National Security Action Memorandum 263
| Date | 11 October 1963 |
|---|---|
| Description | Kennedy signs National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) #263, signalling his intention to withdraw troops from Vietnam |
National Security Action Memorandum 263 was an NSAM signed by John F. Kennedy at Washington D.C. on October 11, 1963 which ordered the withdrawal of 1000 US military personnel from Vietnam by the end of 1963.[1][2] It was sent to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and copied to the Director of Central Intelligence and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development.[2]
It stated:
At a meeting on October 5, 1963, the President considered the recommendations contained in the report of Secretary McNamara and General Taylor on their mission to South Vietnam.
The President approved the military recommendations contained in Section I B (1 -3) of the report, but directed that no formal announcement be made of the implementation of plans to withdraw 1,000 U.S. military personnel by the end of 1963.
After discussion of the remaining recommendations of the report, the President approved the instruction to Ambassador Lodge which is set forth in State Department telegram No. 534 to Saigon.
The memo references a report by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor, dated October 2,[3] and State Department telegram 534, sent on October 5.[4]
NSAM 263 was revealed in the Pentagon Papers.[2]
References
- ↑ http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsam-jfk/nsam-263.htm
- ↑ a b c http://web.archive.org/web/20071112162911/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon2/doc146.htm
- ↑ Office of the Historian. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963: Volume IV, Vietnam, August–December 1963, Document 167
- ↑ Office of the Historian. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963: Volume IV, Vietnam, August–December 1963, Document 181
- ↑ ref. JFK, CIA, Vietnam by Prouty, p xxiii
