2,200 pages of CIA, National Security Council, and Department of State files covering the Bay of Pigs. In 1961 a covert operation codenamed "Operation Zapata" called for 1,500 Cuban exiles to land on the southwestern coast of Cuba, mostly at the Bay of Pigs (Bahia de los Cochinos).
CIA FILES
570 pages of CIA files covering the Bay of Pigs. Files include two volumes, 450 pages, of "The Inspector General's Survey of the Cuban Operation," a highly critical internal CIA inquiry into Bay of Pigs invasion. This was one of the most secret documents of the Cold War, and not released until 1998. Volume I is the CIA Inspector General's (IG) report, Volume II is a commentary on the IG report written by the Directorate of Plans (DP), now known as the Directorate of Operations (DO). These two volumes are a rare side-by-side compilation of high-level government self-evaluation of its own performance in an historic and controversial event. Additional material include National Security Council briefing notes and Intelligence Information Cables related to the Bay of Pigs.
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL FILES
Within days of the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy assigned General Maxwell Taylor to head the main inquiry into the government's handling of the operation. The commission, chaired by General Maxwell Taylor, also included Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Admiral Arleigh Burke and CIA Director Allen Dulles. The Taylor Report evaluated the US Government's conduct of the entire operation. Files include 340 pages of Taylor Report supporting material, 60 pages of Taylor's briefing material for his presentation to President Kennedy, and 350 pages of minutes of 23 meetings of the Paramilitary Study Group concerning the Bay of Pigs. Additional material includes memorandums dealing with the planning and the execution of the Bay of Pigs operation.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE FILES
Contains 815 pages of text comprising the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Volume X, Cuba, 1961-1962. The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity of the United States Government. This volume presents the documentary record of the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and U.S. courses of action in response to the unsuccessful invasion. The volume covers the period January 1961 through September 1962.
The editors had complete access to all the retired records and papers of the Department of State. The editors of the Foreign Relations series also have full access to the papers of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Eisenhower and other White House foreign policy records. Presidential papers maintained and preserved at the Presidential libraries include some of the most significant foreign affairs-related documentation from other federal agencies including the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since 1991, the Central Intelligence Agency has provided expanded access to Department of State historians to high-level intelligence documents from those records in the custody of that Agency.
