Meetings: Tape 96. Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia and Brazil, Nuclear Test Ban Negotiations, 4 July 1963

Sound recording of a meeting held on July 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy, Under Secretary of State George Ball, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs W. Averell Harriman, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy, Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs Roger Hilsman, and member of the National Security Council Michael Forrestal. The main focus of this White House off-the-record meeting is the situation in Vietnam. The meeting takes place not long after a Buddhist monk burned himself to death to protest the relationship between the government of Vietnam and the Buddhists and amidst recent Buddhist demonstrations. The possibility of a coup in Vietnam and differing staff assessments of that possibility are also presented. Other topics are discussed near the end of the meeting, including Laos, Indonesia, Brazil, and Averell Harriman’s upcoming mission to Moscow concerning the treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), and specific aspects of its negotiations. One segment of the recording totaling 35 seconds has been removed in accordance with the donor's deed of gift. Four segments of the recording totaling 41 seconds have been removed in accordance with Section 3.4 (b) (1), (3) of Executive Order 12958. This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 96, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding and following this one. See Related Records to access Tape 96 in its entirety.