Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume VIII, Public Diplomacy, 1969-1972

28. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon¹

Washington, undated

SUBJECT

• Your Meeting with Frank Shakespeare—July 17, 4:00 p.m.²

At 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, you have agreed to receive USIA Director Frank Shakespeare for a report on his recent trip to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Mr. Shakespeare visited both Leningrad and Moscow while in the USSR. In Leningrad on July 1 he officially opened the new American exhibit “Education USA,”³ and in Moscow he consulted with Ambassador Beam and other American Embassy officers on the state of our exchanges program with the Soviet Union. Although he neither requested nor was granted any appointments with Soviet officials, Mr. Shakespeare was very hospitably received on arrival at Moscow Airport by representatives of Soviet organizations dealing with cultural affairs, and was seen off on departure as well.

Mr. Shakespeare’s further travels took him to Warsaw and Bucharest. In both cities he was most cordially received and had a number of lengthy discussions with local officials. Mr. Shakespeare’s final stop was in Vienna, where he headed a conference of USIS officers dealing with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

As Mr. Shakespeare presents his report, you may wish to:

—seek his estimate of the climate for the negotiations this fall with the Soviets on the next two-year renewal (1970–71) of the US–USSR cultural exchange program;

—note the great success enjoyed by Embassy Warsaw recently in attracting huge crowds of interested Poles with Apollo program films and exhibits, and ask whether this surge of USIS activity has caused any misgivings among Polish officialdom;

—inquire whether, as a result of his talks in Bucharest, Mr. Shakespeare feels the Romanians are sincerely interested in trying to conclude an agreement for the opening of cultural centers separate from embassies in our respective countries in time for your visit on August 2–3;⁴

[For your background, our plans envisage a center including a reading room/library, English teaching laboratory, and a lecture facility which could possibly also serve as a concert and film auditorium. Ours would be in Bucharest and the Romanians’ would be in New York. These negotiations have gone on for some time, but there is evidence that we are close to agreement, and that the Romanians would not be averse to announcing final plans during your visit to Bucharest.]

—suggest that you would be pleased to see such progress in improving our day-to-day relations with the Romanians, but do not want any pressure exerted on the Romanians in connection with your visit; you are quite willing to wait for results through the normal course of negotiations;

—ask Mr. Shakespeare whether he discussed any subjects of political interest apart from the cultural and exchanges field;

[For your background, I understand that—particularly in Warsaw—Mr. Shakespeare found local officials eager for political discussions, and especially interested in our current negotiations on Vietnam and attempts to cool the Arab-Israeli confrontation in the Middle East.]

—inquire whether Mr. Shakespeare heard any comments and/or criticisms in Eastern Europe concerning your plans to visit Bucharest; and ask how USIA plans to exploit your trip in its Eastern European programs.

1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 293, Agency Files, USIA—Vol. I [Apr 69–25 Feb 70]. Confidential. Sent for information. All brackets are in the original. A stamped notation indicates that the President saw it. An unknown hand wrote “ret 7/17” below the stamped notation. Sonnenfeldt sent the memorandum to Kissinger under a July 16 covering memorandum, recommending that Kissinger signed the attached memorandum. Sonnenfeldt added: “(I would be interested in sitting in on this one, if it were feasible.)”
2. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the President met with Shakespeare in the White House Oval Office from 4:25 until 4:50 p.m. Kissinger attended the meeting from 4:25 until 4:30 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files) No record of the meeting has been found.
3. On April 8, Shakespeare announced that the arrangements for the “Education U.S.A.” exhibit were being finalized. The Washington Post reported that the exhibit “will employ Russian-speaking American guides, interesting visual teaching aides, educational games, closed circuit television and a sampling of library materials, films and records.” (“Soviet Tour Arranged for U.S. Exhibit,” April 9, 1969, p. A15)
4. Reference is to the President’s upcoming official visit to Bucharest. For the memoranda of conversation of Nixon’s August 2–3 talks with Ceausescu, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. XXIX, Eastern Europe; Eastern Mediterranean, 1969–1972, Documents 183 and 184. On August 3, U.S. and Romanian officials signed an understanding on libraries. For the text of the understanding, see Department of State Bulletin, September 1, 1969, pp. 196–98. For additional information, see United States Information Agency 33rd Semiannual Report to the Congress, July–December 1969 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1970), p. 3.