| Summary/Abstract |
Most people have never heard of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) A-12 OXCART aircraft, and many would have difficulty differentiating it from an Air Force SR-71 Blackbird. Though similar, the A-12 was by many accounts more capable than its famous cousin. Yet, in December 1966, the A-12 was cancelled, not the SR-71. With that cancellation, the United States essentially lost its ability to conduct covert, non-military aerial reconnaissance.1 The main reason scholars and the public know so little about the A-12 is that many details of the program remained classified until 2007, and some documents until as recently as August 2013. Newly-declassified documents on the A-12, SR-71, and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) help fill a significant gap in the literature on the cause of the A-12's cancellation. But the question remains: Why did President Lyndon B. Johnson cancel the A-12 program in December 1966?
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