When the President made a decision as Chairman of the NSC a National Security Decision Memorandum was prepared. The NSDM informed the appropriate departments and agencies of the President’s decision in specific terms and in as much detail as was required, and included directives for operational activity and for reporting on implementation. Files contain drafts and final form of the NSDM, background materials, comments by concerned departments and agencies, directives for implementing the decision, and follow-up reports as required by the NSDM. Decision memoranda were issued to provide instructions for SALT, MBFR, Nuclear Test Ban, Peaceful Nuclear Explosions, Law of the Sea, Panama Canal, and military base negotiations. Decision memoranda were also issued on a broad range of topics including communications security, weapons and strategic and critical materials stockpiles, establishment of the Sinai Support Mission, implications of worldwide population growth, and policies dealing with many aspects of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.
Folders containing drafts and final version of the NSDM, background materials, comments, and directives are filed first, followed by separate sequences of original ribbon copies of the NSDMs and Jeanne Davis working files. Arranged by NSDM number.
[Boxes 53-71]
