Historical Documents

Volumes

Browse by Administration

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXII, Northeast Asia

Editors:
Edward C. Keefer
David W. Mabon
Harriet Dashiell Schwar
General Editor:
Glenn W. LaFantasie

United States Government Printing Office
Washington
1996

Office of the Historian
Bureau of Public Affairs


Table of Contents


Overview

The documentation printed in this volume focuses on the formulation of U.S. policy toward North Asia, particularly the most significant aspects of U.S. political, economic, and military relationships with the Governments of Japan, Korea, and the Republic of China on Taiwan. Also included is documentation on U.S. policies toward the People's Republic of China and Mongolia, with which the United States had no official diplomatic relations.

President Kennedy in conjunction with key advisers made the major foreign policy decisions during his presidency, and the editors tried to document his role as much possible. The role of White House and National Security Council Staff members in providing information and advice to the President grew during this period. The editors accordingly selected memoranda that presented to the President the views and recommendations of his White House advisers. Formal approved policy papers were rare in the Kennedy administration, and internal discussions between the President and his advisers were not always recorded. The editors sought to document Presidential decisions by drawing upon the best material available. The Department of State continued to play a leading role in formulating foreign policy and providing advice on foreign policy matters to the President, and it played the principal role in exchanges of view and negotiations on policy matters with foreign governments. The volume includes documentation on a range of lesser policy decisions that did not reach the President or were resolved in the Department of State or other foreign affairs agencies.

Ways to Explore