John F. Kennedy, USIA, and world public opinion

Diplomatic History

Volumn 25, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 63-84

  Haefele, Mark ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0007152438     PISSN: 01452096     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/0145-2096.00249     Document Type: Article

References (166)

1. Donald M. Wilson, telephone interview with the author, 28 August 1997. Burnett Anderson, telephone interview with the author, 28 August 1997. D. Wilson to the president, "First Effort to Measure 'World Opinion,'" 10 July 1963, President's Office File (POF), box 91, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
2. Wilson, "World Opinion."
3. Ibid.
4. Anderson interview, 28 August 1997.
5. Wilson to the president, 11 [July] 1963, POF, box 91, USIA incorrectly dated this memo 11 June 1963; but it refers to the information on the first world opinion survey "requested earlier today" and is stamped by the White House as received on 11 July 1963 - one day after the 10 July memo on the world opinion poll. According to Anderson, USIA also sent a team to the White House on 11 July 1963 to brief the president.
6. In this essay I use the terms "world opinion" and "world public opinion" interchangeably to mean some concept expressing the aggregate sum of human sentiment in the non-Communist world. This definition of world opinion and world public opinion seems closest to the meaning imparted to these terms by the USIA. Ninkovich also conflates the terms in Frank Ninkovich, Modernity and Power: A History of the Domino Theory in the Twentieth Century (Chicago, 1994), 56, 58, 256.
7. Thomas C. Sorensen, The World War: the Story of American Propaganda (New York, 1968), 141.
8. On new scholarship see Peter Kindsvatter's report on remarks by John Lewis Gaddis, "Exploring the 'New' Cold War History and Missed Opportunities for Conflict Resolution," Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Newsletter 26, no. 4 (1996): 15.
9. As Thomas G. Paterson has noted, "First-rate historical studies of the United States Information Agency are wanting" ("Defining and Doing: A Primer," in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, ed. Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson [New York, 1991], 49.) This problem is particularly acute for the Kennedy administration, though an important start has been made by Frank Ninkovich in "U.S. Information Policy and Cultural Diplomacy," Foreign Policy Association Headline Series 308 (Fall 19966). For a history of USIA up to 1961 see Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (New York, 1997). Hixson explores how the monitoring and attempted transformation of public opinion in Eastern Europe was an important element of policy in the Truman-Eisenhower years. USIA employees have written most of the works on the USIA's role in foreign policy. The best of these for the Kennedy period is Sorensen, The World War. Thomas Sorensen, USIA deputy director (policy and plans) during the Kennedy administration, was the brother of Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy's special counsel. See also Wilson P. Dizard, The Strategy of Truth: The Story of the U.S. Information Service (Washington, 1961); and John W. Henderson, The United States Information Agency (New York, 1969). In broader terms, Akira Iriye's Cultural Internationalism and World Order (Baltimore, 1997) has contrasted traditional conceptions of power and interest with the international importance of cultural and ideological beliefs.
10. As Thomas G. Paterson has noted, "First-rate historical studies of the United States Information Agency are wanting" ("Defining and Doing: A Primer," in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, ed. Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson [New York, 1991], 49.) This problem is particularly acute for the Kennedy administration, though an important start has been made by Frank Ninkovich in "U.S. Information Policy and Cultural Diplomacy," Foreign Policy Association Headline Series 308 (Fall 19966). For a history of USIA up to 1961 see Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (New York, 1997). Hixson explores how the monitoring and attempted transformation of public opinion in Eastern Europe was an important element of policy in the Truman-Eisenhower years. USIA employees have written most of the works on the USIA's role in foreign policy. The best of these for the Kennedy period is Sorensen, The World War. Thomas Sorensen, USIA deputy director (policy and plans) during the Kennedy administration, was the brother of Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy's special counsel. See also Wilson P. Dizard, The Strategy of Truth: The Story of the U.S. Information Service (Washington, 1961); and John W. Henderson, The United States Information Agency (New York, 1969). In broader terms, Akira Iriye's Cultural Internationalism and World Order (Baltimore, 1997) has contrasted traditional conceptions of power and interest with the international importance of cultural and ideological beliefs.
11. As Thomas G. Paterson has noted, "First-rate historical studies of the United States Information Agency are wanting" ("Defining and Doing: A Primer," in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, ed. Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson [New York, 1991], 49.) This problem is particularly acute for the Kennedy administration, though an important start has been made by Frank Ninkovich in "U.S. Information Policy and Cultural Diplomacy," Foreign Policy Association Headline Series 308 (Fall 19966). For a history of USIA up to 1961 see Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (New York, 1997). Hixson explores how the monitoring and attempted transformation of public opinion in Eastern Europe was an important element of policy in the Truman-Eisenhower years. USIA employees have written most of the works on the USIA's role in foreign policy. The best of these for the Kennedy period is Sorensen, The World War. Thomas Sorensen, USIA deputy director (policy and plans) during the Kennedy administration, was the brother of Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy's special counsel. See also Wilson P. Dizard, The Strategy of Truth: The Story of the U.S. Information Service (Washington, 1961); and John W. Henderson, The United States Information Agency (New York, 1969). In broader terms, Akira Iriye's Cultural Internationalism and World Order (Baltimore, 1997) has contrasted traditional conceptions of power and interest with the international importance of cultural and ideological beliefs.
12. As Thomas G. Paterson has noted, "First-rate historical studies of the United States Information Agency are wanting" ("Defining and Doing: A Primer," in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, ed. Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson [New York, 1991], 49.) This problem is particularly acute for the Kennedy administration, though an important start has been made by Frank Ninkovich in "U.S. Information Policy and Cultural Diplomacy," Foreign Policy Association Headline Series 308 (Fall 19966). For a history of USIA up to 1961 see Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (New York, 1997). Hixson explores how the monitoring and attempted transformation of public opinion in Eastern Europe was an important element of policy in the Truman-Eisenhower years. USIA employees have written most of the works on the USIA's role in foreign policy. The best of these for the Kennedy period is Sorensen, The World War. Thomas Sorensen, USIA deputy director (policy and plans) during the Kennedy administration, was the brother of Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy's special counsel. See also Wilson P. Dizard, The Strategy of Truth: The Story of the U.S. Information Service (Washington, 1961); and John W. Henderson, The United States Information Agency (New York, 1969). In broader terms, Akira Iriye's Cultural Internationalism and World Order (Baltimore, 1997) has contrasted traditional conceptions of power and interest with the international importance of cultural and ideological beliefs.
13. As Thomas G. Paterson has noted, "First-rate historical studies of the United States Information Agency are wanting" ("Defining and Doing: A Primer," in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, ed. Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson [New York, 1991], 49.) This problem is particularly acute for the Kennedy administration, though an important start has been made by Frank Ninkovich in "U.S. Information Policy and Cultural Diplomacy," Foreign Policy Association Headline Series 308 (Fall 19966). For a history of USIA up to 1961 see Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (New York, 1997). Hixson explores how the monitoring and attempted transformation of public opinion in Eastern Europe was an important element of policy in the Truman-Eisenhower years. USIA employees have written most of the works on the USIA's role in foreign policy. The best of these for the Kennedy period is Sorensen, The World War. Thomas Sorensen, USIA deputy director (policy and plans) during the Kennedy administration, was the brother of Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy's special counsel. See also Wilson P. Dizard, The Strategy of Truth: The Story of the U.S. Information Service (Washington, 1961); and John W. Henderson, The United States Information Agency (New York, 1969). In broader terms, Akira Iriye's Cultural Internationalism and World Order (Baltimore, 1997) has contrasted traditional conceptions of power and interest with the international importance of cultural and ideological beliefs.
14. As Thomas G. Paterson has noted, "First-rate historical studies of the United States Information Agency are wanting" ("Defining and Doing: A Primer," in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, ed. Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson [New York, 1991], 49.) This problem is particularly acute for the Kennedy administration, though an important start has been made by Frank Ninkovich in "U.S. Information Policy and Cultural Diplomacy," Foreign Policy Association Headline Series 308 (Fall 19966). For a history of USIA up to 1961 see Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (New York, 1997). Hixson explores how the monitoring and attempted transformation of public opinion in Eastern Europe was an important element of policy in the Truman-Eisenhower years. USIA employees have written most of the works on the USIA's role in foreign policy. The best of these for the Kennedy period is Sorensen, The World War. Thomas Sorensen, USIA deputy director (policy and plans) during the Kennedy administration, was the brother of Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy's special counsel. See also Wilson P. Dizard, The Strategy of Truth: The Story of the U.S. Information Service (Washington, 1961); and John W. Henderson, The United States Information Agency (New York, 1969). In broader terms, Akira Iriye's Cultural Internationalism and World Order (Baltimore, 1997) has contrasted traditional conceptions of power and interest with the international importance of cultural and ideological beliefs.
15. As Thomas G. Paterson has noted, "First-rate historical studies of the United States Information Agency are wanting" ("Defining and Doing: A Primer," in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, ed. Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson [New York, 1991], 49.) This problem is particularly acute for the Kennedy administration, though an important start has been made by Frank Ninkovich in "U.S. Information Policy and Cultural Diplomacy," Foreign Policy Association Headline Series 308 (Fall 19966). For a history of USIA up to 1961 see Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (New York, 1997). Hixson explores how the monitoring and attempted transformation of public opinion in Eastern Europe was an important element of policy in the Truman-Eisenhower years. USIA employees have written most of the works on the USIA's role in foreign policy. The best of these for the Kennedy period is Sorensen, The World War. Thomas Sorensen, USIA deputy director (policy and plans) during the Kennedy administration, was the brother of Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy's special counsel. See also Wilson P. Dizard, The Strategy of Truth: The Story of the U.S. Information Service (Washington, 1961); and John W. Henderson, The United States Information Agency (New York, 1969). In broader terms, Akira Iriye's Cultural Internationalism and World Order (Baltimore, 1997) has contrasted traditional conceptions of power and interest with the international importance of cultural and ideological beliefs.
16. Early works that helped perpetuate the official Kennedy image include T. H. White, The Making of the President 1960 (New York, 1961); Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston, 1965); and Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy (New York, 1965). Those that explore the gap between the Kennedy image and reality include Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York, 1961); Henry Fairlie, The Kennedy Promise: The Politics of Expectation (Garden City, NY, 1973); Herbert S. Parmet, JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1983); and Thomas C. Reeves, A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1991).
17. Early works that helped perpetuate the official Kennedy image include T. H. White, The Making of the President 1960 (New York, 1961); Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston, 1965); and Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy (New York, 1965). Those that explore the gap between the Kennedy image and reality include Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York, 1961); Henry Fairlie, The Kennedy Promise: The Politics of Expectation (Garden City, NY, 1973); Herbert S. Parmet, JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1983); and Thomas C. Reeves, A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1991).
18. Early works that helped perpetuate the official Kennedy image include T. H. White, The Making of the President 1960 (New York, 1961); Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston, 1965); and Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy (New York, 1965). Those that explore the gap between the Kennedy image and reality include Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York, 1961); Henry Fairlie, The Kennedy Promise: The Politics of Expectation (Garden City, NY, 1973); Herbert S. Parmet, JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1983); and Thomas C. Reeves, A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1991).
19. Early works that helped perpetuate the official Kennedy image include T. H. White, The Making of the President 1960 (New York, 1961); Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston, 1965); and Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy (New York, 1965). Those that explore the gap between the Kennedy image and reality include Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York, 1961); Henry Fairlie, The Kennedy Promise: The Politics of Expectation (Garden City, NY, 1973); Herbert S. Parmet, JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1983); and Thomas C. Reeves, A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1991).
20. Early works that helped perpetuate the official Kennedy image include T. H. White, The Making of the President 1960 (New York, 1961); Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston, 1965); and Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy (New York, 1965). Those that explore the gap between the Kennedy image and reality include Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York, 1961); Henry Fairlie, The Kennedy Promise: The Politics of Expectation (Garden City, NY, 1973); Herbert S. Parmet, JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1983); and Thomas C. Reeves, A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1991).
21. Early works that helped perpetuate the official Kennedy image include T. H. White, The Making of the President 1960 (New York, 1961); Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston, 1965); and Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy (New York, 1965). Those that explore the gap between the Kennedy image and reality include Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York, 1961); Henry Fairlie, The Kennedy Promise: The Politics of Expectation (Garden City, NY, 1973); Herbert S. Parmet, JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1983); and Thomas C. Reeves, A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1991).
22. Early works that helped perpetuate the official Kennedy image include T. H. White, The Making of the President 1960 (New York, 1961); Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston, 1965); and Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy (New York, 1965). Those that explore the gap between the Kennedy image and reality include Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York, 1961); Henry Fairlie, The Kennedy Promise: The Politics of Expectation (Garden City, NY, 1973); Herbert S. Parmet, JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1983); and Thomas C. Reeves, A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy (New York, 1991).
23. Parmet, JFK, 63.
24. Burton I. Kaufman, "JFK as World Leader," Diplomatic History 17 (Winter 1993): 449.
25. Richard J. Walton, Cold War and Counter Revolution: The Foreign Policy of John F. Kennedy (Baltimore, 1972), 54-59. For an analysis and rebuttal of this charge in relation to the Cuban missile crisis see Thomas G. Paterson and William J. Brophy, "October Missiles and November Elections: The Cuban Missile Crisis and American Politics, 1962," Journal of American History 73, no. 1 (1986): 87-119.
26. Richard J. Walton, Cold War and Counter Revolution: The Foreign Policy of John F. Kennedy (Baltimore, 1972), 54-59. For an analysis and rebuttal of this charge in relation to the Cuban missile crisis see Thomas G. Paterson and William J. Brophy, "October Missiles and November Elections: The Cuban Missile Crisis and American Politics, 1962," Journal of American History 73, no. 1 (1986): 87-119.
27. Paterson wrote that "Arrogance, ignorance, and impatience combined with familiar exaggerations of the Communist threat to deny Kennedy his objectives." Thomas G. Paterson, ed., Kennedy's Quest For Victory: American Foreign Policy, 1961-1963 (New York, 1989), 23.
28. JFK, 9 September 1963, Public Papers of the Presidents, 1963 (Washington, 1964), 349.
29. Ninkovich, Modernity and Power, 192.
30. Ibid., 302.
31. Ibid, 272.
32. Ibid., 256.
33. John J. McCloy in Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 481. Thomas Sorensen noted that many U.S. diplomats concurred with McCloy. He quoted one who told him, "To hell with public opinion and public opinion polls. I'm here to deal with the government, not with the public." Sorensen, World War, 78.
34. John J. McCloy in Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 481. Thomas Sorensen noted that many U.S. diplomats concurred with McCloy. He quoted one who told him, "To hell with public opinion and public opinion polls. I'm here to deal with the government, not with the public." Sorensen, World War, 78.
35. Schlesinger, Thousand Days, 482.
36. Although USIA began multinational opinion polling during the Eisenhower administration, Kennedy expanded USIA polling and began "world opinion polling." President Johnson discontinued the multinational opinion polling of USIA in 1966. Sorensen, World War, 77.
37. Elmo C. Wilson, "World-Wide Development of Opinion Research," Public Opinion Quarterly 21, no. 1 (1957): 174.
38. Archibald M. Crossley, "Early Days of Public Opinion Research," Public Opinion Quarterly 21, no. 1 (1957): 159.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid., 162-63.
41. Stuart Carter Dodd, "A Barometer of International Security," Public Opinion Quarterly 9, no. 4 (1945): 195.
42. Ibid.
43. Wilson, "Development of Opinion," 176.
44. On 31 August 1945 Harry Truman abolished the Office of War Information. On 1 January 1946, the Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs was created as part of the Department of State.
45. Leo Bogart, "Measuring the Effectiveness of an Overseas Information Campaign," Public Opinion Quarterly 21, no. 4 (1958): 479; Helen Crossley, former USIA pollster, in an interview with the author, 6 June 1996; D. Wilson to the president, "The Impact of the Presidential Visit to Mexico," 9 November 1962, POF, box 91.
46. Leo Bogart, "Measuring the Effectiveness of an Overseas Information Campaign," Public Opinion Quarterly 21, no. 4 (1958): 479; Helen Crossley, former USIA pollster, in an interview with the author, 6 June 1996; D. Wilson to the president, "The Impact of the Presidential Visit to Mexico," 9 November 1962, POF, box 91.
47. Leo Bogart, "Measuring the Effectiveness of an Overseas Information Campaign," Public Opinion Quarterly 21, no. 4 (1958): 479; Helen Crossley, former USIA pollster, in an interview with the author, 6 June 1996; D. Wilson to the president, "The Impact of the Presidential Visit to Mexico," 9 November 1962, POF, box 91.
48. Henderson, United States Information Agency, 48.
49. Shawn J. Parry-Giles, "The Eisenhower Administration's Conceptualization of the USIA: The Development of Overt and Covert Propaganda Strategies," Presidential Studies Quarterly 24, no. 2 (1994): 266.
50. Ibid., 266.
51. Sorensen, World War, 83.
52. Hixson, Parting, 26; Sorensen, World War, 82-83.
53. Hixson, Parting, 26; Sorensen, World War, 82-83.
54. Sorensen, World War, 83.
55. Dwight Eisenhower, "Directive - Approved by the President for the Guidance of the United States Information Agency, 28 Oct. 1953," Public Papers of the Presidents, 1953 (Washington, 1960), 728.
56. "Mission of U.S. Information Agency," 25 January, 1963, USIA Archives, Washington.
57. Dwight Eisenhower in "U.S. Survey Finds Others Consider Soviets Mightiest," New York Times, 25 October 1960.
58. Ibid.
59. JFK speech, Muskegon, Michigan, 5 September 1960, Pre-presidential Papers, box 910, Kennedy Library.
60. "Text of Confidential U.S. Survey on Prestige Rating Abroad," New York Times, 25 October 1960.
61. Richard Nixon in William Jorden, "Campaign Issues - V: Debate on Status of Prestige Rouses Sharp Conflicts at Home and Abroad," New York Times, 31 October 1960.
62. Sorensen, World War, 115.
63. Leo P. Crespi of USIA, who wrote the report that was leaked to the New York Times, raised the question of its importance to the election outcome in "Some Reflections On A Near Half-Century of U.S. Government Survey Research Abroad" (unpublished paper provided to the author by Crespi).
64. JFK, 21 February 1965, Public Papers, 1963, 203.
65. Sorensen, World War, 77.
66. Ibid., 121.
67. Walt Rostow, letter to the author, 7 August 1997.
68. Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow, eds., The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis (Cambridge, MA, 1997), 2.
69. JFK, "The New Frontier: Acceptance Speech of Senator John F. Kennedy, Democratic National Convention, July 15, 1960," Pre-presidential Papers, box 910.
70. JFK, 25 May 1961, Public Papers of the Presidents, 1961 (Washington, 1962), 397.
71. Bundy, 13 February 1961, POF, box 125a.
72. Vladislav Zubok and Constantine Pleshakov, Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin to Khruschchev (Cambridge, MA, 1996), 192.
73. McGeorge Bundy, Danger and Survival: Choices about the Bomb in the First Fifty Years (New York, 1988), 359.
74. Parmet, JFK, 73.
75. Crespi, "Some Observations on the Concept of Image," Public Opinion Quarterly 25, no. 1 (1961): 116.
76. Ibid.
77. JFK in Richard Reeves, President Kennedy: Profile of Power (New York, 1993), 38.
78. D. Wilson, Oral History, Kennedy Library; Sorensen, World War, 134.
79. D. Wilson, Oral History, Kennedy Library; Sorensen, World War, 134.
80. D. Wilson, Oral History.
81. Sorensen, World War, 128. See also Schlesinger, Thousand Days, 612; and Sorensen, Kennedy, 580.
82. Sorensen, World War, 128. See also Schlesinger, Thousand Days, 612; and Sorensen, Kennedy, 580.
83. Sorensen, World War, 128. See also Schlesinger, Thousand Days, 612; and Sorensen, Kennedy, 580.
84. D. Wilson, Oral History.
85. Sorensen, World War, 128.
86. Ibid., 128-29.
87. Thomas Sorensen to the president, "Latin American Book Programs," 16 April 1962, POF, box 91, refers to the president requesting USIA information by telephone.
88. There are occasional references to the president reading USIA reports in administration documents. See, for example, General Clifton to McGeorge Bundy, 8 November 1961, National Security File, box 22, Kennedy Library.
89. See, for example, D. Wilson to the president, 6 July 1961, D. Wilson to the president, 20 October 1961, Sorensen, "Latin American Book Programs," Edward R. Murrow to the president, "Requested Summary of Foreign Reaction to Telstar," 31 July 1962, D. Wilson to Evelyn Lincoln, 11 October 1962; and D. Wilson to the president, 11 [July] 1963, all in POF, box 91.
90. See, for example, D. Wilson to the president, 6 July 1961, D. Wilson to the president, 20 October 1961, Sorensen, "Latin American Book Programs," Edward R. Murrow to the president, "Requested Summary of Foreign Reaction to Telstar," 31 July 1962, D. Wilson to Evelyn Lincoln, 11 October 1962; and D. Wilson to the president, 11 [July] 1963, all in POF, box 91.
91. See, for example, D. Wilson to the president, 6 July 1961, D. Wilson to the president, 20 October 1961, Sorensen, "Latin American Book Programs," Edward R. Murrow to the president, "Requested Summary of Foreign Reaction to Telstar," 31 July 1962, D. Wilson to Evelyn Lincoln, 11 October 1962; and D. Wilson to the president, 11 [July] 1963, all in POF, box 91.
92. "I thought you might be interested in our latest June surveys," Murrow to the president, 8 August 1962, POF, box 91. See also Murrow to the president, 13 August 1962, and Murrow to the president, 16 August 1962, both in POF, box 91.
93. See note 69 above.
94. See, for example, USIA, "Reactions to President Kennedy's Address on Latin America," 22 March 1961, POF, box 91; and D. Wilson, "The Impact of the Presidential Visit to Mexico," and USIA, "Western European Reaction to President Kennedy's Trip," 8 July 1963, both in POF, box 91.
95. See, for example, USIA, "Reactions to President Kennedy's Address on Latin America," 22 March 1961, POF, box 91; and D. Wilson, "The Impact of the Presidential Visit to Mexico," and USIA, "Western European Reaction to President Kennedy's Trip," 8 July 1963, both in POF, box 91.
96. See, for example, USIA, "Reactions to President Kennedy's Address on Latin America," 22 March 1961, POF, box 91; and D. Wilson, "The Impact of the Presidential Visit to Mexico," and USIA, "Western European Reaction to President Kennedy's Trip," 8 July 1963, both in POF, box 91.
97. D. Wilson to the president, 20 October 1961, POF, box 91.
98. JFK, 7 February 1963, Public Papers, 1963, 153.
99. USIA, "The Current State of Confidence in the U.S. Among the West European Public," August 1961, POF, box 91.
100. Wilson, "World Opinion."
101. Ibid.
102. Ibid.
103. Ibid.
104. Ibid.
105. Ibid.
106. USIA, "Trends in Western European Estimates of U.S. and Soviet Strength," July 1963, POF, box 91.
107. Ibid. According to USIA surveys on a range of topics, German opinion was usually more favorable to America than British or French.
108. Wilson, "World Opinion."
109. Schlesinger to the author, 10 July 1997; Theodore Sorensen to the author, 21 August 1997; Rostow to the author, 22 July 1997.
110. Schlesinger to the author, 10 July 1997; Theodore Sorensen to the author, 21 August 1997; Rostow to the author, 22 July 1997.
111. Schlesinger to the author, 10 July 1997; Theodore Sorensen to the author, 21 August 1997; Rostow to the author, 22 July 1997.
112. Rostow to the author, 22 July 1997. In a 1964 interview about Kennedy, Rostow asked, "Will historians be able to reconstruct the whole picture of what went into his remarkable computer of a mind? Everyone that worked with him has hold of a portion of the truth. No one, I believe, saw all the elements that shaped his thought and action." Rostow, Oral History, Kennedy Library.
113. USIA, "Civil Rights Alabama 5/17/63-10/10/63," POF, box 91.
114. Sorensen, Kennedy, 106.
115. New York Times, 29 October 1960.
116. USIA, 16th Report to Congress, January 1-June 30, 1961 (Washington, 1961), 7.
117. Murrow to the president, "U.S. vs. USSR Space Standing in Western Europe," 13 August 1962, POF, box 91.
118. USIA, "Reactions to President Kennedy's Address on Latin America."
119. USIA, "The Economic and Political Climate of Opinion in Latin America and Attitudes toward the Alliance for Progress," June, 1963, POF, box 91.
120. USIA, "Civil Rights Alabama 5/17/63-10/10/63"; USIA, "Media Comment on the Mississippi Crisis," October 1962, POF, box 91; Murrow to JFK, 2 October 1961, POF, box 91.
121. USIA, "Civil Rights Alabama 5/17/63-10/10/63"; USIA, "Media Comment on the Mississippi Crisis," October 1962, POF, box 91; Murrow to JFK, 2 October 1961, POF, box 91.
122. USIA, "Civil Rights Alabama 5/17/63-10/10/63"; USIA, "Media Comment on the Mississippi Crisis," October 1962, POF, box 91; Murrow to JFK, 2 October 1961, POF, box 91.
123. Rostow to the president, "The Problem We Face," 21 April 1961, NSF, box 299-304.
124. Ibid.
125. Sorensen, Kennedy, 619.
126. Ibid.; U.S. Department of State, The Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963 (Washington, 1995), 7: 149-50.
127. Ibid.; U.S. Department of State, The Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963 (Washington, 1995), 7: 149-50.
128. Murrow to the president, 31 August 1961, POF, box 91.
129. Murrow to the president, 1 September 1961, POF, box 91.
130. USIA, 18th Report to Congress, January 1-June 30, 1962 (Washington, 1962), 29-30. See also Murrow to the president, 11 September 1961, POF, box 91; and Sorensen, Kennedy, 620.
131. USIA, 18th Report to Congress, January 1-June 30, 1962 (Washington, 1962), 29-30. See also Murrow to the president, 11 September 1961, POF, box 91; and Sorensen, Kennedy, 620.
132. USIA, 18th Report to Congress, January 1-June 30, 1962 (Washington, 1962), 29-30. See also Murrow to the president, 11 September 1961, POF, box 91; and Sorensen, Kennedy, 620.
133. Sorensen, Kennedy, 620.
134. Murrow to the president, "Reactions to Nuclear Tests," undated [last memo in folder 7/61-12/61], POF, box 91.
135. Ibid.
136. Sorensen, Kennedy, 622.
137. Murrow, "Reactions to Nuclear Tests."
138. Ibid.
139. Ibid.
140. Ibid.
141. FRUS, 1961-1963 7:337-39.
142. USIA, 18th Report to Congress, 29.
143. Murrow to the president, 3 August 1962, POF, box 91.
144. While a minority indicated that the resumption was "not justified," a significant portion of opinion had "no opinion," and there was not a clear majority that believed U.S. resumption was "justified." USIA, "West European Opinion on Nuclear Inspection and U.S. Resumption of Nuclear Tests," 3 August 1962, POF, box 91.
145. JFK in Schlesinger, Thousand Days, 483.
146. Ibid.
147. Murrow to the president, 27 November 1961, POF, box 91.
148. Ibid.
149. Guenter Lewy, America in Vietnam (New York, 1978), 257-58.
150. George C. Herring, America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 (New York, 1979), 88.
151. JFK in ibid., 83.
152. Ninkovich, Modernity and Power, 272.
153. Herring, Longest War, 82; Ninkovich, Modernity and Power, 267-75.
154. Herring, Longest War, 82; Ninkovich, Modernity and Power, 267-75.
155. May and Zelikow, Kennedy Tapes, 691, referring to the day of 27 October 1962.
156. Ball in ibid., 147.
157. Taylor in ibid., 177.
158. JFK in ibid., 172.
159. JFK in ibid., 172.
160. Bundy in ibid., 529.
161. JFK in ibid., 498.
162. Ibid., 692.
163. Ibid., 499.
164. Ninkovich, Modernity and Power, 267-75.
165. Sorensen, World War, 77.
166. By the summer of 1963, USIA was reporting to Kennedy that involvement in Vietnam was hurting America's international prestige. See Murrow to the president, "Foreign Reaction to Diem Repression and U.S. Foreign Policy," 28 August 1963, POF, box 91.