In June 1965, Bundy advised Johnson not to step up the bombing in response to the execution by the Viet Cong of an American POW, Sergeant Harold Bennett, warning that this mean in a certain sense losing control of the level of the bombing as such a precedent would mean the United States would have to step up the bombing in the future in the event of more atrocities. However, Bundy told Ball at the time that his influence over Johnson was in decline and he did not expect his advice to be accepted. Johnson ordered the bombing to increased as Bundy feared that he would. In July 1965, Bundy recruited a group of elder statesmen known as "the Wise Men" to advise Johnson from time to time. The unofficial leader of the "Wise Men" was the former Secretary of State Dean Acheson. The first meeting of the "Wise Men" did not go well with Johnson engaging in an extended bout of self-pity, complaining that he had only acted in Vietnam because he had to and was being criticized by the media and Congress, much to the disgust of the "Wise Men", who complained that they had not come to the White House to listen to this. However, the "Wise Men" expressed their approval of Johnson's Vietnam policy, and Bundy afterwards thanked Acheson, saying that Johnson felt more confident now that he was acting correctly.