JOHNSON'S SWIFT RESPONSE TO FIRST FOREIGN CRISIS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP74-00297R001600010014-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 28, 2014
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: January 12, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/04/28: CIA-RDP74-00297R001600010014-2
JAN 12 1964
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By David Wise
Wil&hington, Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON..
offics for only seven
wecke. President Johnson and
his Administration have been ,
co.rirorter:t with an ugly crisis
if,. Panama that comes at the
werEt possible time in the
' worst possible place. -
? Lattn American affairs is I
! the one area in the :field of '
! foreign relations on which ;
!
President. Johnson has gone :
; out of his way to .stamp his
t personal "LBJ" brand.
; He named Thomas C. Mann;
a fellow Texan from Laredo,,
head of the entire Latin pro-
. gram, as part of a complete ?
-?shakeup in the State Depart-
ments Latin American
divi-
sicm and the Alliance for
Progress program.
That there was need for an
improvement in the way the ,
? United States was handling
its relations with Latin Amer- ;
; ica seems amply demon- ,
stratod by the blow-up in I
Pantinnk. At the same time,
there is speeial irony in trou-
ble iitrikin7 first in the very
crea where- the new President
--wI:th considerable fanfare
?made_ I-;is ? first foreign
e:olicy move.
Not only are the riot likely
to damage Washington's re-
lations with the rest of Latin
? Amerien, but the elements in
the. crisis?the Colossus of, the
North aStrida ? tiny Panama ?
. and the Canal?are made: to
. order for Moscow propagan-.
(diets.. In terms of world im-
, alfo, reports -that American
troops and American Canal
'Loris goiie. had fired on riot-i'?
ing Panamanian crowds put ?
the United States in the un-
pleasant position of a big I
country shooting at a smaller ?
one. - ?
? All of these ugly aspects of
; the situation must have
, . flashed through the Presi-
der 1.'s mind when he received
tb firYreports of the *vio-;
.?lenee in Panama while he was -
, dining at the White House
Thizsdaye /?.'e ?
Some time between 8 and 9
p.m. Bill D. Moyers his 29-
,Year-old top assistant brought
the first bulletin to the Presi-
dent.
As soon as the President re-
ceived the first word, he \yr, s
on the telephone to Mr..,
Mann, who has the dual title
of Assistant to the President ;
and Assistant Secretary I
State for Inter-American Af- ;
fairs. Mr. Mann spent the
evening in . the operations'
center of the State Depart-
ment, a communications cri- I
sis center with a combination!'
lock on the door.
Ralph Dungan, an AssiStant?
to the President who handles('
Latin American affairs, was.."
stationed in the War Room of ?j
the; Pentagon.
About midnight, the Presi-
dent retired. He was up again
at 6:50 a. m. and at 9:30 a. m,
Friday he met in the Cabinet
Robin with his top security,
?
?
_
advisers. Present were, mane
of the men who had advised
Mr. Kennedy in the Cuban
missile crisis plus some new
faces.
Assembled in the Cabinet
Room were Secretary of State
Dean usk, Under Secretary
of Stzte George W. Ball, Mr.
Edwin M. Martin, Mr.
Marc;; predecessor and new-
ly-designated Ambassador to
Argentina; Secretary of De-
fense Robert S. McNamara.
Secretary of the Army Cyrus
R. 'Vance, Under Secretary of
the Army Stephen Ailes. Mr.
Ieundy, Mr. Dungan and John
-A, McConedirector of, the
President and his aids
_ ? .
?
N Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/04/28: CIA-RDP74-00297R001600010014-2
; ? - -
planned _heir ::?tratcew and
&ailed the' Wh-te House
statement that
after the Meeting. soon se
the hour-and-a -ha f
had ended, :tit; P.e.fient
placed a canto f-.o-
berto F. Chiari. in
The- two spoke li?oin- 11:?30
a.m. to 11:50 a. in.
The ,1?..cside.nt called for '
peace and dispatched a high-. t
level mission to ? Panama,
headed by Mr; Mann. ,
? Thus the Administration;
responded. to- its first inter- t
national. crisis. The immedi-
ate rupture between Panama -
and Washington, may be re-
paired in the days t-.,head.. ,