MEETING OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STRATEGY BOARD 25 SEPTEMBER 1951

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01065A000500100002-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 31, 2001
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: September 26, 1951
• Content Type: MF

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TOP SEWI-T
26 September 1951
SUBJECT: Meeting of the Psychological Strategy Board
1. On your behalf I attended a meeting at the Psychological. Stra-
tegy Board on Tuesday, 25 September 1951, at ten o'clock. The purpose
of this meeting was to review the agenda which will be presented at a
25X1A meeting of the Board to be held at two o'clock on Thursday, 27 Septem-
ber 1951. Attached is a copy of the agenda and supporting documents.
Also present were:
25X1A of the PSB staff; Messrs. Sargeant and McWilliams of the
Department of State; Generals Magruder and Balmer and Col. Hopkins of
the Department of Defense and JCS.
2. ROLE OF THE PSB is the first item on the agenda and most of the
discussion revolved around this point; more specifically, to the language
at the very bottom of page 1 (PSB D-L, attached), "recommending to the
NSC the adoption of such additional policies as may be deemed advisable."
The State Department representative, Mr. McWilliams, apparently felt that
this language was too broad in view of the fact that the NSC has cogni-
zance of matters with which the PSB is not concerned; whereas, the lan-
guage as written would permit the PSB to make recommendations to the NSC
on any question. - stated that the language was only intended to
permit the PSB to make recommendations in respect of matters related to
the national psychological effort in either of two ways:
Recommendations that NSC develop policy.
25X1A
b. Recommendations that NSC adopt specific policy submitted by
the PSB.
After considerable discussion, - stated that the language would be
revised somewhat along the following lines:
"Recommending"to
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"Recommending to the NSC the adoption or development of such
additional policies which may directly or indirectly involve psycho-
lo cal operations."
There was also some discussion regarding Paragraph 6 (page 2),
and it was decided that this paragraph would be revised to the effect
that its ending will be less negative in toner specifically, through
elimination of the words "without any committment to survey the entire
field".
3. Item 2 on the agenda, REPORT QF PROGRESS BY PANELS WORKING UNDER
PSYCHOLOGICAL STRATEGY BARD, occasioned no discussion and the progress
report by Col. Davis will be repeated at the Board meeting.
b. In re and to Item 3, CONSIDERATION OF CC,IMUNIST ACTIVITY IN FRANCE
25X1A ANDY, commented as o owst The Board must first decide
whether to seize itself of this problem and the resolution of this ques-
tion involved the problem of criteria - criteria as to those problems over
which the Board should or should not take cognizance. The fact that a
problem involved a number of government departments (as opposed to one)
was not the sole yardstick. Moreover, the problem under consideration,
while it had over-all aspects, pertained essentially to specific opera-
tions. General Magruder stated that while the question of overlapping
departments was not the sole yardstick, it was, nevertheless, an important
one and should be considered, Another criterion, said Gen. Magruder,
should be the magnitude of the problem in relation to the national psycho-
logical interest; applying these two rules, Gen. Magruder felt that the
Board should take cognizance of the subject problem. The representatives
present concurred in this view.
The representatives then reviewed the terms of reference for the
panel, considering this problem (PSB D-5, attached) and adopted a sugges-
tion by the CIA representative to amend the language at the beginning
of Para II "Objectives" to read as followst "to destroy the favored posi-
tion held by the Communist Parties in France and Italy by inducing the
French and Italian governments and by other means or pressures to:"
25X1A
5. Item 4, BUDGET, FY.1953 AND NEW STAFFING TABLE.
reserved his comment for the meeting o the Board.
6. Item 5, RESPONSIBILITY OF DEPARTMENT AND AGENCY REPRESENTATIVES
25X1A WORKING AS MENB' O ANE HOLOGICAL STRATEGY BOARD STAFF.
commented on panel procedure as followst
a. In General, a
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as In general, a staff member would act as chairman of panels
hereafter constituted and would consult the panel members from inter-
ested departments rather than calling the panel to sit lien banct" as
has been the case heretofore.
b. The covert aspects of determinations will in the future be
handled by the PSB staff.
c. Panel members should be of sufficient calibre - individuals
who are informed on departmental views but also in a position to
exercise some flexibility in approaching a problem. Too often in
government poor results have derived from inter-governmental confer-
ences wherein members have been under instructions;
(1) To agree to nothing until departmental consent is ob-
tained;
(2) To voice only the departmental position and to refuse to
yield on points departing from that position.
25X1A
On the contrary, panel members should be in a position to reconcile
departmental views in the common interest. In generals panel members
should be uninstructed but not uninformed. This does not mean, how-
ever., that panel members will not have an opportunity to conciliate
their personal views with those of the department which they repre-
sent.
25X1A
7. If agreeable to DDCI, DADPC proposes to name
as alternate) as the CIA representative on panel C.
"tfty Assistant Director
for Policy Coordination
Attachments: 4
Gott F.~_
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