FOREIGN RELATIONS, 1950) VOLUME I


S/S-NSC Files: Lot 63D351: NSC 68 Series
              The President to the Secretary of State

 PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL               WASHINGTON, July 19, 1950.
   DEAR MR. SECRETARY: I have been considering the steps which are
 now necessary to make the National Security Council of maximum
 value in advising me as to the major policies required in the interest
 of our national security as a result of the present international situa-
 tion. It is my desire that all such policies should be recommended to me
 through the Council in order that I may readily have the benefit of
 the collective views of the officials of the Government primarily con-
 cerned with the national security. This result can be achieved only if
 there are frequent Council meetings at which the responsible officials
 may freely discuss specific recommendations on which there has pre-
 viously been coordinated staff work.
   Attendance: at recent meetings of the Council has been so large that
I feel it has discouraged free discussion. I therefore direct that the
Council meet regularly every Thursday with the Secretary of State
presiding in my absence and additional attendance confined to the
Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Harriman, Mr. SoUers, the Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of Central Intelligence, and
the Executive Secretary of the Council. Participation by other officials
will be only with my specific approval.
  To be effective these meetings should be preceded by carefully co-
ordinated staff work by the best qualified individuals who can be made
available for this task. I would therefore like the Secretary of State,
the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the National Security
Resources Board, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, and the Director of Central Intelligence, each to nominate for
my consideration one individual to be a member of a senior NSC staff
group which will be designated by me as Chairman of the Council
and which will be headed by the Executive Secretary of the Council.'

  Action No. 332, taken by the National Security Council at its 63rd Meeting,
August 3, read as follows:
  "[The Council] Noted the President's designation of the following
officials as
members of a senior NSC staff group, to be headed by the Executive Secretary:
  Philip C. Jessup, nominated by the Secretary of State
  Thomas K. Finletter, nominated by the Secretary of Defense
  Robert J. Smith, nominated by the Chairman of the National Security Re-
sources Board
  William McChesney Martin, Jr., nominated by the Secretary of the Treasury
  Rear Admiral E. T. Wooldridge, nominated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  Rear Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, Director of Central Intelligence"'
(S/S-NSC Files: Lot 66D95: NSC Actions)


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