In addition, there are two very good acquaintances on the level of Ministre Plenipotentiare of the French Foreign Office: Bruno de Leusse who is Joxe's deputy in the Algerian negotiations, and Francois de Rose, who handles atomic matter. I will be seeing de Rose this weekend and he will undoubtedly get in touch with you.

In addition to those people, a friend of mine has recommended four others whom I do not know. I am sending them on to you with his comments:

Raoul Girardet--Ecole des Sciences Politiques, rue Saint Guillaume, Paris 7. Exceedingly well informed on the French military. From an old military family, which has not produced many academic sons. Is very knowledgeable about the French army. Speaks English poorly.

Alan Touraine--Centre Nationale des Recherche Scientifique. One of the best younger sociologists in France. Immensely well informed on working class movements and conditions. Spoken of by his contemporaries as a possible professor of the Sorbonne one day. Unusually brilliant. Speaks English perfectly.

J. M. Trenton--University of Lille. Spends two days a week at Lille, the rest at Paris. I do not have his Paris address. One of the most cultivated and widely read people I know in France. A sociologist in the European tradition. Knows America well from

Personal

Honorable James M. Gavin

-3-

March 31, 1961

reading and from visits. Could be very helpful on French social life. Exceedingly well informed, and fluent in English.

Philippe Daudy--50 rue Jacob, Paris 7. A former journalist who has spent a great deal of time in Poland, Yugoslavia, and the Far East. An excellent reporter who has abandoned journalism for writing. Very thoughtful on French political life. Speaks English perfectly.

I am planning to be in Paris around May 10th and hope very much to have a chance to see you thenug

With kind regards.

Henry V. Kissinger

With kind regards.

very much to have a chance to see you again

Speaks English perfectly.

nalsam for writing. Very thoughtful on French political life.
the past week. An excellent reporter who has spadeed one-
who has spent a great deal of time in Poland, Yugoslavia, and

Philippe Denty--20 rue Jacop, Paris 7. A great journalist

English.

social life. Exceedingly well informed, and fluent in
reading and from viette. Could be very helpful on French

Honorable James M. Gavin

-3-

March 21, 1961

Persons

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PARIS

April 13, 1961

Dear Henry:

Thank you for your very good and helpful letter of
31 March. I apologize for not having answered it before this.
A despatch came in today telling us of your visit in early
May. I understand that you will be in Paris the 15th and 16th.
There is a possibility I will be leaving for the States on the
16th although I may delay another day. I am anxious to go
back to talk things over before the President's visit here.
I would like very much to see you here and will keep track
of the planning for your visit. I presume you will spend
quite a bit of time with NATO.

I hope all goes well with you.

With best regards,

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
Center for International Affairs
Harvard University
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts

April 17, 1961

Honorable James M. Gavin
Ambassador of the United States
Paris, France

Dear Jim:

Many thanks for your note of the 13th.
I will be in Paris from the 15th to the 17th
and hope very much to have a chance to see you.
You will undoubtedly be seeing the messages as
they come through.

I have been following some of your
activities in Washington. You are certainly in
an exciting place.

I look forward to seeing you.

Kind regards as always.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE
OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

AMERICAN EMBASSY

Paris, France,

June 12, 1961

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

Dear Henry:

I have just replied to your letter regarding Stephen Graubard, whom I will look forward to meeting once again when he is in Paris. In signing it, I remembered that I had another matter that I wanted to discuss with you and this shall be the subject of this brief note.

I spent some time with the President when he was here, in private conversation. He asked my views about the Joint Chiefs, individually and collectively, and we talked about the very difficult problem in getting good military advice out of the Pentagon. I asked him if he had talked to you and got the impression he had not. I suggested that it would be a good thing for him to do so and he seemed to agree. I believe that he would be receptive to a visit therefore if you have the time. As you know, he is in a very difficult position since he lacks sufficient knowledge of the inner workings of the Pentagon to really understand why it is that a Chief will go one way when the best interests of the nation would suggest he go another way. Further, having taken a position, they will sometimes reverse themselves entirely a short time later depending upon the needs of their own service, usually, or the need to take a position in the national interest contrary to one previously taken in the interest of his service. As McNamara is probably finding out by now, he needs to talk to the people who give him the best objective advice about any problems regardless of the roles, missions, or future of any Service. The President asked my views on the qualifications of the individual Chiefs, not entirely but to some extent, and I sensed that he somehow relates these evaluations to

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger,
Harvard University,
6 Divinity Avenue,
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts

June 20, 1961

PERSONAL

The Honorable James M. Gavin
Ambassador of the United States
American Embassy
Paris, France

Dear Jim:

Thank you for your letter and also your note about Steve
Graubard, which I appreciate.

I will try to make an appointment to speak to the Presi-
dent, though, as you may have noticed, it is not always easy to
obtain undivided attention. However, I am strongly persuaded that
both on the question of NATO and on the organization of the Joint
Chiefs, major steps are absolutely necessary. With respect to
NATO, indeed, I am certain that the present course will be disastrous
over any length of time.

Warm regards.

Henry A. Kieinger

Sincerely yours,

Warm regards.

over any length of time.
NATO¹, indeed,² I am certain that the present course will be disastrous
Chiefs,³ major steps are absolutely necessary. With respect to
both on the question of NATO and on the organization of the Joint
optain undivided attention. However,⁴ I am strongly persuaded that
ent, though,⁵ as you may have noticed,⁶ it is not always easy to
I will try to make an appointment to speak to the Presi-

Grundpar,⁷ which I appreciate.

Dear Tim:

Paris, France
American Embassy
Ambassador of the United States
The Honorable James M. Gavin

PERSONAL

June 20, 1961

July 13, 1961

Dear Henry:

I met a young woman at lunch yesterday whose name is Elvire de Brissac. She apparently writes on the American political situation for Le Monde and, unfortunately, has never been to America. She applied for attendance at this year's summer seminar at Harvard but didn't make it. She is very anxious to be accepted next year.

I know the man for whom she works, André Fontaine, and the newspaper quite well. It is probably our most reliable paper and is certainly honest and objective in its reporting. Mlle. de Brissac speaks English fluently and I believe she would get a great deal out of the course. So the purpose of this note is to recommend any consideration that you may be able to give her when she applies for next year's admission.

Dr. Henry Kissinger
Harvard University
Center for International Affairs
6 Divinity Place
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts

July 25, 1961

Dear Jim:

Many thanks for your letter of the
13th about Elvire de Brissac. She was considered
very highly for this year's Seminar, and has
an excellent chance of being accepted for our
next session. I would certainly suggest that
you encourage her to apply. I know André
Fontaine also, and think well of him.

Kind regards as always.

December 22, 1961

The Honorable James M. Gavin
Ambassador of the United States to France
American Embassy
Paris, France

Dear Jim:

Next week I will be leaving the country to visit India and Pakistan. I will be giving some lectures in India under the auspices of the State Department, and visiting Pakistan at the invitation of the Pakistan government.

On the way back, I will be stopping in Paris, arriving late in the afternoon on Sunday, February 4th, and leaving at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 6th. Although this is a private visit, I am going to see a number of my French military and Foreign Office friends just to get a feeling for the general mood.

Of course it would be anormous pleasure to have a chance to see you again. Because my time is so short, and also to avoid confusion, I have asked our mutual friend, General Gallois, to arrange my schedule. Perhaps your office could call him to tell me what time it would be convenient for you to have me call on you. He is at 8, rue Rembrandt, Wagram 51-34.

If you would like to get in touch with me before my arrival, you can write me c/o the Embassy in New Delhi. John T. Reid, Chief Cultural Affairs Officer, is coordinating my entire Indian schedule, from January 4th to 27th. In Pakistan, I can be written c/o the U.S. Embassy in Karachi. I will be there from January 27th to February 3rd.

It would be a pleasure to see you again, and I look forward to it.

Kind regards.

Henry V. Kieزلer

B. I. H. Kieزلer

Kind regards,

Karsch. I will be there from January 23rd to February 3rd.
4th to 23rd. In Pakistan, I can be written c/o the U.S. Embassy in
Affairs Officer, is coordinating my entire Indian schedule, from January
can write me c/o the Embassy in New Delhi. John T. Reid, Chief Cultural
If you would like to get in touch with me before my arrival, you

Wagram 21-34.

convenient for you to have me call on you. He is at 8, rue Rembrandt.
Please have your office could call him to tell me what time it would be
I have asked our mutual friend, General Gifford, to arrange my schedule.
see you again. Because my time is so short, and also to avoid contration.
Of course it would be an enormous pleasure to have a chance to

for the General mood.
of my French military and Foreign Office triange just to get a feeling
the 4th. Although this is a private visit, I am going to see a number
afternoon on Sunday, February 4th, and leaving at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday
On the way back, I will be stopping in Paris, arriving late in the

the Pakistan Government.
of the State Department, and visiting Pakistan at the invitation of
Pakistan. I will be giving some lectures in India under theauspices
Next week I will be leaving the country to visit India and

Dear Tim:

Paris, France
American Embassy
Ambassador of the United States to France
The Honorsble James M. Gavin

December 22, 1961

From the desk of:

J.M. GAVIN

Paris, January 5, 1962

Secretary to Dr. Kissinger

Since Dr. Kissinger has probably left on his trip abroad by now, Ambassador Gavin asks if you would be so kind as to pass this letter on to the Registrar at the University on behalf of Mr. Stark.

Thank you very much.

Secretary to the Ambassador

Attch.

Paris, January 5, 1962

Dear Henry:

I hesitate to impose upon you in this manner but I believe
this might be the best solution to my problem.

There is a young man here in Paris who is applying
for admission to Harvard University next fall. He has been
to my home several times and I know him quite well. He has
asked me to write a letter of recommendation for him. I am
attaching one herewith in a "to whom it may concern" form
and I will be most appreciative if you will place it in the hands
of the Registrar or whoever concerns himself with such things.

I am looking forward to seeing you on the morning of
February 5th, when you are in Paris.

Very best regards.

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
Harvard University
Center for International Affairs
6 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts

Enclosure

Paris, February 9, 1962

Dear Henry:

I have just learned from Mr. Raymond Stevens, President of Arthur D. Little, Inc., that he has planned a luncheon for me on Thursday, March 1st. This is the day you and I had planned to get together. I am afraid that under the circumstances I will have to keep the engagement he has made for me. I am sure you will understand. It will always be possible for us to get together for a visit sometime during my two-day visit to Cambridge. I will call your secretary early Thursday morning.

I hope you had a very good trip.

February 14, 1962

Honorable James M. Gavin
United States Ambassador to France
American Embassy
Paris, France

Dear Jim:

Many thanks for your note of the 9th,
which arrived just as I was about to write you.

I discovered upon my return that I have
to be at Colby College in Maine on the afternoon
of the 1st, and was about to ask you whether we
might meet for lunch on the 2nd instead, or any
other time on the 2nd. The morning of the 1st
is also a possibility.

I look forward to seeing you.

Kind regards.

March 7, 1962

PERSONAL

The Honorable James M. Gavin
Ambassador of the United States to France
2 Avenue d'Iena
Paris 16e, France

Dear Jim;

I had hoped to have a chance to talk with you
briefly when you were in Cambridge to tell you that I did not
fully comply with your suggestion in your telephone call to me
at Finletter's residence. I did tell Bundy that it was important
to have you come to Washington during your visit to this country.
It seemed to me preposterous to have you return to Paris without
having seen the government and no help to your job there. I
hope this caused you no embarrassment.

I want you to know also how much I admire every-
thing you are doing.

P.S. Please be sure our French friends are not too polite when our friend General Taylor shows up. I do not believe the people in Washington understand the depth of French feeling on the nuclear issue.

Paris, March 16, 1962

PERSONAL

Dear Henry:

Just a note to thank you for your letter of 7 March. I am sorry we
did not get together in Cambridge. Actually, on the flight over instead
of landing at Idlewild, I ended up in Bermuda on account of weather.
The next day I missed my morning appointments in Washington. The
President called me in Cambridge and I flew back down to see him
Thursday so my Cambridge schedule was knocked completely askew.

I will have a few words with some of the French before Taylor sees
them. I had a long talk with the President on the subject of cooperation,
both ways. I believe that he is at last becoming concerned as is George
Ball and Douglas Dillon. "It hurts when it hits the pocketbook" is still
a good saying, I suppose. I wrote the President a letter and long
supporting memorandum upon my return and I hope that I have jarred
the situation loose. The inertia in my department is very difficult to
deal with, as you know as well as I.

With best regards.

Mr. Henry A. Kissinger
Harvard University
Center for International Affairs
6 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts

THE SUNDAY TIMES

AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER

SUNDAY, MAY 6, 1962

Franco-American Rift

IF there is one thing that has sounded loud and clear above the N.A.T.O. Ministerial Council's controversial discussions this last week, it is that where nuclear weapons are concerned there is still only one finger on the trigger, and that an American one. The old "fifteen fingers on the trigger" issue which was raised when President EISENHOWER conditionally offered N.A.T.O. its own nuclear deterrent has been conveniently bypassed for the time being by a new proposal. This is that so-called "guide-lines" should lay down general principles governing the use of nuclear weapons in certain circumstances.

This proposal has been made to meet the demand of West Germany that European N.A.T.O. members should be told what American nuclear warheads were stockpiled in their countries, and be assured that they would be kept there; and also that they should have some say in whether or when these weapons should be used in a crisis. In fact the guide-lines do not meet this last demand. They merely enable the West German Government to report that thanks to its pressure the N.A.T.O. permanent council is now going to work out in detail the contingencies in which nuclear weapons would be used. But there is still no German finger on the trigger. General Norstad, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe must still get President Kennedy's authority for the firing of a nuclear warhead in the N.A.T.O. area.

The trouble about this new development is that the French Government

will have nothing to do with it. So far as France is concerned, guide-lines alter nothing. The final decision must remain with President KENNEDY. So why, France asks, should she endorse a text which in essence leaves matters exactly where they were? But the questions France is really asking go much deeper than that. They go right to the source of the poison that has been corroding almost every aspect of N.A.T.O. consultation since DE GAULLE decided to make France a fourth nuclear Power in order to claim parity with Britain. President DE GAULLE has not hidden his bitter resentment at Mr KENNEDY'S refusal to help France become a nuclear partner, and he has reacted in N.A.T.O. by obliging the French delegation to adopt a negative attitude on almost every issue.

With each new N.A.T.O. Ministerial Council meeting the folly of the Franco-American quarrel mounts. Unless President KENNEDY calculates that DE GAULLE's political life is almost over, it is obvious that he must soon reappraise this policy. Within three years, perhaps two, France will possess an independent nuclear deterrent. There would then be an independent European deterrent over which the United States would have no control.

But there are more immediate dangers than that. One is that if France's isolation in N.A.T.O. is allowed to become intensified, her misgivings about Britain's approach to the Six might be hardened, with disastrous effects on the Brussels negotiations. The N.A.T.O. meeting has raised more sharply than ever the need for a new look by Washington at France's place in the Western Alliance.

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May 24, 1962

The Honorable James M. Gavin
American Ambassador to France
Embassy of the United States
Paris, France

Dear Jim:

It was good to see you at the airport, if only for a moment. You are in your usual position of being ahead of events. It seems to me that the logic of the situation is going to drive our government into the course you have been advocating.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a good friend of mine to you who has been an admirer of yours. He is Dr. F. G. A. Kraemer, a senior civilian employee of the Department of the Army working with the Coordination Group. He would very much like a few words with you, and I would consider it a great kindness if you would see him.

Dr. Kraemer will be in Paris sometime in the middle of June. I will take the liberty of asking him to call your office when he arrives.

I myself will be in Paris on one of my quick trips from the late afternoon of June 23rd until the evening of the 25th. It would be a pleasure to see you again, and I hope we can find a time. If you could drop me a line what would be convenient for you, I would appreciate it.

Kind regards as always.

Henry V. Kraemer

Kind regards as always.

Don't. I would appreciate it.
It would be a pleasure to see you again, and I hope we can find
the late afternoon of June 23rd until the evening of the 25th.
I made it will be in Paris on one of my quick trips from
arrives.

I will take the liberty of asking him to call your office when he
Dr. Kraemer will be in Paris sometime in the middle of June.

Kindness if you would seem him.
Much like a few words with you, and I would consider it a great
of the Army working with the Coordination Group. He would very
Dr. R. G. V. Kraemer, a senior civilian employee of the Department
friend of mine to you who has been an admirer of yours. He is
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a good
ment into the course you have been advocating.

to me that the logic of the situation is going to drive our govern-
You are in your native position of being ahead of events. It seems
It was good to see you at the airport, it only for a moment.

Dear Tim:

Paris, France
Embassy of the United States
American Ambassador to France
The Honorable James M. Gavin

May 24, 1965

American Embassy

Paris, May 31, 1962

Dear Henry:

Thank you for your letter of 24 May. I am glad to know that you will be over this way and I will be looking forward to seeing you. I suggest our getting together on the 25th, Monday, either at 10:00 a.m. or later in the afternoon about 4:00 p.m. I am making a long planned visit to Nord Aviation and have a luncheon there at mid-day. Unfortunately, I will probably be pretty well tied up on Sunday, the 24th.

I will be very pleased to see Dr. Kraemer. Please ask him to call my office, ANJou 74.60, and I am sure we will have no trouble setting up an appointment.

I am sure you are well informed on how things are going over here. Obviously, we need more than a tour d'horizon between Alphand and Rusk. Probably later in the summer we will really come to grips with the situation. Unfortunately, I am afraid it will be too late. We shall see.

With best regards.

JAMES M. GAVIN
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

DEC 13 1968

ACORN PARK
CAMBRIDGE
MASSACHUSETTS 02140
AREA CODE 617 864-5770

December 12, 1968

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
Center for International Affairs
Harvard University
6 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Dear Henry:

Congratulations on your appointment to the White House staff. I was delighted, as certainly will be all of us concerned with foreign policy and the functioning of the White House staff.

Several months ago I participated in an exercise conducted by Professor Bloomfield of M.I.T. It was on the subject of conflict control and it involved a presidential and White House staff team. I was chief of one team, acting in the role of the President, and Max Millikan headed the other team. I had a good team with George Cabot Lodge, a General who was sent up from the Pentagon, and a couple of professors from M.I.T.

The war game involved dealing with insurgency in the Caribbean and the decisions that I had to make involved rather far-reaching implications in terms of troop commitment and the impact of this on other national programs. I was tremendously impressed with the need for more modern businesslike methods of making data available. A modernly equipped White House conference room should now have a screen tied into a central data storage and retrieval system. Not only should the data be digital, but it should be video. That is to say, the President or a member of his staff should be able to inquire about any current programs and also inquire about the impact of decisions on future programs, domestic as well as foreign. Answers should be forthcoming in minutes, presented visually on the screen. In addition, it should be possible to obtain video presentations of entire pages out of books, studies or manuscripts that can also be micro-stored. Currently, we are designing a Board Room for one of the largest corporations in the country so as to give it this capability.

December 12, 1968

-2-

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger

I would think that it would be imperative that the White House use the most modern business methods. Certainly, it would be one way to permit the Chief Executive to avoid future Vietnams by seeing well ahead of time the implications of his decisions in terms of the many other national programs demanding attention.

I would welcome an opportunity to talk to you about this some time after you settle down. I would like to bring along a member of our staff who is currently doing work in this field for the corporation I referred to above.

In any event, Henry, best of luck to you. I sense that your task will be a most difficult one and the pressures tremendous. If, in any capacity, I can ever be of any assistance, please call upon me. I continue to maintain active contacts with senior European government officials on a personal basis. I had lunch in the Elysee with President De Gaulle when I was last in France in early summer. We had a very good meeting. I haven't seen Franz-Josef Strauss for a year or so, although he has asked me to stop in to talk to him about an ABM program. Our Arthur D. Little activities require me to maintain pretty active contacts in many parts of the globe and if I can ever, at any time, on a personal basis be of assistance, please call upon me.

Best of luck to you.

August 28, 1969

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
The White House
Washington, D. C.

Dear Henry:

I had a meeting at the White House yesterday with Bud Wilkinson. He asked me down to talk about a study that I did for the last Administration on National Amateur Sports in the United States. I think that, at long last, with the leadership of Bud Wilkinson, we are going to be able to get something done about it.

In the course of our conversation, we touched upon the Vietnamese problem and how it is alienating the young people. He asked me what I thought about the situation and I told him. He urged that I get in touch with you and drop in to see you. I would, of course, be glad to do so, but I would not want to impose upon you. If at any time you would like to talk to me about my estimation of the problem and the public attitude toward our Vietnamese involvement, I would be very happy to drop in to see you. As a matter of fact, I get in to the White House occasionally and I met with Ken BeLieu on the ABM problem a month or so ago.

I hope that all goes well with you.

JAMES M. GAVIN
25 ACORN PARK
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02140

September 25, 1969

Personal

Dear Henry:

In response to your note of about ten days ago, I tried to make an appointment with you when I was in Washington yesterday. I know how terribly busy you must be and I was not surprised when it did not work out. Perhaps I might summarize one or two of the things that I wanted to talk to you about. Incidentally, since receiving your note I have spent a week in Europe: England, Holland and France. I had lunch in Paris with Stehlin, Raymond Aron and Ambassador Rose, and Stehlin, in particular, wanted to be remembered to you.

When I talked to Bud Wilkinson about three weeks ago, we talked about amateur sports and the attitude of the younger generation in this country. I told him that while I am completely in sympathy with the Administration in what it is trying to do, I should tell him that it is far behind the attitude of the public, and especially the young, in dealing with the Vietnam problem. I believe that the current press, TIME, NEWSWEEK and LIFE this week, for example, all have made this clear. He suggested that I talk to you about the situation and hence my note to you.

The young people are completely alienated and the depth of their hostility to our society will increase as long as we do nothing more to extricate ourselves from Vietnam than we are now doing. Token withdrawals and diminishing the draft quota are all viewed as gamesmanship on the part of the Administration for the purpose of further victimizing our society. I know that you may not see it this way, but this is the way it is looked upon.

Further, negotiations in Paris are being conducted by a good friend of Thieu and Ky, Henry Cabot Lodge, for the purpose of enabling them to ultimately win a war that we are unwilling to commit greater resources to. Having expressed these views, what can be done about it? I personally believe that we must make up our minds what we are trying to do. If we are really trying to extricate ourselves from Vietnam, then our negotiations should be conducted on the basis of how this can best be managed. The key to an orderly withdrawal over any period of time is the protection and assurances we need in regard to the logistical facilities that are there. In the French negotiations over Algeria, both Mers-el-Kabir and Colomb-Béchar were left in French hands for practically as long as they wanted them. They were sure, too, that there would be no pressure on them for withdrawal before the planned date that they had negotiated. Such firm evidence of intent on our part will bring tremendous pressures on the Thieu-Ky government since they will then realize that they will have to live in a different political environment than they now enjoy. They will be forced to bring NLF participation into the government

September 25, 1959

-2-

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger

earlier than they have wanted. It may be that the government will not last. Furthermore, as I understand the relationship, among the principal parties of this situation, this would be very difficult for Ambassador Lodge to support. It may be necessary therefore at an early date, say within a few months, to replace Ambassador Lodge with someone more committed to this course of action. If the Administration would replace Ambassador Lodge at an early date, for example, and make evident its intent to look at the logistics situation in terms of an orderly extrication of our forces, as being in our own national interest, this will have more impact on public opinion in this country than anything else that the Administration can do. Perhaps it is because of the public's conditioning by the deceptions of the Johnson Administration, but the fact is that nothing is believed that comes from Washington when it is in terms of increments of troop reduction without any evidence of a change in the war's course from what the Johnson Administration gave us. Indeed, the recent intemperate remarks of Ky only reaffirms the public's judgment that the Administration is playing games with them. More must be done than has been done so far, or we are in for some exceedingly serious troubles at the end of which we will very likely do what must be done anyway. So, my best advice to you would be to get on with doing the real things that must be done without delay and bring to an end our efforts to placate Mr. Ky and the people in the Pentagon.

Incidentally, Henry, you and I know the Pentagon well and in that context I would like to make the observation that it is most unfortunate that General Westmoreland was retained as Chief of Staff after his return. Intellectually, it is just about impossible for him, and for my good friend Bus Wheeler, to support the sort of program I recommend here. For this reason, one would do them a service to reassign them or retire them at an early date. I would be happy to talk to you about this in more specific terms.

I apologize for imposing my views on you, but I want to be helpful and I have not spoken an unfriendly word about the Administration since Mr. Nixon has taken office, nor do I intend to. I stay closely in touch with our domestic condition and with conditions abroad and I want to be helpful. God knows, the predicaments we face are serious enough without adding to the problems and the burdens of the President and yourself.

I would be happy to stop by at any time if I could be helpful.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA ON JAMES M. GAVIN

retired army officer

retiring U.S. Ambassador to France

U.S. Military Academy

enlisted as private in U.S. Army in 1924, advanced through grades to Lt. General

service included World War II in ETO

retired in 1958

Executive vice-president of Arthur D. Little, 58-60
President of ADL, 61-62

U.S. Ambassador to France, 1961-

board of Directors American Electric Power Company

Decorated Legion of Honor, Croix de Guerre with Palm (France)

Purple Heart, Silver Star (U.S.)

Distinguished Service Order (British)

Author:

Airborne Warfare, 1947

War and Peace in the Space Age, 1958