Page "History of the United States National Security Council 1963–1969" Paragraph 1

The abrupt transition of power to the Johnson administration brought no dramatic change in the formal role of the National Security Council.

Like Kennedy, Johnson much preferred small, informal advisory meetings to large Council meetings supported by an elaborately organized staff.

According to one of his aides, Johnson felt the NSC was " not a live institution, not suited to precise debate for the sake of decision.

" Moreover, Johnson thought NSC meetings were prone to leaks — they were " like sieves ," he once remarked — and he inherited advisers who shared his views.

Secretary of State Dean Rusk later observed that during the Kennedy Presidency neither he nor Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara liked to " get into much discussion " in the NSC with " so many people sitting around the room " and the possibility of leaks so great.