Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume II, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs

249. Memorandum for the Files by Sol Linowitz¹

Washington, May 3, 1978

RE

• President’s Commission on World Hunger

On Tuesday, May 2nd, I had a meeting with the President at the White House to talk about his suggestion that I become Chairman of the new President’s Commission on World Hunger.² Earlier Dr. Peter Bourne, Special Assistant to the President for Health and Related Matters, had conveyed to me the President’s desire that I take on the Chairmanship and I had said I wanted to talk it over with the President.³

Before the President came into the Cabinet Room in order to meet with the Time Newstour Group, I was called out to see him in his office and to talk about the Hunger Commission. I started out by telling the President that I appreciated his taking a little time to talk to me about it and he said, “You can have a couple of minutes or a couple of hours whenever you want to do it. Just pick up the phone”.

We sat down and I told him at the outset that I wanted to be helpful to him in any way I could, but that I wanted to be sure I was doing something where I might uniquely have something to contribute. I pointed out that hunger was not my area of involvement or particular expertise; that I was therefore somewhat surprised at the suggestion that I become Chairman of the Commission; that I fully recognized the importance of the subject and would do it if he really wanted me to. On the other hand I pointed out that there might be other things where I could be more helpful to him and have something unique to contribute.

The President then told me that he fully understood why I was raising the questions and said he would do the same thing if he were in my shoes. He said that he believed this was a very important program of great significance to him and that he had been trying for fourteen months to get the Commission organized and launched. He talked about the difficulty of working with the bureaucracy and said that the effort had really been a “bitch” in getting it off the ground. He said he believed he needed a strong well-known Chairman to launch the Commission and one who would be tough enough to do what had to be done with the various agencies to bring them together and to agree upon a common course of action. He said, “You would be shocked if I told you the number of hours I have personally devoted to this thing.”

He also said that he wanted issues of food and health to be major concerns of his Administration and that he had, for example, asked Joe Califano, Secretary of HEW, to go to Rome for a WHO meeting this week—the first time a Cabinet officer had attended such a session.⁴

The President then said that there would be other things where he would want to turn to me and that he hoped I would take on the Chairmanship in order to get the project launched. He suggested that I have a good Deputy Chairman who might be able to move in and take over if the President should ask me to undertake another mission later on—even as early as the latter part of this year.⁵

He pointed out that the entertainers were particularly interested in lending a hand and had made this their project—naming Eddie Albert,

John Denver and others. He suggested that Arthur Krim could work in getting the entertainment industry behind this if I wanted him to.⁶

I told the President that in view of what he had said I was going to take on the Chairmanship and would do it on the basis he indicated. He again emphasized that he wanted to be sure he was off the ground in the right manner with the right strength and that he then thought I ought to be sure I had a competent Deputy Chairman who could take over if that should be desirable.

We then went into the Cabinet Room together in order to meet with the Time Newstour Group.

1. Source: Carter Library, RG 220, Presidential Commission on World Hunger, Linowitz’s Subject Files, Box 42, Members of the Commission [3]. No classification marking. Drafted by Linowitz.
2. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the conversation took place from 11:32 to 11:40 a.m. in the Oval Office. (Carter Library, Presidential Materials, President’s Daily Diary) Linowitz was at the White House for a meeting of the Time Newstour Group with the President. Following his conversation with Carter, Linowitz rejoined the group. The subsequent meeting took place in the Cabinet Room from 11:40 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (Ibid.) No record of this conversation has been found. Linowitz served on the Board of Directors for Time Incorporated. Time’s “Newstours” allowed U.S. business, educational, and philanthropic leaders the opportunity to assume the role of “guest journalist” in order to interview key political figures in their respective nations. Linowitz accompanied the 1978 Newstour participants on their tour of the Middle East and Africa. (“A Favorite Trouble-Shooter of Presidents: Sol Myron Linowitz,” The New York Times, November 7, 1979, p. A–6)
3. In a May 1 memorandum for the files, Linowitz noted that he and Bourne had discussed various aspects of the Commission and the proposed Presidential message to Congress on world hunger. (Carter Library, RG 220, Presidential Commission on World Hunger, Linowitz’s Subject Files, Box 42, Members of the Commission [3]) Linowitz’ previous government service included appointments as Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) and Representative to the Alliance for Progress’ Inter-American Committee during the Johnson administration and co-negotiator of the Panama Canal Treaties in 1977.
4. See Document 313.
5. Carter, in an October 30, 1979, diary entry, noted that he had “discussed the possibility of Strauss leaving the Mideast and going to the campaign, and that Sol Linowitz would take Strauss’s place as the negotiator.” (Carter, White House Diary, p. 366) On November 6, 1979, Carter appointed Linowitz the Personal Representative of the President for the Middle East, replacing Strauss, who resigned his position in order to chair Carter’s re-election campaign. See Marjorie Hunter, “Strauss Reported Quitting His Post As Envoy to Head Carter’s ’80 Bid,” The New York Times, November 6, 1979, p. B–8 and Richard M. Harley, “Linowitz stresses US commitment to end world hunger,” The Christian Science Monitor, December 20, 1979, p. 4.
6. Eddie Albert, best known for his motion picture and television roles, was actively involved in Meals for Millions, the predecessor of the Freedom from Hunger organization. Carter later appointed recording artist John Denver, co-founder of The Hunger Project (THP), to the Presidential Commission on World Hunger. Arthur Krim was an entertainment lawyer, president and later chairman of United Artists, and adviser to President Lyndon Johnson.