LEGISLATOR: GOT DEFERMENT WHILE OFFICER OF N.S.A.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000400200034-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 1998
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: February 23, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

DDS 4311,.' 73, I0'"A
FOIAb3b
r?
RE0TrS itized - Approved For Release :'CIA-RDP
L-230,091
2310671
IT)
v'VT OffLc?":~rIaf V.S. .
CPYRGHT
All Iowa sa
top officers of the National, Stud it Association (N.S.A.) received,
draft deferments in 1960, possi ly with the help of then.Vice-,'
President Richard Nixon. ? ,.
,Dan Johnston, 28, a Des
Moines Democrat, was an
N.S.A. vice-president when his
draft board in Toledo, Ia., gave
him a 2-A "occupational defer-
mont" Oct. 11, 1960.
At the time, he said, he had
already graduated from West
near College and was working
full-time at the national head-
quarters of the N.S.A., largest
student organization in the
country.
Johnston said in an interview
he understood Nixon interceded
for draft-eligible N.S.A. officers.
As vice-president, Nixon was
chairman of the National Secu-
rity Council, which oversees the
Gin?r~J .~LS~111C~:,.~e n-cy
Ramparts 'magazine has
charged that the CIA engi-
neered draft deferments for
some N.S.A. leaders as part
RICHARD
NIXON
. DAN
JOHNSTON
the s t u d e n t organization's
affairs. .
Government spokesmen have
denied any CIA involvement in
draft deferments.
Johnston said that at the time
he knew of no connection be-
tween the N.S.A. and CIA. Re-
cent. disclosures of financial
links between the CIA and vari-
ous private organizations, in-
cluding the student organization,
have raised cries for a congres
sional investigation.
of a pattern of influence in' Draft Status
CPYRGHT
' Ohnston said the ,N.S.A. i
1960 was in danger, of losing
many of its. officers. -'all co,
CPYRG
ing classes - to the. draft. i
one of four national vice-'
"Everybody who was physi-t esidents of the student organ -.
cally able was being drafted ifi ation in 1960. Johnston spent a!
they weren't in college," said: ar traveling. to campuses tn;
the young Iowa lawmaker. a West and Midwest.
"We had just returned from al During one of his travels, 11 national student conference Johnston recalled, he -learned
?: rom a West- it r faculty
when we' were asked'who would ncmbcr that two mysterious;,
be eligible for the draft. Ours ien had been In Le Mars in-
president, Richard Rettig of the, ?erviewing persons who, knew;;
University of Washington, then* ohnston . ,
went to Washington, D.C., for Johnston said he may have'
l' i
een under consideration for re-I
the purpose of interceding with uitment; into CIA student ac-'
Vice-President Nixon to get us' vities abroad.
deferments. It has been disclosed that CIA;
"I understand that Nixon nanced foreign studies for,
then wrote letters for us," me N.S.A. leaders who gath-i
Johnston added. "I wasn't the red information for.. the spy
gency. f
.only one with the draft prob- ' Johnston agrees with critics
1em." f the CIA connection with the
A draft board clerk in Toledo, tudent organization. The dis-?
Airs. L u c y A.' Mounsdon,1 losures of financial aid, he'
recalled receiving "a letter aid, "will destroy the interna-1
Iona, function" of the group.
from the president of the stn-i The CIA connection, Johnston
dent organization, but to the
aid, also will "destroy the ef.'
best of my ' knowledge' we re ectiveness" ' of young foreigners
ceived no letter from the vice ho came to study in the Unitedf
president (Nixon).." tates under private auspices.
The 2-A classification covers "Good Students"
persons whose employment "The Ford Foundation gavel
"is found to. be necessary toI coney to N.S.A. every year toi
the maintenance of the na- inance ? a' U.S. education for
tional health, safety, or inter- I tudents from other countries,"
est," she said. 1e said.'
"These were very good stn-1
r
Mrs. Mounsdon said a lette
ents, especially from Africa,
through some other channel." nd ; found out American stu-
She explained that sometimelj Lents were just like any other
m a k e s recommendations toy merican people love peace and
i,.local draft boards. ate war. and. despise colonial
U.S., officials, have acknowl tyranny., .
edged financing the N.S.A. to "If they say, these things in
send American students. abroad; heir h o m e. countries now,
to counteract Communist propa-j they'll?be. suspected of-. being
ganda activities among stn agents of; the United ,States."
dents.
The N.S.A. reportedly re
I' ceived $200,000 a year for more
than adecade before breaking,
ties with the CIA.; CPYRGHT
Johnston',, was one of . the .
N.S1A. officers who were no
r. "witty". the code word for
i-those aware of the CIA link.'-.
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000400200034-2