Meetings: Tape 103/A39. Germany and Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 5 August 1963

Sound recording of a meeting held on August 5, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Under Secretary of State George Ball, and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy (who joins later in the meeting). This long meeting covers a variety of issues concerning the Federal Republic of Germany. Secretary McNamara just returned from a meeting with German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and relays the specifics to President Kennedy. The German reservations about the treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), criticisms of the State Department by Chancellor Adenauer, the effect of German abstention on the U.S. Senate debate on the Treaty, and the German political climate are discussed in detail. In addition, during the latter half of the meeting, President Kennedy discusses the upcoming U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on the Treaty, who should testify in front of the Committee, who the White House would like to testify to offset negative testimony from such witnesses as Teller and General Curtis LeMay. There is also a brief discussion that is difficult to hear concerning a Northeast Airline issue and the Civil Aeronautics Board. Six segments of the recording totaling 7 minutes and 48 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 103, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding this one. See Related Records to access Tape 103 in its entirety.