This very short memo addresses a critical problem for Democrats in the 1960 campaign. James Wine, the author of the memo, begins with the bottom line upfront (BLUF) by describing that attitudes around religion across the country range from indifferent to severely critical. At the time, there had never been a US President who was a Roman Catholic, and certain parts of the country had varied feelings on JFK’s religious background.
Memo reviewed by Lauren Brodsky, HKS Lecturer in Public Policy
Sitting slightly reclined, with a steady stream of cigarette smoke visible to the viewer, esteemed journalist Edward R. Murrow faces a television screen with a view of a Boston apartment. It is 1953. Murrow is interviewing junior Senator John F. Kennedy, and his wife, Jackie, for the show People to People.... Read more about Murrow, Kennedy and memos on Cuba
This foreign policy memo (found in the New York Times article by Eric Schmitt, 11/7/19) is a clear and concise piece of writing in response to a mammoth decision in U.S. foreign policy. It was written to experts at the Department of State, and was unclassified. The memo deals with a catastrophic, unilateral decision to withdraw by President Trump, made in consultation with no area experts, and has since caused rapid deterioration on the ground in Syria. The author, Ambassador William Roebuck, has been in and out of Syria for the last two years.... Read more about "Present at the Catastrophe: Standing By as Turks Cleanse Kurds in Northern Syria," US Envoy Criticizes Trump Administration
Memo reviewed by Andreas L. Hahn, 2020 Fletcher MALD Candidate
(Memorandum From the Deputy Secretary of State (Clark) and the Under Secretary of State for Management (Kennedy) to Secretary of State Haig[1], 26 October 1981)
