Details
President Kennedy dictating his recollections of policy decisions that led to the overthrow and death of President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam on November 1, 1963. The President says that it was the product of divided governments in both the United States and in Vietnam. He indicates who the supporters and the opponents of a coup were. During his dictation he is interrupted by John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Location: The White House, Washington, D.C.
Date: November 4, 1963
Running time: 5:21 minutes
Transcript
[Note: punctuation marks dictated by the President as part of the sound clip are in parentheses]
One, two, thee, four, five . . . [unintelligible] . . . Monday, November 4th, 1963. The uh . . . Over the weekend the uh coup in Saigon took place. It culminated uh three months of uh conversation about a coup (comma), conversation which divided the government here and in Saigon. Opposed to a coup was uh General Taylor, the Attorney General, Secretary McNamara, to a somewhat lesser degree John McCone, partly because of an old hostility to Lodge that causes him to lack confidence in Lodge’s judgment (comma), partly to . . . as a result of a new hostility because Lodge uh shifted his Station Chief (semicolon); in favor of the coup was State led by Averell Harriman, George Ball, Roger Hilsman, supported by Mike Forrestal at the White House.
I uh feel that we must bear a good deal of responsibility for it beginning with our cable of early August in which we suggested a coup (period). In my judgment that wire was badly drafted (comma), it should never have been sent on a Saturday. I uh should not have given my consent to it without a roundtable conference in which McNamara and Taylor could have presented their views. While we did redress that balance in later wires that first wire encouraged Lodge along a course to which he was in any case inclined. Harkins continued to oppose the coup on the ground that the military effort was doing well. There was a sharp split between Saigon and the rest of the country. Politically the situation was deteriorating. Militarily there had . . . had not had its effect. There was a feeling, however, that it would. For this reason Secretary McNamara and General Taylor supported applying additional pressures to Diem and Nhu in order to move them . . .
[At 2:50 minutes the dictation is interrupted by John F. Kennedy, Jr. entering the office and talking into the Dictabelt]
JFK, Jr.: [shouting in background]
President: Wanna say something? Wanna say something? Hello . . .
JFK, Jr.: Hello . . .
President: Say it again.
JFK, Jr.: [unintelligible]
President: Why do the leaves uh . . . fall?
JFK, Jr.: [unintelligible]
President: [unintelligible] . . . Why does the snow come on the ground?
JFK, Jr.: Because [unintelligible]
President: Why do the leaves turn green?
JFK, Jr.: Because [unintelligible]
President: Spring . . . spring . . . And where do we go to the Cape, Hyannis Port?
JFK, Jr.: Because it’s spring
President: It’s summer
JFK, Jr.: Summer . . .
President: [Unintelligible]
JFK, Jr.: [Laughter and unintelligible]
[At 4:23 minutes President Kennedy resumes his dictation]
I was uh shocked by the death of Diem and Nhu. I’d met Diem with Justice Douglas many years ago. He was uh extraordinary character while he became increasingly difficult in the last months, nevertheless, over a ten-year period he’d held his country together, maintained its independence under very adverse conditions. The . . . The way he was killed made it particularly abhorrent. The question now is whether the generals can stay together and build a stable government or whether Saigon will begin . . . will turn on public opinion in Saigon, the intellectuals, students, etc., will turn on this government as repressive and undemocratic in the not too distant future (period). Also, we have uh another test in the Autobahn . . .
[End of sound clip]