The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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Chapter 5
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U-2 Operatiqns After
May 1960
The loss of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 over the Soviet Union on l
May 1960 marked the end of the aircraft's use over the Soviet Bloc.
Soon after the May Day incident. President Eisenhower ordlered an
end to overflights. Similarly, his successor, John F. Kennedy, told a 25
January 1961 press conference, " I have ordered that the flights not be
resumed, which is a continuation of the order gi ven by President
.. .. Eisenhower in May of last year." This was not a bind_ing pledge, as
John A. McCone (who became DCI in November 1961) pointed out
to President Kennedy's successor. Lyndon 8 . Johnson, on 15 January
1964 in response to the new President's request for information on
U-2 overflight policies:
Contrary to popular assumption, President Kennedy did not
make any pledge or give an assurance, at least publicly. that
there would be no further overflights. He limited his response to
a statement that he had ordered that the flights not be r,':?sumed.
An order, obviously, is valid only until countermanded.'
Technically, McCone was correct, but no President was likely to
order a resumption of overflights of the Soviet Union without very
good reason, and such a situation never developed, in part because
satellite photography gradually began to fill the gap left by the end of
U-2 coverage.
Although there were several proposals to resume overflights of
the Soviet Union in the years that followed, none reached the mission
planning stage. The Kennedy administration came closest to resuming
' Memorandum for President Johnson from DCI McCone...Response to Query
Concerning U-2 Overflight Policy:· 15 January 1964. DCI records. job 80-8-1676R. box
17. folder 14 (TS Codeword).
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