Kissinger Refuses to Comment on Reported Washington Position

Henry A. Kissinger '50, associate professor of Government, last night refused to confirm or deny a report that he will join the Kennedy Administration in some capacity concerning international affairs.

The story, published yesterday by The New York Herald Tribune, said President Kennedy was reported considering the matter. Kissinger talked to the President Friday, but said he could not reveal what he and Kennedy had discussed.

Besides teaching Government 180 in the spring term, Kissinger is associate director of the Center for International Affairs, Director of the Defense Studies Program, and Executive Director of the Summer School International Seminar.

A Common Practice

Last night he would say only that he had "no plans to leave right now." It has been customary for faculty members rumored for posts in Washington to say nothing themselves to the press. However, nearly all such speculations--including reports about McGeorge Bundy, David E. Bell, Archibald Cox '34, and Stanley S. Surrey--have eventually become official appointments.

Kissinger wrote the influential Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy, and the recently published The Necessity For Choice. The latter book, according to the Tribune, is being widely read now in Washington.

Kennedy recently named Surrey, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law, as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. A tax expert, Surrey served as Treasury Department tax counsel from 1942-44. Also, Barbara R. Berman, Instructor in Economics, has joined the staff of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Whether Kissinger would work in the White, House Office or in the State Department remained unknown, the Tribune said.