Office of the Historian

318. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for Urban Affairs (Moynihan) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1

Washington, April 28, 1970.

The enclosed was drafted by a Nixon man over in the State Department who has just returned from Europe. My impression is not dissimilar, although admittedly my data base is pretty thin.

If you would like to talk about this further, I would be glad to do so.

D

Attachment

Washington, undated.

Memorandum Prepared in the Department of State2

Problem

1.
The mood of the Foreign Service officers in our Embassies abroad approaches that of semi-rebellion.
2.
Their hostility is not directed towards the foreign policy, which they overwhelmingly support but rather of the Nixon domestic program.
3.
This hostility is reflected in questions about “Southern Strategy,” Carswell, Agnew civil rights, etc.

Recommendation

1.
A White House staffer or a State Department official with White House background (or perhaps someone like Arthur Fletcher) should address at least some of the bigger embassies (i.e. London, Bonn, Moscow, Rome, Paris).
2.
It should be on off the record closed session with ample time for questions and discussion. It should not be a canned presentation.
3.
Particular emphasis should be given to the Nixon program for combatting poverty, i.e., income strategy, and Nixon programs such as the family assistance program and the Philadelphia plan. Facts such as the Nixon appointment of more Negroes at the policy level (i.e. confirmation by Senate) than any other Administration.

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1050, Staff Files, Staff Memos, Moynihan, Daniel P. No classification marking. Kissinger initialed the memorandum indicating that he had seen it.↩
  2. A typed notation on the memorandum reads: “Daniel Patrick Moynihan to Elliot Richardson.”↩