Berlin 1961

by Frederick Kempe

  At the Justice Department: Bolshakov, “Goryachaya Linaya,” 38–40.

  “The American government”: GRU, “Kratkoye Soderzhanye: Besed G. Bolshakova s. R. Kennedi.”

  The two countries: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. VII, Arms Control and Disarmament, Doc. 4.

  Behind Bobby’s proposal: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. VII, Arms Control and Disarmament, Doc. 19, 31.

  And Moscow wanted any verification: Fursenko and Naftali, Khrushchev’s Cold War, 351.

  In Geneva, Soviet officials: Freedman, Kennedy’s Wars, 302–304; Roger Kershaw, Monarchy in South-East Asia: The Faces of Tradition in Transition. New York: Routledge, 2001, 39–40; Timothy N. Castle, At War in the Shadow of Vietnam: U.S. Military Aid to the Royal Lao Government 1955–1975. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993, 40–42, 46–48.

  On the same day, Khrushchev delivered: New York Times, 05/13/1961; Memo, Lucius Battle–Bundy, May 25, 1961.

  The letter made no mention: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. VI, Kennedy–Khrushchev Exchanges, Doc. 15.

  Kennedy sent cables: JFKL, Kennedy–Adenauer, May 16, 1961.

  On May 17, State Department: JFKL, Henry Owen, National Security Council, May 17, 1961, NSF Box 81, Germany, Berlin, General, 5/61.

  He suggested putting more money: DNSA, Memorandum, May 17, 1961, Secret, Berlin Crisis, BC02046.

  Western European and U.S. commentators: “Kennedys welker Lorbeer,” Die Zeit, 5/26/1961; Wall Street Journal, 06/01/1961.

  In its review of European: Wall Street Journal, 06/01/1961.

  Although Vienna was technically: Wall Street Journal, 06/01/1961.

  “Our friends,” said the ambassador: AVP-RF, Letter from Ambassador Pervukhin to Foreign Minister Gromyko, 19 May 1961, Top secret file, Fond: referentyra po GDR, Opis 6, Por 34, Inv. 193/3, vol. 1, Papka 46, retrieved from Harrison, “Ulbricht and the Concrete ‘Rose,’” CWIHP Working Paper No. 5, 90–95, Appendix D; Murphy, Kondrashev, and Bailey, Battleground Berlin, 362.

  Two weeks ahead of the summit: Mikhail Boltunov, Nevidimoe Oruzhie GRU [Invisible GRU Weapon]. Moscow: Olma-Press, 2002, 281–283; Fursenko and Naftali, One Hell of a Gamble, 122–123.

  Bobby made clear: Boltunov, Nevidimoe Oruzhie GRU, 281–283; Beschloss, Crisis Years, 156; Fursenko and Naftali, Khrushchev’s Cold War, 349–350, 354.

  One of Bolshakov’s Moscow bosses: Fursenko and Naftali, One Hell of a Gamble, 112.

  Thompson did not take notes…Thompson probed, asking: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. XIV, Berlin Crisis, 1961–1962, Doc. 24, Telegram from the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State, Moscow, May 24, 1961.

  Khrushchev responded calmly: DNSA, Thompson’s Conversation with Khrushchev on Berlin, Prior to the Vienna Summit, Secret, Cable, 2887, May 24, 1961.

  Thompson’s later cable to Washington: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. XIV, Berlin Crisis, 1961–1962, Doc. 28, Telegram from the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State, Moscow, May 27, 1961, 1 p.m.

  On the same day, Kennedy: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. XIV, Berlin Crisis, 1961–1962, Doc. 27, Telegram from the Mission at Berlin to the Department of State, Berlin, May 25, 1961, 7 p.m.

  Kennedy called for a defense: New York Times, 05/26/1961.

  Directly responding to what: Fursenko and Naftali, Khrushchev’s Cold War, 355–357; AVP-RF, Kuznetsov, May 26, 1961, 3.66.311, 58–61; Stenographic account, May 26, 1961, and Protocol No. 331, May 26, 1961, TsK KPSS.

  Khrushchev ended his war council: Anatoly Fedorovich Dobrynin, In Confidence: Moscow’s Ambassador to America’s Six Cold War Presidents (1962–1986). New York: Times Books/Random House, 1995, 44–45; AVP-RF, Kuznetsov, May 26, 1961, 3.66.311, 58–61; Stenographic account, May 26, 1961, and Protocol No. 331, May 26, 1961, TsK KPSS; AVP-RF, List Commemorative Gifts and Souvenirs for Possible Delivery at the Time of N. S. Khrushchev’s Stay in Austria, May 27, 1961.

  Kennedy lifted off: Beschloss, Crisis Years, 178; Edward M. Kennedy, The Fruitful Bough: A Tribute to Joseph P. Kennedy. Privately printed, 1965, 264; Sidey, JFK, 173.

  He was using crutches: “1961 Man of the Year—John F. Kennedy,” Time, 01/05/1962; Goduti, Kennedy’s Kitchen Cabinet: Shaping of American Foreign Policy, 1961–1963, 102.

  10. VIENNA: LITTLE BOY BLUE MEETS AL CAPONE

  “So we’re stuck”: Kenneth P. O’Donnell and David F. Powers, with Joe McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye”: Memories of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Boston: Little, Brown, 1972, 292.

  “The U.S. is unwilling”: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 87, Memcon, p. 219.

  “God, we ought”: Edward Klein, All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy. New York: Pocket Books, 1997, 267.

  So began what the three men: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 292; Seymour M. Hersh, The Dark Side of Camelot. Boston: Little, Brown, 1997, 10, 228.

  Between 500,000 and 1 million people: Klein, All Too Human, 266–268.

  At Orly Airport: New York Times, 06/01/1961.

  The cheers grew: Washington Post, 06/01/1961.

  Abroad, Kennedy’s failure: Richard Reeves, President Kennedy: Profile of Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993, 60.

  It seemed just another of his presidency’s: Robert Dallek, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963. Boston: Little, Brown, 2003, 397–399; Janet G. Travell, Office Hours: Day and Night—The Autobiography of Janet Travell, M.D. New York: World, 1968, 3, 6, 385.

  Kennedy’s personal physician: JFKL, Janet G. Travell OH, Dr. Janet Travell medical records; Parmet, JFK, 118–123; Beschloss, Crisis Years, 188–191; Janet G. Travell, Office Hours: Day and Night.

  Known as “Dr. Feelgood”: Dallek, An Unfinished Life, 398–399; Hersh, Dark Side of Camelot, 5, 235–236; Klein, All Too Human, 239.

  Kennedy was so pleased: Reeves, Kennedy: Profile of Power, 147; Beschloss, Crisis Years, 187–191.

  On the night of their grand: Klein, All Too Human; 271.

  “You feel like Superman”: Klein, All Too Human, 240.

  “acute and chronic intravenous amphetamine poisoning”: Robert H. Ferrell, Ill Advised: Presidential Health and Public Trust. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1992, 156.

  At Bobby’s urging: Reeves, Kennedy: Profile of Power, 147, 243, 699n; John Whitcomb and Claire Whitcomb, Real Life at the White House: Two Hundred Years of Daily Life at America’s Most Famous Residence. New York: Routledge, 2000, 359.

  Eisenhower had warned Kennedy: Dallek, An Unfinished Life, 662; Otis L. Graham Jr. and Meghan Robinson Wander, eds., Franklin D. Roosevelt: His Life and Times: An Encyclopedic View. Boston: Da Capo Press, 1985, 94–96; DDEL, Herter Papers, Meetings with the President, 1961; in FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. XXIV, Laos Crisis, Doc. 1, Memo of Conference with President Eisenhower, January 2, 1961.

  In contrast to his predecessors: Klein, All Too Human, 268; New York Times, 06/01/1961; O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 289; Beschloss, The Crisis Years, 184; Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 350–351; JFKL, Charles E. Bohlen OH.

  Safely back: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 289.

  While Kennedy endured: Sergei N. Khrushchev, Creation of a Superpower, 440.

  Communist Party cells: Washington Post, 06/28/1961.

  “I believe Khrushchev”: Department of State, Telegram from the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State, May 27, 1961, Central Files, 611.61/5-2761, Secret, Priority, Limit Distribution, in FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 79.

  Without confidence, Thompson: New York Times, 06/28/1961.

  Khrushchev swelled with pride: TASS Dispatches. N. Novikov, in Pravda, May 31 and June 2, 1961.

  De Gaulle recalled how he had told the Soviet leader: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. XIV, Berlin Crisis, 1961–1962, Doc. 30, Memcon, Paris, May 31, 1961.

  Kennedy doubted dealing: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. XIV, Berlin Crisis, 1961–1962, Doc. 30, Memcon, Paris, May 31, 1961.

&n
bsp; In his comments, Kennedy: John F. Kennedy. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy—Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, 1961–1963. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962–1964, vol. 1, 423.

  The view through long: Washington Post, 06/02/1961.

  Yet the star that evening: New York Times, 06/02/1961.

  During their “tub talk”: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 292.

  Kennedy’s advance team: Monika Sommer and Michaela Lindinger, eds., Die Augen der Welt auf Wien gerichtet: Gipfel 1961 Chruschtschow–Kennedy. Innsbruck and Vienna: Katalog Wien Museum, 2005, 68; Die Illustrierte Krone, 06/03/1961, 06/04/1961; Österreichische Neue Tageszeitung, 06/03/1961, 06/04/1961.

  The bald top: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 292–293; Dallek, An Unfinished Life, 404.

  In chronicling the first: New York Times, 06/04/1961.

  The German intellectual paper: “Die Gefangenen von Wien: Das Treffen der Zwei,” Die Zeit, 06/02/1961.

  Viennese teenager: Sommer/Lindinger. Augen der Welt auf Wien: Gipfel 1961.

  Anticipating two long days: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 83, Memcon, Vienna, June 3, 1961; 12:45p.m.

  In pre-summit conversations: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 76.

  Continuing to disregard his experts’: JFKL, Robert F. Kennedy OH.

  “‘Miscalculation’! ‘Miscalculation’! ‘Miscalculation’!”: Khrushchev’s reaction according to Kennedy’s own account, as quoted in Donald Kagan. On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace. New York: Anchor Books, 1996, 468–469; O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 295.

  Khrushchev remained in full voice: Beschloss, The Crisis Years, 197.

  Khrushchev boasted about: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 84, Memcon, Vienna, June 3, 1961, Luncheon.

  At the end of the lunch: “Contest of Wills,” Time, 06/16/1961.

  The two men’s after-meal: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 84, Memcon, Vienna, June 3, 1961, Luncheon.

  “Don’t spread that story”: Paul F. Boller, Presidential Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996, 302–303; O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 294.

  Khrushchev raised his glass: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 84; Taubman, Khrushchev, 494; Beschloss, The Crisis Years, 189–191; Reeves, Kennedy: Profile of Power, 42–43, 669n; Hersh, Dark Side of Camelot, 234–237.

  After lunch, Kennedy invited: Dallek, An Unfinished Life, 406; FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 85, Memcon, Vienna, June 3, 1961, 3 p.m.

  Kennedy’s friends O’Donnell: Beschloss, The Crisis Years, 198–199; O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 296.

  When the two men: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 85.

  After a Soviet limo: JFKL, Llewellyn E. Thompson OH; Beschloss, The Crisis Years, 205; Dallek, An Unfinished Life, 408.

  Kennedy had reinforced: Oleg Troyanovsky, Cherez godi i rasstoiania: Istoriia odnoi semyi. Moscow: Vagrius, 1997, 234.

  In the years that followed: Herbert Hoover Presidential Library (HHL). H. Hoover Papers, Oral History Transcripts, Washington Tapes, 1965–1971: William L. Stearman OH.

  Mercifully, the U.S. embassy: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 293–294.

  Dave Powers told the president: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 296.

  “What did you expect”: Dallek, An Unfinished Life, 406.

  Kennedy told his friends: Beschloss, Crisis Years, 199, 205; Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, 497; O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 296.

  On the one hand, Khrushchev: Fursenko and Naftali, Khrushchev’s Cold War, 34.

  It was Austria’s coming-out: Die Presse, 06/01/1961; Das Kleine Volksblatt, 06/04/1961.

  Aside from the fact: Sommer and Lindinger, Augen der Welt auf Wien: Gipfel 1961, 73; “First Lady Wins Khrushchev Too,” New York Times, 06/04/1961.

  “Mr. Khrushchev”: Reeves, Kennedy: Profile of Power, 166.

  Kennedy’s performance: Washington Post, 06/04/1961; Reeves, Kennedy: Profile of Power, 166.

  11. VIENNA: THE THREAT OF WAR

  “The U.S. is unwilling”: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 87, Memcon, p. 219.

  “I never met a man”: Hersh, Dark Side of Camelot, 253.

  “I greet you”: Sidey, JFK, 196.

  After some nine minutes: Beschloss, Crisis Years, 209–211.

  In the conference room: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 87, Memcon, Vienna, June 4, 1961, 10:15 a.m.

  However, the Soviets would doctor: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 294.

  Khrushchev said that even: Norman Davies, No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939–1945. New York: Viking, 2007, 24.

  With an actor’s sense: U.S. Department of State, Documents on Germany, 1944–1985. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, 729–732; also in Department of State Bulletin, August 7, 1961, 231–233.

  Reuters correspondent Adam Kellett-Long: Interview with Adam Kellett-Long, London, October 15–16, 2008.

  From the upstairs window: New York Times, 06/05/1961.

  The two men conversed: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 88, Memcon, Vienna, June 4, 1961; Beschloss, Crisis Years, 220.

  The gift Kennedy: Sidey, JFK, 200.

  With their two days of talks: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 297; Dallek, An Unfinished Life, 412.

  When the president’s staff: Beschloss, The Crisis Years, 220; O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 297; Sidey, JFK, 200.

  Kennedy opened their last: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. V, Soviet Union, Doc. 88, Memcon, Vienna, June 4, 1961, 3:15 p.m.

  The Berlin newspapers: Tagesspiegel, 06/04/1961.

  Fewer refugees registered: New York Times, 06/04/1961; Kurier; Österreichische Neue Tageszeitung; Neues Deutschland.

  Khrushchev knew he had won…The Soviet leader: Nikita S. Khrushchev, Khrushchev Remembers: The Last Testament, 499.

  After seeing off Kennedy: Nikita S. Khrushchev, Khrushchev Remembers: The Last Testament, 500–501.

  As he drove away: Beschloss, Crisis Years, 224.

  Kennedy carried with him: DNSA, Soviet Translation of the Aide-Mémoire on Germany and Berlin, For Official Use Only, Cable, June 5, 1961, Berlin Crisis: BC02081.

  No. Kennedy decided to leave: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 297; Pierre Salinger, With Kennedy. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966, 182.

  “How was it?”: John F. Stacks, Scotty: James B. Reston and the Rise and Fall of American Journalism. Boston: Little, Brown, 2003, 4, 198, 200.

  Reston rightly concluded: New York Times, 06/04/1961, 06/05/1961, 06/06/1961; Stacks, Scotty, 199.

  Kennedy told Reston: James Reston, JFK interview, New York Times, 06/05/1961; “Vienna Talks End,” New York Times, 06/05/1961; Salinger, With Kennedy, 181–182; David Halberstam, The Best and Brightest. New York: Modern Library, 2001, 85–86; O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 298; Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, 495.

  On the flight to London: Heymann, C. David. A Woman Named Jackie: An Intimate Biography of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. New York: Carol, 1994, 306.

  “All wars start”: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 299.

  Those who had worked: Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Interview with Kempton B. Jenkins, Foreign Affairs OH. Interview conducted February 23, 1995 (copyright 1998 ADST), Box: 1 Fold: 34 Jenkins, Kempton B. (1951–1980): http://www.library.georgetown.edu/d
ept/speccoll/cl999.htm.

  Speaking with O’Donnell: O’Donnell and Powers, with McCarthy, “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye,” 299–300.

  British Prime Minister Macmillan: Macmillan, Harold. Pointing the Way, 1959–1961, 355–359, 400; O’Brien, JFK, 550.

  While they talked, U.S. officials: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. XIV, Berlin Crisis, 1961–1962, Doc. 34, Record of Conversation, London, June 5, 1961.

  The British prime minister called off: Beschloss, The Crisis Years, 226; O’Brien, JFK, 551, 888; Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 374–377; Alistair Horne. Harold Macmillan: 1957–1986. vol. 2, 303–305.

  “For the first time in his life”: Macmillan. Pointing the Way, 1959–1961, 357.

  Macmillan told Kennedy: FRUS, 1961–1963, vol. XIV, Berlin Crisis, 1961–1962, Doc. 34.

  Kennedy and Macmillan agreed to step up: DNSA, Note of Points Made during the Private Conversation between Kennedy and Prime Minister Macmillan, June 8, 1961.

  While flying back to the U.S.: “1961 Man of the Year—John F. Kennedy,” Time, 01/05/1962.

  Kennedy told his secretary: Evelyn Lincoln, My Twelve Years with John F. Kennedy. New York: D. McKay, 1965, 274.

  Bobby sat with his brother: Hersh, The Dark Side of Camelot, 383.

  Journalist Stewart Alsop: New York Herald Tribune, 04/06/1961.

  “I had the sense”: JFKL, Joseph W. Alsop OH, no. 1, June 18, 1964.

  East German leader: Cate. The Ides of August, 24.

  After badgering Khrushchev: SED Archives, IfGA, ZPA, J IV, 2/202/129, Letter from Ulbricht to Khrushchev, June 1961, in Harrison, “Ulbricht and the Concrete ‘Rose,’” CWIHP Working Paper No. 5, 96–97, Appendix E.

  Upon Khrushchev’s return: Fursenko and Naftali, Khrushchev’s Cold War, 365–366.

  “What liberals you’ve become”: Fursenko and Naftali, Khrushchev’s Cold War, 365–366.

  While Kennedy headed home: Washington Post, 06/07/1961.

  But on this occasion, Khrushchev: Washington Post, 06/07/1961.

  12. ANGRY SUMMER

  “The construction workers”: Neues Deutschland, June 16, 1961.

  “Somehow he does succeed”: Acheson Letter to Truman, June 24, 1961 (courtesy David Acheson); Harry S. Truman Presidential Library (HSTL), Dean G. Acheson Papers, Acheson–Truman Correspondence File (1947–1971), 1961, Box 161.