Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume VII, Public Diplomacy, 1964–1968

88. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (Frankel) to the Director of the United States Information Agency (Marks)¹

Washington, April 25, 1966

Dear Leonard:

You wrote me on March 2² about several aspects of CU–USIA relations, and we have already had a chance to talk fruitfully about some of these questions. In particular, you already have on hand a memorandum giving facts about the grant in support of the Institute of American Studies in Paris, and I trust this information has been useful to you and sets the record straight.

However, I find that there were also some matters that you discussed with me in your letter to which I have not yet given a written reply. In the first paragraph of your letter you referred to the American Specialists and Cultural Presentations Programs as areas of joint responsibility. As you know, under Executive Order 11034 of June 25, 1962,³ only a limited share of the responsibility for these programs devolves upon USIA. However, CU has consistently gone beyond the strict requirements of that Order so far as consultation with USIA is concerned. CU and USIA have regularly collaborated in developing the recommendations for the Cultural Presentations Program that are considered by the U.S. Advisory Committee on the Arts and expert panels. I need hardly tell you that I contemplate no changes in these procedures for cooperation that have been developed, even though final responsibility must obviously rest with CU, which has the budgetary obligation and legislative mandate for these programs. In line with these procedures, the joint recommendations of the Agency and CU for the 1968 program in Cultural Presentations have been presented to the Advisory Committee for its consideration.

With regard to the American Specialists Program, the situation, of course, is not quite parallel. This program is part of the general exchange of persons program, and specifically of the cultural exchanges authorized under the Fulbright-Hays Act.⁴ Responsibility for this activity is delegated exclusively to the Department of State. The collateral interests of USIA in the program has nevertheless been recognized, and USIA has been represented on the Committee which my predecessor, Lucius Battle, established to review the qualifications of nominees for American Specialists grants. Once again, I certainly see no reason at this time to alter this procedure. We will always welcome your Agency’s suggestions concerning specialists although, of course, we may not always be able to comply with them, and must retain final decision about the basic procedures, objectives, and plans with regard to this area of our obligations. As background on this matter, you may want to refer to Arthur Hummel’s memorandum of June 26, 1964, to Robert Lincoln,⁵ and also to David Osborn’s memorandum of August 30, 1965, to Burnett Anderson.⁶

With regard to all these matters, I believe that the essence of the problem—if, indeed, there is a problem—is not bureaucratic definitions but full and frank communication to ensure that we understand each other’s responsibilities and provide what mutual help we can. As we have said to each other on many occasions, and I think effectively demonstrated, this begins with the two of us. But it must also include our agencies. I will do all I can to foster the spirit of cooperation. Although working relations between our respective area offices have been close, cordial and productive, we cannot remain content with this record. We can do even better.

Such cooperation, I believe, is perfectly compatible with what must always be the case in Government—namely, that the agency concerned (in this case, CU)—must obviously retain full responsibility for the planning, budgeting and defense of those activities for which it has been given sole obligation.

With all best regards,

Sincerely,

Charles Frankel⁷

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Files, Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Subject Files, 1965–1966, Lot 69D260, Entry UD UP 175, 1966: Government Agencies: USIA. No classification marking. Drafted by Frankel on April 22; cleared in draft by Roland (CU/EUR).
2. See the attachment to Document 79.
3. Executive Order 11034, signed by President Kennedy on June 25, 1962, regarding the administration of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 is printed in Department of State Bulletin, July 23, 1962, pp. 138–140. Additional information about the order is in Foreign Relations, 1917–1972, vol. VI, Public Diplomacy, 1961–1963.
4. See footnote 4, Document 14.
5. Not found.
6. Not found.
7. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.