TALKING POINTS FOR YOUR MEETING WITH FORMER GOVERNOR JOHN B. CONNALLY, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1970, AT 10:00 AM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-512-2-10-9
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: March 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: November 30, 1970
• Content Type: MEMO

No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/03/01 LOC-HAK-512-2-10-9 L/ ~' /Ae .,
TOP SECRET/S:
INFORMATION
TIVE
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDE
FROM: Henry A. Kissie
SUBJECT: Talking Points for Your Meeting with Former Governor
John B. Connally, Friday, December 4, 1970, at 10:00 am
Background
This will be your first meeting with Governor Connally since his
appointment to the PFIAB. He has practiced law in Houston for the
past year with the firm of Vinson, Elkins, Searlys and Connally. He
has also served as a member of the President's Advisory Council on
Executive Organisation, known as the Ash Council.
Talking Points
You may wish to tell Governor Connally that you are delighted he has
agreed to join PFIAB and that you believe we need a man of his experi-
ence to help take a long-needed hard look at the intelligence activities
of this government. You might want to express to him the view that
the intelligeace community appears to you to be in a bad state and to
need a real overhauling. You could mention the following specifics:
TOP SECRET /SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/03/01 : LOC-HAK-512-2-10-9
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/03/01 : LOC-HAK-512-2-10-9
a ?
TOP SEC RET LS NSITIVE
-- The whole estimates process which too often serves up a
consensus apparently more aimed at burying real differences
of view than in presenting the President with legitimate and
necessary alternate interpretations of intelligence judgments.
You might wish to conclude your remarks by emphasizing the need for
a tough-minded review not only of the intelligence organization but of
the m*a who currently hold the top jobs in that field. In this regard.
you can express again your appreciation for the insight and honesty
of judgment which Governor Connally brings to this task and you can
tall him that you know of no other job in Washington which needs
doing as badly or which is more important to the proper conduct of
our defense and foreign policy.
TOP SECRET /SEN.S1T1V.Z
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/03/01 : LOC-HAK-512-2-10-9
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 0, 1970
Office of the White Hou-se` Press Secretary
THE 1A is I E HOUSE
The President today announced the appointment of former Texas Governor John B.
Connally as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
The appointment will become effective on December 1, 1970.
Governor Connally, who was born in Floresvill.e, Texas, in 1917, received his
law degree from the University of Texas, During World War II he served in the
Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theatres. A former Adninistrative
Assistant to the then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, he was appointed by President
Kennedy as Secretary of the. Navy, and after a year in that position resigned to
run successfully for the Governorship of Texas in 1962. He' was reelected in 1964
and again in 1966.
Since the expiration of his third term as Governor in 1969, Connally has practiced
law in Houston with the firm of Vinson, Elkins, Searls and Connally. He has
also served as a member of.the President's Advisory Council on Executive
Organization, known as the Ash Council.
Governor Cvnn;lIyis married to the former Idanell Brill. They have three
children: John B. itt, Sharon, and Mark.
The present Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board was reconstituted and
reorganized by President Nixon on March 20, 1969. It was originally established
by President Eisenhower in 1956 as the President's Board of Consultants on
Foreign Intelligence Activities, and was continued by Presidents Kennedy and
Johnson as the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
Composed of a nonpartisan group of distinguished private citizens, the Board
performs a continuing review of all foreign intelligence and related activities
conducted by the Departments and Agencies of the U. S. Government. It is
responsible for advising the President on the overall national intelligence effort
and for recommending to him appropriate measures to increase the effectiveness
of the U. S. intelligence community.
The Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board is composed of ten members and is
chaired by Admiral George W. Anderson, Jr., USN (Retired), former Chief
of Naval Operations and U. S. Ambassador to Portugal.
The Executive Secretary of the Board is Mr. Gerard P. Burke.
In announcing the appointment of Connally, the President noted the highly
important role of intelligence in the overall national security of the United. States
and emphasized his reliance on the Board for non-partisan objective appraisals
of all the foreign intelligence activities of the government.
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/03/01 : LOC-HAK-512-2-10-9