ied endorsement of the Council on Foreign
Relations. In a letter dated August 17, 1961, Mr. Long said:

"The Council on Foreign Relations is one of the most effective
organizations in this country devoted to spreading information on
international problems. The officers and directors of the Council
are men of reputation and stature. We believe that the Council
through its study groups makes an outstanding contribution to
public information concerning foreign policy issues."

Chapter 8

FOREIGN AID

One day in the spring of 1961, a New York lawyer received a long
distance telephone call. Concerning this call, the _New York Times_
reported:

"'This is President Kennedy,' the telephone voice said.

"'The hell you say,' retorted the lawyer. 'I guess that makes me
the Prime Minister of England, but what can I do for you?'

"'Nobody's pulling your leg,' the telephone voice said. 'This is
President Kennedy all right. I want to talk to you about coming
down here to Washington to help me with this long-term foreign aid
legislation.'"

One week later, the New York lawyer took an apartment in Washington and,
as a member of President Kennedy's "Task Force" on foreign aid, started
writing the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The lawyer is Theodore
Tannenwald, Jr., a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, who wrote
many of the foreign aid bills which President Harry Truman presented to
Congress and who, during the first Eisenhower term, was assistant
director of the Mutual Security Program.

After Mr. Tannenwald and his task force had finished writing the 1961
foreign aid bill, President Kennedy appointed Tannenwald coordinator in
charge of "presenting" the bill to committees of the House and Senate.
Three cabinet officers and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
took their orders from Mr. Tannenwald, who was, according to the _New
York Times_, "the Administration's composer, orchestrator and conductor
of the most important legislative symphony of the Congressional
session."

With admiration, the _Times_ said:

"Mr. Tannenwald has been a kind of special White House ambassador
to Capitol Hill. While the legislative committees struggled with
the controversial proposal to by-pass the appropriating process and
give the President authority to borrow $8,800,000,000 (8 billion,
800 million) for development lending in the