July 27, 1963 - W. Averell Harriman (left) said today that the conclusion of a treaty to outlaw most nuclear tests had been received in Moscow with “real rejoicing.” Mr. Harriman, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, gave a news conference in Hyannis Port, Mass., after meeting with President Kennedy. He delivered a message to the President from Premier Khrushchev but refused to disclose its contents or any details of his talk with Mr. Kennedy. It is “fairly plain,” Mr. Harriman said, that Mr. Khrushchev sought to show the Chinese Communists that his policy of coexistence with the West could “produce some results.” Mr. Harriman took the occasion to rebut one objection that had been raised against the treaty. “It does not in any way,” he said, restrict the right of the U.S. or any other signatory to use nuclear weapons in warfare “if such a tragedy should come.” The White House reported today that public reaction was running more than 40 to 1 in favor of the President’s televised appeal for ratification of the treaty.
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