THE PRESIDENT. I have several announcements to make first.
[1.] I have a statement about the Geneva
negotiations for an atomic test ban. These negotiations, as you know, are
scheduled to begin early in February. They are of great importance and
we will need more time to prepare a clear American position. So we are
consulting with other governments and are asking to have it put off until
late March. As you know, Mr. John McCloy is my principal adviser in this
field, and he has organized a distinguished panel of experts, headed by
Dr. James Fisk of the Bell Laboratories - and Mr. Salinger will have a
list of the names at the end of the conference - who are going to study
previous positions that we've taken in this field, and also recommend to
Mr. McCloy, for my guidance, what our position will be in late March when
we hope the tests will resume.
[2.] Secondly, the United States Government
has decided to increase substantially its contribution towards relieving
the famine in the Congo. This will be done by increasing the supply of
cornmeal and dry milk, by adding contributions of rice, and by airlifting
a thousand tons of food supplies, seeds, and hospital supplies from a number
of African nations to the Congo.
It is the intention of the United States Government
to meet fully the emergency requirements of the Congo for rice, corn, dry
milk and other foodstuffs in our surplus stocks. Assurances have been received
from the United Nations that with the help of this program the flow of
supplies will be adequate to relieve the distress. The United States Government
will cooperate fully to help the United Nations prevent famine in the Congo.1
[3.] Third, I am happy to be able to
announce that Capt. Freeman B. Olmstead and Capt. John R. McKone, members
of the crew of the United States Air Force RB-47 aircraft who have been
detained by Soviet authorities since July 1, 1960, have been released by
the Soviet Government and are now en route to the United States.
The United States Government is gratified
by this decision of the Soviet Union and considers that this action of
the Soviet Government removes a serious obstacle to improvement of Soviet-American
relations.
Our deepest sympathy and understanding go
to the families of the men of the RB47 who gave their lives in the service
of their country. At the same time, I am sure that all Americans join me
in rejoicing with the Olmstead and McKone families. The families, as well
as the men, comported themselves in these trying times in a way which is
truly in the best traditions of the military services of the United States.
Restraint in these conditions is obviously not easy. But they can be assured
that they have contributed in large measure to the final achievement of
the objective which we all soughtrelease of the men.
[4.] Q. Mr. President, this RB-47 case
was regarded by the Russians as an overflight although we took a different
position. In the light of this announcement, what will be your general
policy on overflights and on such things as the U-2 case, or the U-2
flights? Do you conceive of circumstances which might warrant resumption
of such things as the U-2 flight?
THE PRESIDENT. The Soviet Government is fully
aware of United States Government views with respect to the distinction
between the question of the United States Air Force RB-47 and the incident
which occurred over Soviet territory on May 1, 1960, involving an American
U-2 type aircraft. Flights of American aircraft penetrating the air space
of the Soviet Union have been suspended since May 1960. I have ordered
that they not be resumed.
[5.] Q. Mr. President there have been
reports that Mr. Khrushchev might come to the United Nations General Assembly
for the resumption of the disarmament debates sometime in March. If this
were to happen, would you welcome a visit by him to Washington for a get-acquainted
meeting?
THE PRESIDENT. I've not heard officially of
any proposal by Mr. Khrushchev to come to the United States. I've merely
seen newspaper reports and I feel that it would be more appropriate to
wait until we had some indication of whether Mr. Khrushchev was planning
to come to the United Nations.
[6.] Q. Mr. President, can you tell
us something about what your role was, if you had one, in the release of
these fliers? Did this come about as a consequence of some action you took?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, this matter has been
under discussion by the American Ambassador and Mr. Khrushchev on one occasion
and representatives of the Soviet foreign ministry since this weekend.
The fliers were released as of 2 a.m. yesterday morning, but in the plane
taking off there was a tire that was blown and therefore the plane did
not take off. Our last information is that it took off at 5 o'clock our
time this afternoon. It will fly to Amsterdam and then we expect the fliers
to be brought to the United States tomorrow afternoon.
[7.] Q. Mr. President, one of your task
forces recommended that you resist any early move toward general disarmament
negotiations until a firm and fixed U.S. policy could be worked out. What
is your reaction to that report and how much time do you think it might
take to get a firm fixed U.S. position?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, Mr. McCloy has responsibility
over the area of disarmament as well as nuclear testing. He has, as I've
said, set up this committee - advisory committee on nuclear testing. We
expect to also get the American position clearer on general disarmament.
There is not the same deadline that we've been facing on the nuclear testing
where we were supposed to resume in early February, but I can state that
this was a matter which was discussed early this week by the Secretary
of Defense and the Secretary of State and Mr. McCloy and we are preparing
clarification of American positions on disarmament.
[8.] Q. Mr. President, what more can
you tell us about the long conversation that Ambassador Thompson had with
Mr. Khrushchev, including whether the tone of that conversation was anywhere
near as friendly as that of the messages that Khrushchev has sent you?
THE PRESIDENT. I would say the tone was friendly.
And as a result of the conversations, as I've said, the decision was made
to release the fliers. But the conversations were conducted in an atmosphere
of civility.
Q. Could you give us any indication at all
as to what other subjects were taken up in addition to the release of the
RB-47 fliers?
THE PRESIDENT. No. I think that I have to
stand on my previous statement.
[9.] Q. Does your administration plan
to take any steps to solve the problem at Fayette County, Tenn., where
tenant farmers have been evicted from their homes because they voted last
November and must now live in tents?
THE PRESIDENT. We are - the Congress, of course,
enacted legislation which placed very clear responsibility on the executive
branch to protect the right of voting. I supported that legislation. I
am extremely interested in making sure that every American is given the
right to cast his vote without prejudice to his rights as a citizen. And
therefore I can state that this administration will pursue the problem
of providing that protection with all vigor.
[10. ] Q. Sir, would you please tell
us how it was possible for you to do by Executive order what Mr. Benson
always told us was impossible for him to do without more legislation? I
refer to the order expanding the distribution of food to the unemployed
and giving them more variety in the diet.
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I would not attempt to
comment on Mr. Benson. I don't think there's any question of our rights
to issue the Executive order under the authority given to us by the Constitution
and by legislative action. I think we're within our rights. It is a judgment
as to what is the best use to make of the funds that are available - the
funds are quite limited. The diet which is being provided for the people
who are unemployed as still inadequate. But nevertheless we have used the
funds that are available to the maximum. And I don't think there's any
question that we were within our rights.
[11.] Q. Mr. President, could you tell
us how and when you learned that these fliers were going to be released?
THE PRESIDENT. I learned as a result of the
conversations which Ambassador Thompson had with the Soviet officials and
therefore we were informed as to the date that they would be released -
the time - yesterday.
[12.] Q. Mr. President, there has been
some apprehension about the instantaneous broadcast of Presidential press
conferences such as this one, the contention being that an inadvertent
statement no longer correctible, as in the old days, could possibly cause
some grave consequences. Do you feel there is any risk or could you give
us some thought on that subject?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, it was my understanding
that the statements made by the, by President Eisenhower, were on the record.
There may have been a clarification that could have been issued afterwards
but it still would have demonstrated, it still would have been on the record
as a clarification, so that I don't think that the interests of our country
are - it seems to me they're as well protected under this system as they
were under the system followed by President Eisenhower. And this system
has the advantage of providing more direct communication.
[13.] Q. On the question at issue would
you consider reopening diplomatic relations with Cuba and are you considering
such a step now?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, at the - take the last
part first - we are not considering such a step at the present time. I
may say that the United States is interested, and I think that this administration
is extremely interested in movements in Latin America and Central America,
or the Caribbean which provide a better life for the people. And if American
interests may be damaged by those movements - or revolutions, or whatever
term you want to use - we feel that this should be a matter that should
be negotiated. What we are of course concerned about is when these movements
are seized by external forces and directed not to improving the welfare
of the people involved but towards imposing an ideology which is alien
to this hemisphere. That is a matter of concern particularly when that
intervention takes the form of military support which threatens the security
and the peace of the Western Hemisphere.
Now, I'm hopeful that governments will be
established throughout all of Latin America and governments which are established
will, and I think nearly all of them do, share the same view that we have
to provide in this hemisphere a better life for the people involved, that
we are interested in that, that we are concerned about it, that American
policy will be directed towards that end. But we are also concerned that
in the name of that peaceful revolution, when it's seized by aliens for
their purposes, it's very difficult for the United States to carry on happy
relations with those countries.
So in answer to your question we have no plan
at present to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba, because of the factors
which are involved in that island.
[14.] Q. You said in the past, sir,
that the President should be in the thick of the political battle, and
I wondered, sir, if you could tell us what part you're playing in the effort
to expand the Rules Committee and whether you feel your domestic program
- whether the success of your domestic program in part depends on expanding
the Rules Committee?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, the Constitution states
that each house shall be the judge of its own rules, and therefore the
Speaker of the House, Mr. Rayburn, has been extremely anxious that the
House be permitted to settle this matter in its own way.
But it's no secret that - I would strongly
believe that the Members of the House should have an opportunity to vote
themselves on the programs which we will present. That, I think, is the
reason the people selected them to go to the House of Representatives and
to the Senate and selected me as President, so that we could present programs
and consider programs and vote on programs which are put forward for the
benefit of the country.
Now I feel that it would be - I'm hopeful
that whatever judgment is made by the Members of the House, that it will
permit the Members to vote on these bills. This is a very difficult time
in the life of our country. Many controversial measures will be presented
which will be in controversy and will be debated. But at the end the majority
of the Members of the House, the majority of the Members of the Senate,
I hope, will have a chance to exercise their will, and that a small group
of men will not attempt to prevent the Members from finally letting their
judgments be known.
For example, we have the housing bill which
is going to come before the Congress this year. We have an aid-to-education
bill. We have legislation which will affect the income of farmers. Shouldn't
the Members of the House themselves and not merely the members of the Rules
Committee have a chance to vote on those measures? But the responsibility
rests with the Members of the House, and I would not attempt in any way
to infringe upon that responsibility. I merely give my view as an interested
citizen. [Laughter]
[15.] Q. Are any plans being made to
implement the recommendations in the Voorhees report on the Cuban refugee
problem? Secondly, do you plan to appoint somebody to continue Mr. Voorhees'
work?
THE PRESIDENT. We are considering the recommendations
of Mr. Voorhees and the whole problem of the Cuban refugees, but I don't
have any statement to make on it at this time.
[16.] Q. Mr. President, what is the
official Government position in regard to the Portuguese-seized ship? Can
the Navy board it if and when it makes contact?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I believe that the location
of the ship has been determined, and - [aside to Mr. Salinger] -
perhaps we could give the location of it - at the present time the instructions
are for the Navy to continue its accompaniment of the ship. The Santa
Maria has been located by Navy P2V aircraft, and the position is approximately
600 miles north of the mouth of the Amazon River. It is headed on a course
of 117, a speed of 15 knots, and the exact position at 10 minutes after
4 was 10-35 north, 45-42 west. It will be trailed by aircraft and picked
up by the destroyers of our African task force.
Now, there are Americans involved; and their
lives are involved. But we have not given any instructions to the Navy
to carry out any boarding operations. Though, of course, we are concerned
about the lives of the Americans involved. And also we are concerned because
the ship belongs to a country with which the United States has friendly
relations.
[17.] Q. Mr. President, in consequence of
Mr. Khrushchev's apparent indication last weekend of willingness to release
the American fliers, have you sent any communication to him through Ambassador
Thompson or otherwise?
THE PRESIDENT. Well - have I sent a message
since the release of the fliers?
Q. Since his communication to us through
Ambassador---
THE PRESIDENT. We have had several exchanges
with the Soviet authorities. I do not believe that one has taken place
since the release of the prisoners but that's partially because there has
been this delay about their leaving Moscow.
[18.] Q. Mr. President, there
is meeting here now a nationwide group of labor, agriculture, and industry
which wants to
abolish all restraints of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act.
They say that it robs us of gold, robs American workers of jobs. What is
your position on such a proposal?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I think that their meeting
here is well within their rights as citizens of the United States and I
think that we should listen to their views. This is a matter of great concern.
I do think we should be conscious of the fact, of course, that the
balance of trade has been substantially in our favor in the last year.
But we are continually concerned about those imports which adversely affect
an entire industry, or adversely affect the employment of a substantial
number of our citizens. The present laws - peril-point and escape clause
- of course, all take those matters into consideration. But I'm glad to
have them here; I'm glad to have them express their views. I think the
Congress should consider their views carefully, and I hope that in their
consideration they will consider the whole problem of trade, and I do think
we should realize that the balance of trade has been in our favor and the
gold flow would have been substantially worse if we had not had this favorable
balance of trade.
[19.] Q. Mr. President, in relation
to the gold problem, the outgoing administration has ordered a cutback
in the number of American military and civilian dependents stationed abroad
in the so-called hard currency nations. The day before your inaugural the
outgoing Defense Secretary advised your incoming Defense Secretary in a
manner urging that relief should be sought as soon as possible because
of what the outgoing Defense Secretary termed the "adverse affect of the
order on the morale of the military." Have you had a chance to make up
your mind on that position, sir?
THE PRESIDENT. Mr. McNamara and Mr. Dillon
have discussed the effect of this order on military morale, military strength,
the rate of reenlistment. It's really a question of determining what alternative
steps can be secured which would be less harmful but which would protect
the flow of gold. I do expect to make some reference to this matter of
gold outflow in the State of the Union Address. I will send within a 2-week
period after the State of the Union Address a message to the Congress dealing
with the gold outflow and our recommendations for meeting it and we will
at that time come to some judgment as to whether a more satisfactory method
of protecting our gold could be secured than providing for the return of
the families of Americans serving abroad in the military.
I will say that our study so far has convinced
us that the dollar must be protected, that the dollar can be protected
at its present value, that exchange controls are not essential, but it
is a most serious problem and it will be the subject of a message to the
Congress.
[20.] Q. Mr. President, the State of
New York gave you one of your handsomest majorities in the 1960 election
campaign, but now the Democrats of New York are rather bitterly divided
over leadership. As the leader of the Democratic Party nationally, are
you going to take some steps to try and heal the splits in New York?
THE PRESIDENT. Well the people in New York,
the Democratic organizations in New York, who are interested in the success
of the Democratic Party, they have to make their judgments as to what kind
of a party they want to build there. I have asked Mr. Bailey, the new chairman
of the Democratic Party, to lend a helping hand in attempting to alleviate
some of the distress. [Laughter]
[21.] Q. Sir, do you have any plans for quick
Federal aid for the unemployed?
THE PRESIDENT. We are going to send a message
to the Congress right after the State of the Union Address on what steps
we think the Government could profitably take to provide protection for
the unemployed and also to stimulate the economy. On the immediate question,
I will discuss that in the State of the Union Address on Monday.
[22.] Q. Mr. President, now that the
Soviets have released the RB-47 fliers, will you estimate for us the chances
of you meeting with Premier Khrushchev?
THE PRESIDENT. Yes. There is no relationship,
nor has there been, in the discussion between the two matters. And therefore
I have no - there has been no change in my previous statement that there
are no plans at the present time for meeting with Mr. Khrushchev.
[23.] Q. Mr. President, will you tolerate
the continued abuse of Executive privilege to suppress information which
is needed by Congress? For instance, now that you are President, will you
direct the USIA to give the Senate Foreign Relations Committee those prestige
polls which you urged the previous administration to make available during
the campaign?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, let me say that I would
have no objection at all to the polls, or at least the results of the polls,
being made available. And I'd be delighted to check in and see what we
can do about making it available to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
or the House Foreign Relations Committee, if they would like them.
Q. Mr. President, about the abuses regarding
the privilege to suppress all sorts of information. What is your position
on that?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, that's a statement, really,
not completely a question, in---
Q. Sir, but you yourself agreed---.
THE PRESIDENT. That's why I stated that I
thought that it would be well to release these polls and that's why I said
I'd be glad to release these polls. Now if other matters come up, we'll
have to make a judgment whether it is an abuse or whether it is within
the constitutional protections given to the Executive, and I would hope
that we can within the limits of national security make available information
to the press and to the people, and I do think that it would be helpful
to release the polls which we discussed last fall.
Q. Mr. President, Press Secretary Salinger
said today, indicated today, there might be a need for a tightening of
information on national security. Doesn't the policy of deterrence require
that the enemy have knowledge of our strength and the ability to carry
them out and wouldn't there be a risk of possible miscalculation by tightening
up information?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I think that the enemy
is informed of our strength. I think Mr. Salinger in his statement today
at lunch indicated his judgment based on his experience so far, that there
had been very ample information given so that the enemy can make a determination
as to our strength. I am anxious that we have a maximum flow of information
but there quite obviously are some matters which involve the security of
the United States, and it's a matter on which the press and the Executive
should attempt to reach a responsible decision.
I could not make a prediction about what those
matters will be, but I think that all of us here are aware that there are
some matters which it would not be well to discuss at particular times
so that we just have to wait and try to work together and see if we can
provide as much information as we can within the limits of national security.
I do not believe that the stamp "National Security" should be put on mistakes
of the administration which do not involve the national security, and this
administration would welcome any time that any member of the press feels
that we are artificially invoking that cover. But I must say that I do
not hold the view that all matters and all information which is available
to the Executive should be made available at all times, and I don't think
any member of the press does. So it's a question of trying to work out
a solution to a sensitive matter.
[24.] Q. Mr. President, in the past
few days the Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, has issued statements - one
with your name on it - to the effect that this country wants a return to
quiet private diplomacy. Could you give us some idea of the meaning behind
this, Mr. President? Are you trying to suggest to Khrushchev that you'd
like to resort to this for the time being without offending him or making
him go off the cordial path he's on at the present time?
THE PRESIDENT. Would you - the last part of
that ---
Q. Are you trying to suggest to Mr. Khrushchev
by the tone of these - by what you're saying in these statements - that
you don't want a summit meeting now and you'd like to go through private
channels, and trying to do this without offending him or getting him off
the cordial path he's on now?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I would just say - without
accepting the question completely as a premise - I would say that the Secretary
of State is anxious to explore with interested countries what chance we
have of lessening world tension which is - in some areas of the world -
is quite high tonight.
And therefore there are occasions when traditional
exchanges between diplomats and the countries involved are in the national
interest. And that, I think, is what Mr. Rusk is directing his attention
to. And I'm hopeful that from those more traditional exchanges we can perhaps
find greater common ground.
[25.] Q. Sir, do you favor Senator Humphrey's
suggestion that we send surplus food to Red China through the U.N. or CARE,
or some similar organization?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I'd say two things: firstly,
Red China - the Chinese Communists - are exporting food at the present
time, some of it to Africa, some of it going, I think, to Cuba, and therefore
that is a factor in their needs for food from abroad.
Secondly, we've had no indication from the
Chinese Communists that they would welcome any offer of food. I'm not anxious
to offer food if it's regarded merely as a propaganda effort by the United
States. If there is a desire for food and a need for food, then the United
States would be glad to consider that need, regardless of the source. If
people's lives are involved - if there is a desire for food - the United
States will consider it carefully. I do say that in this case, however,
there are these examples of food being exported during this present time
or recent history and, secondly, there has been a rather belligerent attitude
expressed towards us in recent days by the Chinese Communists and there
is no indication, direct or indirect, private or public, that they would
respond favorably to any acts by the United States.
[26.] Q. Mr. President, the task force report
on space has been criticized as partisan opinion. There also has been criticism
that the report was made without any contact with NASA officials, without
any attempt at liaison during the transition period.
And there is concern that no one has so far been named to head the
agency. Could you comment on these charges, Sir?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I don't - the task force
was free to make the kind of report that in their best judgment the events
called for. The task force was made up of men of broad experience in this
field. I think it was really a blue-ribbon panel. They presented their
views. I don't think anyone is suggesting that their views are necessarily
in every case the right views. I am hopeful - we have appointed an acting
director - and I'm hopeful that before the week is out we will have a director
of NASA.
[27.] Q. Mr. President, you have directed
your departmental heads to take a new look at the Eisenhower budget. I
wonder - with indications that you may have some partial revisions with
this budget - can you now say whether you hope or expect to live within
the $80,900 million spending figure which your predecessor laid down?
THE PRESIDENT. I would - that study of the
budget is now going on and I couldn't give you an answer yet. We haven't
finished our study.
[28.] Q. Mr. President, your Inaugural
Address was unusual in that you dealt only with America's position in the
world. Why, Mr. President, did you limit yourself to this global theme?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, because the issue of
war and peace is involved, and the survival of perhaps the planet, possibly
our system. And, therefore, this is a matter of primary concern to the
people of the United States and the people of the world.
Secondly, I represent a new administration.
I think the views of this administration are quite well known to the American
people, and will become better known in the next month. I think that we
are new, however, on the world scene, and therefore I felt there would
be some use in informing countries around the world of our general view
on the questions which face the world and divide the world.
[29.] Q. Mr. President, you have spoken
of the situation where there are crises in the world now. One of these
crises is Laos. Do you have any hope that a political settlement can be
negotiated there?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, as you know, the British
Government has presented to the Soviet Union - and to the best of my information
an answer has not been received by the British - a proposal to reestablish
the International Control Commission. We ought to know shortly whether
there's any hope that that commission can be reestablished. As to the general
view on Laos, this matter is of great concern to us. The United States
is anxious that there be established in Laos a peaceful country - an independent
country not dominated by either side but concerned with the life of the
people within the country.
We are anxious that that situation come forward.
And the United States is using its influence to see if that independent
country, peaceful country, uncommitted country, can be established under
the present very difficult circumstances.
[30.] Q. Mr. President, in discussing
with the Soviet Union the release of the RB-47 fliers, did we also take
up with Mr. Khrushchev the fate of Francis Gary Powers, a U-2 pilot, and
the
11 fliers who are missing from the C-130 which was shot down inside Armenia
in 1958?
THE PRESIDENT. The matter of the 11 fliers
was discussed and Mr. Khrushchev - the Russians, rather - have stated that
their previous public statements on these fliers represent their view on
the matter: that the newspaper-magazine story which was written by an Eastern
German does not represent the facts. So that that would - on the matter
of Mr. Powers, we have not discussed him at this time because he is in
a different category than the fliers that were released. One was an overflight
and the other was a flight of a different nature.
Q. Did the Russians ask any quid pro quo or
did we make any concessions to them in exchange for the release of these
fliers? If not, how do you account for this remarkable turnabout in their
relations with us?
THE PRESIDENT. They did not. The statement
which I have made is the statement which the United States Government put
forward on this matter, which I read to you earlier in regard to overflights.
I would not attempt to make a judgment as to why the Soviet Union chose
to release them at this time. I did say in my statement that this had removed
a serious obstacle in the way of peaceful relations between the Soviet
Union and the United States and I would judge that they desired to remove
that serious obstacle.
Q. Mr. President, did they accept a reassurance
of no more overflights as an exchange?
THE PRESIDENT. It is a fact that I have ordered
that the flights not be resumed, which is a continuation of the order given
by President Eisenhower in May of this year.2
[31.] Q. Mr. President, your own election
has stimulated renewed proposals for electoral reform. Do you have any
objection to changing the present method of electing Presidents or do you
favor any of the proposals?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I do have some thoughts
on it. One, that in the first place, having been through the experience
in '56, I think it was, of an attempt to substantially change the electoral
college, it's my judgment that no such change can secure the necessary
support in the House, the Senate, and in the States of the Union. The area
where I do think we perhaps could get some improvement would be in providing
that the electors would be bound by the results. of the State elections.
I think that that is a - would be a useful step forward.
The electors - after all, when the people
vote they assume that the votes are going to be cast in a way which reflects
the judgment of a majority of the people of the State and therefore I think
it would be useful to have that automatic and not set up this independent
group who could vote for the candidate who carried the State or not, depending
on their own personal views. That would be the first thing.
Secondly, I'm hopeful that the Congress would
consider the suggestions made, I think, first by President Theodore Roosevelt
and later by Senator Richard Neuberger, of having the National Government
participate in the financing of national campaigns, because the present
system is not satisfactory. Perhaps it would be useful to go into
that in more detail later because I do think it's a most important subject.
But I would say for the present that this matter of the electors would
be an area where I think we could usefully move.
[32.] Q. Mr. President, on a related subject,
without being morbid, have you given any consideration to the problem which
President Eisenhower resolved with his Vice President - that is, the problem
of the succession in case of injury, illness, or some incapacitation-some
agreement with the Vice President such as your predecessor had?
THE PRESIDENT. Yes. Well, I haven't developed
that at this present time, though I do think that President Eisenhower's
decision was a good one, and I think it would be a good precedent. Nothing's
been done on it as yet, but I think it would be a good matter on which
we could proceed.
Reporter: Thank you, Mr. President.
NOTE: President Kennedy's first news conference, broadcast over radio and television, was held in the State Department Auditorium at 6 o'clock on Wednesday evening, January 25, 1961.
1. A White House release, dated January 25, describes
more fully the Emergency Food Program for the Congo. The release is printed
in the Department of State Bulletin (vol. 44, p. 218).
2. See 1960-61 volume, this series, pp. 440-441.