I I I' t - ' EH ' hl' MEMORA 'l T • I ·• I -¥- 2 J '- _ THE WHITE HOUSE 11 September 1974 OUTSIDE SYSTEM mFORWi A TION l ' l-c ' ' _ ' - MEMOR A DUM FOR GENERAL SCOWCROFT FROM ROB ROY RATLIFF@- SUBJECT Potential Embarrassment re 40 Committee Descriptions In spite of several references to the 40 Committee in public media in recent years the name existence and membership of the Committee has been treated as classified informaticn and had not been officially confirmed so far as I knc w At the noon briefing of the press at the Department of State on Monday • 9 September 1974 Mr Robert Anderson the Department spokesman of icially acknowledged the existence of the committee and identified its present memb rship TAB A He also said Subjects that are discussed in this Committee--i there is going to be any action on them--are approved unanimously by the members of this Committee and then all decisions are then approved bv the President Emphasis added He emphasized this point in later exchanges ''0 When you say decisions are unanimous does that mean all four officers must approve affirmatively 11 A I would assume so yes • - __ 110 •••• you are stating that there was a t nanimous decision on tb'e part of the Committee of 40 to endorse the mo vement of c·ertain funds into Chile The context would su gest that • 01464 OGC SUBJ ITT Nl I -2- • A Yes and what is the question 11 Q Th_ question is is that a proper interpretation what you intended to leave ls that A I wanted to give you the way that the decisions are arrived at by the Committee that was referred to in this article • Q But that is only to suggest that the Secretary himself is not personally responsible for a decision but it is shared by the other members as well A The decisions are approved unanimously by the members of the Committee and I have listed the members of the Committee or you Emphasis added This is not an ·accurate representation of 40 Committee procedures It could lead to further public embarrassment • As you know 40 Committee decisions are not always unanimous the Chairman is an executive chairman who retains the right of ultimate decision This role is in line with the authority expressed in•NSD1' 1 3 of 20 January 1969 and subsequent State amplifications in describing the role of the Under- -now Deputy- -Secretary of State as executive chairman of the NSC Under Secretaries Committee I cite this reference because I have frequently used it in discussions with State officials who · would like to believe that 40 Committee decisions may be reached only unanimously Also all 40 Committee decisions are submitted to the President for approval Since the 40 Committee has met only once since April 1972 the role of Dr Kissinger as executive chairman has been more pronounced than if meetings ha been held because he has been the final arbiter on numerous issues on which other 40 Committee principals registered conflicting points o view Since it has been the Department of State member who has been overruled most often there are many State officials in a position to challenge the accuracy of their official spokesman when he maintains that Committee decisions are unanimous In fact Lawrence Stern writing in the 10 September 1974 Washington Post leaves the impression that he used State sources with access to t e s to reveal what took place at a 27 June 1970 meeting £ the Committee TAB B i • I • 01465 • • -3- The·Chile section o the 40 Committee minutes of that date TAB C confirms the substance of Mr Stern's report on State's dissent and Dr Kissinger's remarks The minute shows that The Chief and Deputy Chief of State's Bureau of InterAmerican Affairs opposed the action taken • Under Secretary of State U Alexis Johnson State's 40 Committee principal had philosophical resen·ations ' • Dr Kissinger was recorded as saying 11 1 don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people The minute concludes that after a lengthy exchange of viewf it was agreed'' that certain action would be taken but there is no indication ' 11 ·hether this agreement' was unanimous or not There is no record it was submitted to the President for approval Principals present were Dr Kissinger Deputy Secretary of Defense Packard Mr Johnson and General Cushman Deputy Director of CIA vice the absent Mr Helms Attorney General Mitchell was unable to attend Admiral Moorer was present but not as a member the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was added as a member at the next meeting ln light of Seymour Hersh's article in today's Ne ' York Times TAB D covering some of the same ground it would appear that the ultimate source of his and Mr Stern's revelations of the 27 June 1970 40 Committee meeting is the pre-censored manuscript o the Marchetti Marks book It is not likely that we have heard the last of this subject and in l_ight o points of potential embarrassment as noted above I thought it prudent to submit these observations · Atta ch ' ' lent s TABs A-D •i - 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