31. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs (Greenfield) to the Director of the United States Information Agency (Rowan)1
With reference to your memorandum of September 28,2 I want you to know that I fully agree on the need for better coordination between the Department and the Information Agency. I also share your belief that this should not be too difficult to achieve.
We already have a good basis in existing machinery in the form of close and continuous consultations between your IOP officers and our officers of regional bureaus, as well as in the daily morning visits to Public Affairs by Jay Gildner.3 What we still need to do, it seems to me, is to improve the working of this machinery in every way we can. On our part this will involve a greater positive awareness of your need to be informed of problems involving foreign opinion and of our need for your special knowledge and expertise in this field.
I am taking several steps within the Department to improve my Bureau’s ability to keep you currently informed about projected military exercises and similar developments of the kind described in your memorandum of September 28.
Perhaps a weekly meeting between you, or Don Wilson, and me would prove useful in providing a regular basis on which to keep each other better informed on highly sensitive matters. Before such a meeting I would undertake to inform myself on developments which should be brought to your attention.4
[Page 86]Additionally, you might wish to assign an officer in IOP to make a daily check with my Bureau late in the afternoon as to any developments which may have taken place after Mr. Gildner leaves here at noon. You might wish to have a similar check made around 11:30 or noon on Saturday.5 Usually, if I am not in then, one of my Deputies will be available. If not, the Duty Officer in my office or in the News Office will be available at that time. Such additional liaison, on a regular basis, should help toward solving this problem.
The overall problem for both of us is, of course, how to bring your knowledge and ours to bear on a policy decision as close to inception time as possible. I have now discussed this matter thoroughly with Ambassador Thompson and Howard Meyers of our Political-Military staff and there is total agreement that they too would make a conscious, concerted, and continuing effort to alert USIA as promptly as possible on all matters of mutual concern. These alerts will, we are assured, take place as near to the inception of any event as is possible.
I will be glad to put into operation as soon as possible any or all of the above suggestions that you consider practicable, and would welcome any suggestions you may care to make which would improve our liaison.6
Sincerely,
- Source: National Archives, RG 306, DIRCTR Subj. Files, 1963–69, Bx 6–29 63–69: Acc: #72A5121, Entry UD WW 257, Box 18, Policy and Plans—General, 1964. Confidential. Dizard sent Wilson a copy of the letter under an undated typed note in which he indicated he had “checked out Greenfield’s proposals with Burnett Anderson” commenting that “Burnett buys all the ideas in the letter—particularly the one of having IOP make a late-afternoon policy check with the P.” Dizard asked Wilson if he should “draft a short Rowan-to-Greenfield letter, accepting his proposals” and if Wilson wanted to “set up a fixed time each week for the proposed meeting between Greenfield and [Rowan].” In a handwritten notation initialed by Wilson on Dizard’s original note Wilson requested that the latter draft the reply and confirmed that he had already agreed with Greenfield to meet every Wednesday at 10 a.m.↩
- See Document 29.↩
- USIA Foreign Service Career Reserve Officer.↩
- An unknown hand drew a vertical line in the right-hand margin next to this paragraph. A notation to the right of that line reads: “Do you wish to [illegible].” Rowan drew a vertical line in the left-hand margin next to this paragraph and wrote “OK” to the left of the line. Above Rowan’s notation, another notation in an unknown hand reads “10 every wed.”↩
- Rowan drew a vertical line in the left-hand margin next to this paragraph, wrote “OK” to the left of the line, and initialed the notation. A notation in the margin to the right of the paragraph in an unknown hand reads “Good idea.”↩
- In a November 24 letter to Greenfield, Wilson, responding on Rowan’s behalf, indicated that “Carl was delighted with your suggestions, outlined in your October 22 letter, for strengthening coordination between the Department and USIA on policy matters.” He continued: “We are agreed that the two suggestions made in your letter should be put into effect right away.” (National Archives, RG 59, Office of the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Subject Files, 05/17/1961–10/15/1965, Lot 67D131, Entry A1–5226, Box 1, U.S. Information Agency)↩
- Greenfield signed “Jim” above this typed signature.↩