Ernest Graves
I learned a lot in that period. I spent a lot of time working on treaty language. I wrote
a draft of a whole treaty governing a sea-level canal which I thought was very cleverly
devised because it was like an option. We had a big argument about how to write a sea-
level treaty which would give us the right to build a sea-level canal, but wouldn't
obligate us to build a sea-level canal. I came up with a treaty worded something the way
an option would be worded in business.
I remember that Stanley Resor was the Secretary of the Army. He was a corporate
lawyer in private life. I explained to him that this was like an option, and he immediately
understood that. But we couldn't get the State Department to understand it.
Q:
Are there special problems involved in working with the State Department?
A:
They have their own view of things.
I've got a lot of friends in the State Department, and I have worked with them a lot.
They're always more interested in reaching an agreement than the people from the other
departments.
The Defense Department or the Army Corps of Engineers or you-name-it is more
interested in the substance; and the State Department is more interested in agreeing
with people, figuring you can work out the substance so long as there's agreement.
Any time you get into a negotiation, they want you to give in on your cherished points
so that you can get agreement. I'm not saying that they don't want an agreement
favorable to the United States. But if you've ever been involved in negotiations, the
closer you get to the end, the more they're willing to give up everything in order to
bring home an agreement.
This was one of the big issues on SALT II [strategic arms limitation talks]--that in the
interest of getting agreement, we gave away too much. There will always be this
difference of views in any important negotiation.
Q:
With the Panamanian negotiations, there was no treaty signed?
A:
No. The Robles administration first and then the Johnson administration got involved
in an election. Also, in this country, Vietnam tended to preempt other issues.
The thing really disappeared first because there was an election in Panama. The canal
became the central issue in any election. The closer you came to the election, the more
the opposing parties said Robles was not demanding tough enough terms. So basically,
they folded their tents.
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