Yes. Eisenhower had no hangups about “plausible deniability” when acting in American interests, especially when its enemies were setting up an outpost offshore.
Kennedy was also the one that drove the last of the wartime OSS generation out of the CIA following the Bay of Pigs debacle.
McMaster posits Kennedy feeling intimidated by the senior military as his motive for cutting the JCS out of his circle of advisors.
A move that came back to bite him when they weren’t there to warn him not to launch the Bay of Pigs without air cover and sea support.
I can see him sacking the experienced OSS holdovers for the same reason.
JFK was comfortable with the young Ivy League crowd he brought in with him. And with the execrable Robert McNamara. He preferred comfort over experienced counsel and the country paid the price.
LBJ continued Kennedy’s policy of keeping the JCS out of the loop. He had three lawyers design what passed for his Vietnam strategy.