123. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (Battle) to the Special Assistant to the President (Schlesinger)1
SUBJECT
- Joey Adams
The Joey Adams tour was a project of this Administration, occurring between August and December 1961. It resulted from a number of requests from field establishments for a variety show which could play hospitals, market squares, fairs, etc., as well as present some more formal performances. The idea originally arose because of the enormous success of the Soviet and Chinese variety shows in the Far East, South Asia and the Middle East. I understand that the proposal was taken up with Ed Sullivan2 who suggested Joey Adams as the person to put the show together.
I came in office after the tour was over and believe I can be fairly objective about it. In many respects the tour was a success, but it did [Page 322] have some very unfortunate aspects. The facts, as I have been able to piece them together, are these: the show was assembled not because someone here thought it would be a wise thing to do, but in response to specific requests from a large number of Far East and Near East posts for an American variety show with a strong appeal for relatively unsophisticated audiences. We asked ANTA to put together such a group. For advice—a standard procedure—they went to the professional group in that field: the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA). President of AGVA was Joey Adams. The show toured 11 countries and gave almost 100 performances in 19 cities in the Near and Far East.3 It was seen by an estimated quarter of a million people, not counting the groups who saw individual performers who made over 40 visits to hospitals, orphanages and schools during the tour.
With very few exceptions our missions in these countries described the success of the show as “outstanding,” “smashing,” or “impressive.” (The exceptions were Hong Kong and Delhi.) I mention these evaluations by our people in the field because they are one aspect of the total reality that was the Joey Adams tour and as such they must certainly be included in an over-all balance sheet.
Another aspect of that reality is that despite briefings of the Adams troupe before the tour and in each of the countries they visited, there occurred a series of negative incidents which whitened the hairs and upset the digestions of USIS officers from Tehran to Saigon. In seriousness these ranged from breaches of normal etiquette or local customs by Mr. and Mrs. Adams to near fist-fights in public between members of the group. Mrs. Adams wrote a syndicated newspaper column during the tour in which she tactlessly criticized living and social conditions in some of the countries visited.4 (We had no knowledge of this until after it started happening—now we have safeguards built into the contract to prevent this sort of thing.) While these incidents were deplorable and caused us and our missions many headaches, it should be pointed out that with few exceptions they had no great impact on the population of the host countries. Most of them occurred behind the scenes, and it was USIS and Embassy officers who had to bear the brunt of them. I say this not to excuse them, of course, but to put them in perspective. If one is talking about the impact on the target audiences in the countries visited, I think one would have to say the Joey Adams [Page 323] show was “successful” in that it accomplished its objectives. This is not simply my judgment—it is what our responsible officers in these countries have told us.
Because of the publicity given to Cindy’s articles and to our hearings on the subject last year,5 the tour created enormous public relations difficulties in the U.S. for the entire program and has been a major cross to bear as far as our relations to Congressional committees are concerned.
As you know, soon after I came in office, partly because of this tour, partly because of other various deficiencies I found in the program, I suspended new contracts and called upon the Advisory Commission, headed by John Gardner, to study the program and to make new recommendations with respect to selection and administration of the program.6 We have recently reinstituted the program in accordance with the recommendations of the Advisory Commission and I believe it is on a sounder basis now although I am convinced we cannot avoid some trouble with the performing arts under any circumstances.
In collaboration with our Advisory Committee on the Arts, (reinstituted as a result of the study of the program by the Gardner Committee) we are stressing quality. I think it is inconceivable that another tour such as the Adams show would be sponsored again. Certainly the contracts are now more explicit about behavior, bills, etc., and one of the major sources of difficulty in the Adams tour has been corrected through tighter contractual arrangements. We will, of course, continue to send out jazz groups which have been very successful in most areas of the world, but as far as I am concerned, never again a variety show. I doubt that we will want to send another comic of the level of Joey Adams under any circumstances.
I recently had House Appropriations hearings on my budget request.7 The hearing went quite well and the Committee was complimentary on the corrective actions we have taken. I did not ask for more money for this part of my program this year because I knew we could [Page 324] not get it. I do hope to have a year or so of quiet successes before requesting the additional funds which are badly needed if we are to have an adequate cultural presentations program. But quality must be emphasized and great care exercised in the selection of the performers in the hope of eliminating some of the disasters that attended the Adams tour.
I can furnish reports, studies, etc. of the Adams tour and give you any detail you want, but the foregoing reflects the situation in a nutshell.
- Source: Kennedy Library, President’s Office Files, Staff Memoranda Series, Box 66, Schlesinger, Arthur M., 5/63–6/63. Limited Official Use. The memorandum is attached to a May 9 cover memorandum from Schlesinger to the President stating: “A few days ago you asked about the Joey Adams tour. The attached memorandum from Luke Battle tells the story.” Adams was a comedian, actor, and author.↩
- The television entertainer and journalist best known for hosting a popular and long-running television variety show on CBS.↩
- As part of this tour, Adams and his company visited Afghanistan, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Vietnam, India, and Iran. (“U.S. Variety Show Is Charming India,” The New York Times, December 10, 1961, p. 150)↩
- Cynthia Adams, a popular columnist, wrote this series of articles, under the title “Cindy Says,” about the tour for the American Newspaper Alliance. They were published in newspapers throughout the United States. For examples of her articles, see Congressional Record, July 20, 1962, pp. 14352–14354.↩
- A House Appropriations subcommittee held hearings in July 1962 on the Department of State’s request for $4.1 million for the Fiscal Year 1963 to fund its cultural exchange program. In closed testimony, Department of State officials reported to the subcommittee, chaired by Representative Rooney, about the Adams’ 1961 tour as well as other exchange programs. The testimony about the tour was made public on July 9 and published in the Congressional Record. (Ibid., pp. 14351–14357.)↩
- This report by the U.S. Advisory Commission on International Educational and Cultural Affairs was not found.↩
- Battle provided testimony on April 4. For his testimony, see Department of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1964: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Eighty-Eighth Congress, First Session, Department of State (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963), pp. 1522–1597.↩
- Battle wrote his initials “LDB” above his typed signature.↩