Statement by the President on the Appointment of Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor as Special Consultant to the President.

I AM HAPPY to announce that Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor has accepted appointment as Special Consultant to the President. General Taylor will take up his new duties on or about the 15th of September. He will have an office next door in the Executive Office Building and we expect that he will be giving about half his time to special assignments for the President.

I naturally expect that General Taylor will play a continuing role in our work in support of the people and the Government of Viet-Nam. I have also asked him to undertake a review of all the practices and policies of our Government in the broad field of assistance to free peoples who are threatened by Communist terror and subversion. I expect that from time to time he will have other important assignments.

I am delighted that General Taylor has been willing to accept this new assignment. It will give his country the benefit of his extraordinary experience and wisdom while permitting him at the same time to meet his personal and family obligations.