PERSONS/ENTITIES:
KENNEDY, JOHN F.
KENNEDY, ROBERT F.
MC CONE, JOHN
DIEM

DATES:
5 Oct 1963

CATEGORIES:
DIEM
TOP SECRET

OCCURRENCE: On or about October 5, 1963 when the telegram of October 5 and 6 were sent to Saigon, MC CONE was called over by PRESIDENT KENNEDY and met privately with PRESIDENT KENNEDY and the Attorney General, ROBERT F. KENNEDY, and took the position that the CIA should take a hands off position as far as the assassination of DIEM was concerned. MC CONE "felt that the President agreed with my position, despite the fact that he had great reservations concerning DIEM and his conduct. I urged him to try to bring all the pressure we could on DIEM to change his ways, to encourage more support throughout the country. My precise words to the President, and I remember them very clearly, was that Mr. President, if I was manager of a baseball team, I had one pitcher, I'd keep him in the box whether he was a good pitcher or not. By that I was saying that, if DIEM was removed we would have not one coup, but we would have a succession of coups and political disorder in Vietnam, and it might last several years as indeed it did. So it was for that reason that I felt there would be

SOURCE:
Hearings, SSCI, Friday, June 6, 1975, McCone, Vol. 1, 2 of
FILE: pp. 62-32

STAFF:
R. DAWSON

DATE:
29 June 1975

PERSONS/ENTITIES:

DATES:

CATEGORIES:
Card 2 of 2

OCCURRENCE: more stability if DIEM could be persuaded to change his ways than remove him and hope that some group of generals could run the country better."

TOP SECRET

SOURCE:

STAFF:

FILE:

DATE: