SUMMARY OF REMARKS BY (SANITIZED) CONCERNING THE AGENCY'S ROLE IN THE LBJ LIBRARY PROJECT, ON 25 JULY 1968

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP10T01930R000500130022-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 26, 2012
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: August 6, 1968
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved forRelease2012/11/26 : CIA-RDP10T01930R000500130022-7
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'SUBJECT : Summary of Remarks by
Concerning the Agency's Role in the LBJ
Library Project, on 25 July 1968
6 August 1968
1. The following is a brief summary of stenographic notes
taken at a meeting of CS.historical officers and writers held,
in Room 1A07, Headquarters, on 25 July 1968 to hear
who has been designated as the Agency's principaL
.coordinator of its effort to provide appropriate material to
.submit to the Johnson Library in Austin, Texas. He was intro-
duced by the Executive Secretary of the. CS Historical Board, ,
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2. started his remarks by saying that the 25X1
authority for having a Presidential Library was contained in
the Presidential Library Act of 1955, and that CIA, as well as
other U.S. Government agencies, had been instructed to provide
the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas, with all documents sent to 1
Mr. Johnson during his tenure as President, and to prepare a
history of its activity during his presidency. He noted that
there are four presidential libraries (Hoover, Roosevelt,
ruman, and Eisenhower) presently in existence, and two more in
process of formation (Kennedy and Johnson). These libraries
are a part of the National Archives and they are managed by the
General Services Administration. t said that
there is next to nothing from this Agency in the Truman and
Eisenhower libraries:1 As for the Kennedy Library, all papers
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in the White House at the time of his assassination were sealed
and have been kept for that library. Following that time, the
gency made relatively few submissions to the Kennedy Library,
and those that it did submit were quite inadequate in describ-
ing the Agency's undertakings during that administration; one,
for example, dealt with health and ;sanitation in Cuba. Thus,
our side of the Bay of Pigs and other important episodes is not
on record in the Kennedy Library to refute certain unfounded
allegations made in books written by yarious persons connected
with the Kennedy Administration.., said that I. 25X1
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/26 : CIA-RDP10T01930R000500130022-7
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Mr. Helms felt that if the-Agency does not put its side of the
story of its activities on record, it will never get there.
3. It has been said that there will be absolutely no
effort made to edit submissions in an effort to make the
.Johnson Administration look good. As far as the Agency is con-
.cerned, our submissions are to be accurate and honest; we will
tell of our failures as well as our successes.
What this Agency submits and the manner in which it does
it will be different from that of other U.S. Government agen-
cies, and this is recognized by the Administration. Other
agencies must prepare in one paper the story of its activities
throughout the Johnson Administration, and include budget and,
personnel figures and charts; CIA will not.
What we will do is to prepare a list of those documents
that have been sent to the White House (to determine what clas-
sification they should retain and where they should be physical-
ly stored), and to prepare a substantive account of what the
Agency did in important foreign issues during this administra-
tion, but omitting all operational data. Examples of such
important issues are: Vietnam, Kashmir, the Soviet ABM, the
Arab-Israeli War, the Dominican Republic, and the Congo. Each
of these issues is to be treated separately. The Katzenbach
Report will be used, and, in this connection, the CIA story of
its connections with youth, students, labor, etc., should be
prepared for inclusion. Also of importance are the issues
raised by Mr. James Garrison of New Orleans. (Accusation that
CIA was behind a plot to assassinate President Kennedy.)
again pointed out that our emphasis should
be on the substantive aspects, and not the operational. He also
pointed out that there are varying degrees of sensitivity of
papers that could be. submitted; some, like much of the FBIS
material,' could go "as is" right now; also field reactions to.
the Johnsdn-Kosygin meeting at Glassboro.
He then mentioned the ONE Estimates, saying that about the
only thing classified about them is the fact that this is.the
opinion of the U.S. Intelligence Community.. Ile.mentioned that
Studies in Intelligence should be included. .
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. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/26 : CIA-RDP10T01930R000500130022-7
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/26: CIA-RDP10T01930R000500130022-7
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The question of classification, length of time a document
-.:must remain classified, and where various documents should be
'stored was discussed., said that he felt that we .25X1
should not use an automatic declassification period, as the
State Department does (it declassifies after 25 years), but
should agree to review documents after certain periods of time
to determine whether they are then susceptible to downgrading; 25kL:
or declassification. He mentioned that. the Agency keeps per-,
sonnel files classified for 125 years after an individual has
retired,
The fact that consideration should be given to the use of
certain CI and CA studies was mentioned,' and the thought that
possibly something on the defector program or defector handling
should be written.
stated that it should be made clear that
.the Agency takes history seriously, and that we are not afraid
to speak of our failures as well as our successes. In this
connection, he mentioned that a brief history of the Agency his-
torical program should be written.
The deadline for all submissions is 30 November 1968; by.
this time all material should be microfilmed for shipping to ;
Austin. Any material that becomes available after that 'date i.
can be sent in hard copy by 20 January 1969.
4. During the question period, several questions were
raised such as how we could gain control of the minutes of the
303 Committee, and how secure will the Austin Library be, but,
there are no immediate answers.
said that CS officers concerned with this.
LBJ Library project should contact him directly in Room 7E62,
Headquarters,. on
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It was mentioned that the Agency has two former Presidential
librarians: 1 of the Hoover Library, on and
of the Roosevelt Library,'.. on
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/26 : CIA-RDP10T01930R000500130022-7