Cyrus R. Vance Interviewer: Joseph Califano Date of Interview: August 3, 1964 Place of Interview: Arlington, Virginia Length: 51 Pp
Total Page:16
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Cyrus R. Vance Oral History Interview- JFK #1, 8/3/1964 Administrative Information Creator: Cyrus R. Vance Interviewer: Joseph Califano Date of Interview: August 3, 1964 Place of Interview: Arlington, Virginia Length: 51 pp. Biographical Note Vance, Cyrus R.; General Counsel, Department of Defense (1961); Secretary of the Army (1961-1963). Vance discusses his role in John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] presidential campaign (1960) and his position as General Counsel. He covers the riots surrounding the enrollment of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi, and discusses JFK’s decisions to use armed forces in order to maintain order throughout this situation, among other issues. Access Restrictions No restrictions. Usage Restrictions According to the deed of gift signed May 30, 1990, copyright of these materials has been assigned to the United States Government. Users of these materials are advised to determine the copyright status of any document from which they wish to publish. 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Transcript of Oral History Interview These electronic documents were created from transcripts available in the research room of the John F. Kennedy Library. The transcripts were scanned using optical character recognition and the resulting text files were proofread against the original transcripts. Some formatting changes were made. Page numbers are noted where they would have occurred at the bottoms of the pages of the original transcripts. If researchers have any concerns about accuracy, they are encouraged to visit the library and consult the transcripts and the interview recordings. Suggested Citation Cyrus R. Vance, recorded interview by Joseph Califano, August 3, 1964, (page number), John F. Kennedy Oral History Program. NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATI ON JOHN F. KENNEDY LIBRARY Legal Agreement Pertaining to the Oral History Interviews of Cyrus R. Vance In accordance with the provisions of Chapter 21 of Title 44, United states Code, and subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth, I, Cyrus R. Vance do hereby give, donate, and convey to the United states of America all my rights , title, and interest in the tape recording and transcript of personal interviews conducted on August 3, 1964 at Washington, D. C. and prepared for deposit in the John F. Kennedy Library. This assignment is subject to the following terms and conditions: ( 1 ) The transcript shall be made available for use by researchers as soon as it has been deposited in the John F. Kennedy Library. (2) The tape recording shall be made available to those researchers who have access to the transcript. (3) I hereby assign to the United States Government all copyright I may have in the interview transcri pt and tape. (4) Copies of the transcript and the tape r ecording may be provided by the Library to researchers upon request. (5) Copies of the transcripi and tape recording may be deposited in or John F. Kennedy Library. Archivist?&& of the Uni ted States Cyrus R. Vance Table of Contents Page Topic 1 Vance’s initial interactions with John F. Kennedy [JFK] 3 Vance’s participation in JFK’s presidential campaign, 1960 3 Vance as General Counsel of the Department of Defense during the Kennedy Administration 5 JFK’s defense policies 7 The “Oxford situation,” 1962: James Meredith and the University of Mississippi 19 JFK’s signing of the Proclamation and Executive Order regarding the “Oxford situation” 41, 50 Reflection on, and reassessment of, the “Oxford situation” CALIFANO: This is an interview with Cyrus R . Vance, General Counsel of the Department of Defense from J anuary 29, 196 1 until July 4, 1962. On July 5, 1962, he was sw orn in as Secretary of the Army and remained in that post until January 28 , 1964. On J a nuary 28, 1964 , he was sworn in as Deputy Secretary of Defense, a post h e now holds. Today's date is August 3, 1964, and the interview is being conducted in Secretary Vance's office. The individua l doing the interviewing is myself, Joseph Califano. CALIFANO: Mr. Va n ce, when did you first meet President Kennedy ? VANCE: I fi rst met Preside n t K ennedy, I b e lieve, i n Februa ry of 1942. At that time I was about to go into the Navy and was awaiting a definite date on which I was to r eport. I went down during the month of February to Charleston, South Carolina, to the wedding of a good friend and former roommate of mine, Stanl ey R e sor. At the wedding there was a young naval officer w ho was introduced as Ensign Kennedy. H e was a slim, shy and attractive y oung man. We spent, I would guess, about 15 or 20 minutes together talking about the Navy and his tour in Charleston where I believe he was awaiting a ship. I didn't see him again until after he was nominated for the Preside ncy. At that time I met him at a dinner which was held at The River Club i n New York at which he asked a number of lawyers and businessmen in the New York area to meet wi th him to discuss prospects for the coming campaign. CALIFANO: Mr. Vance, when was the first time you met President Kennedy a fte r he was elected Pre sident? VANCE: After he was elected President, the first time I met him was a t a swearing-in ceremony at the White House. At t hat time he swore in about t e n of us. I can recall t hat Byron White was the re, and also from the Defense Departme nt Tom Morris, Charlie Hitch, Paul Nitze and m y self. The swearing-in took place at about 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon a t a ceremony in the East Room. The President not only invited a ll o f those who were to be sworn i n but also their wives and children. My wife and our two e ldest daughters went with me t o the swearing-in. A fter the swearing-in, the Pres ident and his wife greeted a ll of the gue sts, which was a great thrill not only t o those w ho we r e bein g s w orn in but to their families as well. CALIFANO: Do you remember anything the President s aid to you a t that time? VANCE: I b e lieve the only thing he said at that time was, "Cy, I a m awfully glad to see you and I am delighted that you are going to b e working with us. 11 CALIFANO: I might just go back for a m inute. Did you have any contact with Pre side nt K e nne dy between the time he spoke to you at The River Club and the time he swore you in? VANCE: No, I didn't have. 2 CALIFANO: Did you do any work for the Preside nt during the campaign? VANCE: Yes, I did some work during the campaign. I participated in furnishing ideas with respect to the Defense program which I transmitted to S enator Symington who at that time was working on a report for the President in the Defense area. CALIFANO: Was that the limit of your activity? VANCE: Yes, plus soliciting s o me funds for the campaign. CALIFANO: How did you come to be a part of the Kennedy Ad- ministration: VANCE: I recall this rather vividly. I believe it was Friday before Christmas of 1960 that I r eceived a t e lephone call late in the afternoon from Ros Gilpatric, who was a lawyer in New York and a friend with w hom I had worked on a number of l egal matters. Ros said that he had just come back from out of town and had a matter which he would like to discuss with me the next morning if I could stop by his house. At that time Ros had already been designated as the prospective Deputy Secretary of Defense, so that I thought that it might have something to do with possibly going down to Washington to work for the Defense Department. The next morning I went down to Ros' house and met w ith him in his living room. Ros said that he and Bob McNamara had bee n meeting to select those who were to work with them in the new administration at the Defense Department, and they would like very much for me to join them as General Counsel. Ros 3 then got out an organization chart and went over it with me, pointing out those w h o m they were going to a sk to f ill the various spots.