Pentagon, we shall prepare a definitive revision for signature and transmission to the White House. MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT Re Interdepartmental Action Plan for Civil Disturbances. INTRODUCTION This memorandum outlines a plan by which the Departments of Defense and Justice propose (1) to coordinate their preparations for and their responses to any serious civil disturbance that may hereafter occur in an American city, and (2) to assist the President in responding appropriately and effectively to any request he may receive for Federal military forces to aid in suppressing such a disturbance. The Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General join in submitting this plan for your consideration and approval. If you approve it, our Departments will work out the details. We believe that the proposed plan merits your prompt attention because you may have to decide, on short notice, whether to honor a request for military aid to quell a civil disturbance. A principal feature of the plan is the designation of the Attorney General as the chief civilian officer in charge of guiding and coordinating all Federal Government activities relating to civil disturbances. The Attorney General is the logical choice for this role in view of his responsibilities as chief law enforcement officer of the Federal Government, and as chief legal adviser to the President on the critically important decisions the President must personally make as to whether and when to commit military forces in response to a request. On the other hand, all essentially military preparations and operations, including especially the engagement of military forces at the scene of a disturbance, will be the primary responsibility of the Secretary of Defense. In discharging these functions, he will observe such law enforcement policies as the Attorney General may determine. This will assure that military planning and operations are consistent with Administration policy and the requirements of law. The responsibilities of the Department of Defense under this plan will be carried out principally through the Department of the Army, inasmuch as the Secretary of the Army is assigned primary responsibility for civil disturbance matters, as Executive Agent, subject to the general supervision of the Secretary of Defense. Within the Department of the Army, a Directorate for Civil Disurbance Planning and Operations serves the Secretary and the Army Chief of Staff as the principal military staff agency for such matters. I. THE BASIC PLAN The plan is divided chronologically into four phases: 1. The period of civil disturbance planning and intelligence operations prior to the outbreak of any actual disturbance. 2. The period from the initial outbreak of an actual disturbance to the time at which the President decides to employ Federal military force. 3. The period during which Federal military forces are sent into action and remain in action at the scene of the disorder. 4. The portion of the latter period during which the advisability of withdrawing the Federal forces is considered, decided, and acted upon. The basic plan for each of these phases is as follows: Phase One-Advance Planning and Intelligence Operations As in the recent past, the Secretary of Defense will have the primary responsibility for training, equipping, and designating the forces to be used in controlling civil disturbances. He will also retain primary responsibility for preparing operation plans, determining procedures for alerting and moving the forces, and testing command and control arrangements. The Attorney General will be consulted on important questions of law and policy arising in connection with these plans and preparations. The Attorney General will contact all the State Governors reminding them of the legal requirements for obtaining Federal military aid pursuant to sec tion 331 of Title 10, United States Code: that a situation of serious domestic violence exists within the State; that such violence cannot be brought under control by the law enforcement resources available to the Governor, including local and State police forces and the National Guard; and that the Governor requests the President to employ the Armed Forces to bring the violence under control. The Governors will be advised to direct to the Attorney General all preliminary communications concerning the possible need for Federal military assistance under such circumstances. The Attorney General will coordinate Federal law enforcement plans and the Secretary of Defense will coordinate Federal military plans with State and local authorities, in order to facilitate (1) fair and effective administration of justice under emergency conditions caused by civil disturbances; and (2) smooth working relationships between Federal and State forces in any disturbance area. The Attorney General will be responsible for collecting, analyzing, evaluating, and disseminating intelligence bearing upon the probability of any serious disturbance. The Federal Bureau of Investigation will be charged with the task of collecting raw intelligence and transmitting it on a timely basis to the Department of Defense. At the request of the Attorney General, the Department of the Army, through the U.S. Army Intelligence Command, may assist in this effort. However, in order to preserve the salutary tradition of avoiding military intelligence activities in predominantly civilian matters, the U.S. Army Intelligence Command should not ordinarily be used to collect the intelligence of this sort. The Deputy Attorney General has already designated an intelligence evaluation committee consisting of four representatives from Justice and one from Army. Phase Two-Responding to Early Phases of a Civil Disturbance During the early stages of a crisis in which it appears that a request for Federal military assistance may be forthcoming, the intelligence organization of the Department of Justice will alert the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense. It is expected that responsible State and local officials will promptly inform the Attorney General of the situation and will thereafter keep him informed of developments. When advised that a serious disturbance is in the making, the Attorney General will immediately inform the President. If time permits, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense may dispatch their personal representatives to the disturbance area to appraise the situation before any decision is made to commit Federal forces. Such action can help to assure that the Federal Government responds in accordance with the realities of the situation as perceived by its own observers. Precautionary steps, such as alerting Federal armed forces and prepositioning them relatively near the disturbance area, can be taken by the Federal Government prior to receipt of a formal request from a Governor for Federal military assistance. The prepositioning of Federal armed forces by order of the Secretary of Defense wiH be undertaken only with the concurrence of the Attorney General and, ordinarily, only if a substantial likelihood appears that such forces will be required. When the State Governor anticipates that a request for Federal military assistance will shortly become necessary, he will confer with the Attorney General concerning the facts of the situation, so that the Attorney General can review the legal sufficiency of the impending request. After consultaion with Department of Defense officials on the gravity of the situation, the Attorney General will advise the President whether the conditions would warrant honoring a request at that particular time. When the Governor concludes that a formal request for military assistance is necessary, he will address it directly to the President. At such time. the President must exercise his personal judgment as to whether or not to commit Federal armed forces. The decision may be a difficult one, as it involves a weighing of the apparent need for federal forces in the circumstances and the President's responsibility to respond to State requests for such assistance he primary responsibility of State and local authorities for mainlaw and order, and the inadvisability of employing Federal milir that purpose except in the last resort. The Attorney General will have furnished the President with an appropriately drawn Proclamation and Executive Order, to be signed by the President in the event that he decides to honor the request. These documents (proposed forms attached) will formalize the decision and state the factual and legal grounds on which it is based. Phase Three-Engagement of Federal Troops The Executive Order will authorize the Secretary of Defense to conduct the military operation, subject to such law enforcement policies as the Attorney General may determine. Consistently with such policies, and with established procedures within the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense will make the necessary military decisions and will issue the appropriate orders to the military commanders concerned. Thus the chain of military command running down from the Secretary of Defense will be preserved. The Executive Order further authorizes the Secretary of Defense to federalize National Guard units and, if required, to call units and members of other Reserve Components of the Armed Forces to active duty for purpose of the operation. By the terms of the Order, the Attorney General will remain responsible (1) for coordinating the activities of all Federal agencies assisting in the suppression of violence and in the administration of justice in the affected area, and (2) for coordinating these activities with those of State and local agencies similarly engaged. Phase Four-Withdrawal of Federal Troops As the employment of Federal military forces succeeds in bringing the disturbance under control, the military commander and representatives of the Attorney General at the scene of the disturbance will make recommendations to their respective superiors concerning the timing for the withdrawal of Federal units, the defederalization of National Guard units, and the release from active duty of any Reserve units. It is expected that the Secretary of Defense will decide these matters in the light of the Attorney General's recommendations as to the ability of the civil authorities to resume full responsibility for the maintenance of law and order in the affected area. II. THE BASIC PLAN FOR THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA The respective roles of the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General in preparing for and responding to civil disturbances in the Washington metropolitan area are essentially the same as described above with respect to disturbances within a State. Thus the Attorney General will be responsible for coordinating Federal activities and determining Federal law enforcement policies relating to civil disturbances in this area, and the Secretary of Defense will be in charge of military operations to suppress such disturbances. There are, however, several supplemental features and several variations that characterize the basic plan as applied to the Washington area. These are as follows: 1. The basic plan must include not only provisions for dealing with generalized disturbances, but also provisions for protecting government property, functions, or personnel in this area against any form of unlawful interference. Military operations to suppress such interference will be the responsibility of the Secretary of Defense, subject to the law enforcement policies of the Attorney General. 2. The President will ordinarily look to the Mayor of the District, as he does to the Governor of a State, to make a formal request for military assistance to control a local civil disturbance. 3. In addition to his general authority to employ Federal military forces as described above, the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the D.C. National Guard, is authorized to use that Guard in militia status to suppress a civil disturbance in the District. To facilitate the practical availability of this option, the outstanding Executive Order vesting administrative control over 1 The Proclamation is essentially a formality which fulfills the requirement of 10 U.S.C. 334. The attached Proclamation is based on the form developed by Attorney General Brownell in the Little Rock disturbance of 1957, and used since that time in a variety of civil disturbance situations. The attached form of Executive Order, however, embodies several improvements over those used in recent incidents, notably in that it spells out the respective responsibilities of the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense in coping with a civil disturbance. the D. C. Guard in the Secretary of Defense should be amended to establish the Secretary's authority to call out the Guard in militia status to control a local civil disturbance. An amended Executive Order will be prepared for the President's approval and signature. In a particular civil disturbance situation the Attorney General, after consulting with the Secretary of Defense, will advise the President as to the choices available to him with respect to utilization of the D.C. National Guard and active Armed Forces. 4. In addition to actual outbreaks of civil disorder, the D.C. plan must take account of the possibility that peaceful demonstrations in the District may develop into civil disorders. In order to minimize that risk, provision should be made for the policing of such demonstrations by National Guardsmen as well as District police forces. Moreover, the plan will provide for the limited use of active Armed Forces to protect Government property and functions against unlawful interference (as on the occasion of the demonstrations at the Pentagon in October of 1967). If you approve the plan as outlined above, the Departments of Defense and Justice will take all necessary steps to implement it. Secretary of Defense. Attorney General, LAW AND ORDER IN THE STATE OF BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS the Governor of the State of has informed me that conditions of domestic violence and disorder exist in and about the City of ____ in that State, endangering life and property and obstructing execution of the laws, and that the law enforcement resources available to the City and State, including the National Guard, are unable to suppress such acts of violence and to restore law and order; and WHEREAS the Governor has requested me to use such of the Armed Forces of the United States as may be necessary for those purposes; and WHEREAS such domestic violence and disorder are also obstructing the execution of the laws of the United States, including the protection of Federal property and functions in and about the City of NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICHARD NIXON, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including Chapter 15 of Title 10 of the United States Code, do command all persons engaged in such acts of violence to cease and desist therefrom and to disperse and retire peaceably forthwith. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-----. EXECUTIVE ORDER PROVIDING FOR THE RESTORATION OF LAW AND ORDER IN THE STATE OF day of and of the WHEREAS I have today issued Proclamation No. pursuant in part to the provisions of Chapter 15 of Title 10 of the United States Code; and WHEREAS the conditions of domestic violence and disorder described therein continue, and the persons engaging in such acts of violence have not dispersed ; NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Armed Force by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including Chapter 15 of Title 10 of the United States Code, and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code. it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Units and members of the Armed Forces of the United States will be used to suppress the violence described in the proclamation and to restore law and order in and about the City of SECTION 2. The Secretary of Defense is authorized to use such of the Armed Forces as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of Section 1. To that end, he is authorized to call into the active military service of the United States units or members of the National Guard and other Reserve Components of the Armed Forces, as authorized by law, to serve in an active duty status for an indefinite period and until relieved by appropriate orders. Units or members may be relieved subject to recall at the discretion of the Secretry of Defense. In carrying out the provisions of this order, the Secretary of Defense will observe such law enforcement policies as the Attorney General may determine. SECTION 3. Until such time as the Armed Forces shall have withdrawn from the engagement authorized by this order, the Attorney General is further authorized (1) to coordinate the activities of all Federal agencies assisting in the suppression of violence and in the administration of justice in and about the City of and (2) to coordinate the activities of all such agencies with those of State and local agencies similarly engaged. SECTION 4. The Secretary of Defense is authorized to determine when Federal military forces shall be withdrawn from the disturbance area and when federalized National Guard and other Reserve Component units and personnel shall be released from active Federal service. Such determinations shall be made in the light of the Attorney General's recommendations as to the ability of State and local authorities to resume full responsibility for the maintenance of law and order in the affected area. SECTION 5. The Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General are authorized to delegate to subordinate officials of their respective Departments any of the authority conferred upon them by this order. THE WHITE HOUSE, WHEREAS I have been informed that conditions of domestic violence and disorder exist in the Washington metropolitan area, endangering life and property and obstructing execution of the laws, and that local police forces are unable to bring about the prompt cessation of such acts of violence and restoration of law and order; and WHEREAS I have been requested to use such units of the National Guard and of the Armed Forces of the United States as may be necessary for those purposes; and WHEREAS in such circumstances it is also my duty as Chief Executive to take care that the property, personnel and functions of the Federal Government, of embassies of foreign governments, and of international organizations in the Washington metropolitan area are protected against violence or other interference: NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICHARD M. NIXON, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do command all persons engaged in such acts of violence to cease and desist therefrom and to disperse and retire peaceably forthwith. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this day of and of the in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-----. EXECUTIVE ORDER PROVIDING FOR THE RESTORATION OF LAW WHEREAS I have today issued Proclamation to the provisions of Chapter 15 of Title 10 of the WHEREAS the conditions of domestic violenc s ( der |