Sunday, December 29, 2013

First Lady of the United States Visits Pakistan and Tours Peshawar, the Khyber Pass, and Lahore


This visit happened in March, 1962. Does anyone want to speculate when we might next send FLOTUS on a goodwill tour of Pakistan?

The film is interesting in a 'wow, how the world has changed!' sort of way. Jacqueline Kennedy's itinerary included places where the USG does not dare to have a presence today, or if it does, it does so only in the most minimal way and with the utmost security countermeasures.

At the Khyber Pass, where NATO convoys now fear to go

Riding a camel on Clifton beach in Karachi

Arriving in Peshawar























































That last photo is rather stunning to me. An open car? When was the last time the USG let anyone travel down a street in Peshawar outside of a convoy of heavily armored vehicles? It's as if 1962 was not just a different century, but a whole different world.

The visit was the subject of a 15-minute film produced by the U.S. Information Service (Invitation to Pakistan, March 1962), something unremarkable at the time, but which itself now has the feeling of a vanished era.

Given that USIS was folded into the State Department back in 1999, I expect there are few active members of the U.S. Foreign Service today who have any memory of when there was an independent government agency that did public diplomacy and broadcasting. If you don't remember it, or would like to refresh your memory, see this swan song commemorative booklet USIS published before it closed up shop.

In its last year of operation, USIS had 190 posts in 142 countries, an annual budget of $1 billion and change, and employed - even after a staffing reduction in 1997 - 6,352 employees, of whom 904 were Foreign Service personnel, 2,521 were locally engaged staff overseas, and 2,927 were Civil Service employees in the United States. How does that compare to the resources of the R Bureau today? Badly, I know.

In the film, Jacqueline Kennedy, accompanied by her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill [I recall seeing the Princess in the news way back when I was a kid, although I never did understand exactly what Kingdom she was the Princess of] visits Pakistani President Mohammad Ayub Khan and United States Ambassador to Pakistan Walter P. McConaughy, attends a horse and cattle show in Lahore, delivers gifts to children's hospitals, does fun stuff in Karachi, drives to the Khyber Pass, delivers remarks, and even provides a little voice-over.

The film is narrated by the Canadian-American actor Raymond Massey (1896 – 1983), a distinguished sort of guy who was then at the peak of a long film career. That's another indicator of how high a bar USIS set. Do we get actors of similar stature to do the voice work on our PD products today?

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a great post TSB! gwb

Her second marriage, on March 19, 1959, was to the Polish prince Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł,

Pixie Wonk said...

Great film! I'd think that the former USIA employees at State all remember, as there was often USIA/USIS competition and even joint production. And while it may still have an editorial ortwo,VOA is an independent broadcasting agency--- that's why it didn't go to State. The newsroom is staffed by bonafide journos who've worked outside, not policy wonks. There are stories of nastygrams from the Bush WH after their reporters ,uh, reported the truth from overseas. Whether they do any PD is another matter, though their old jazz shows did a lot of barrier breaking in the 50s and 60s. I like the folk/roots show, myself-- the rest is crap.

TSB said...

Pixie wonk,

Thanks for your comment! There are indeed still some former USIS people working at State; one of them works in my office.

As you say, all of the broadcasting - VOA, plus the regional radios and TV - were spun off into the Broadcasting Board of Governors, so they're still around, but it's a big come-down for our public diplomacy effort to have it parceled out that way, some to State and some to BBG.

I realize USIS was created to be a Cold War tool, so perhaps it needed to be disestablished after the Cold War was over. Still, we could benefit today from having what was once called 'the Mighty Hurlitzer' of shaping world opinion back in one piece.

TSB said...

GWB: She was the Princess of Poland? Now, I'm impressed.

The old Chicago singer Bobby Vinton ("She wore Bluuue Velllvet") was billed as "the Polish Prince" and I think he and Lee are about the same age. I wonder why they didn't get together?

Pixie Wonk said...

TSB- I agree with you. I think we need a unified voice and message. And a tool like that shouldn't be confused with a news entity like VOA. They need to be separate.

(And BObby Vinton still performs in Branson, I think. And I knew Tony Radziwell (RIP) back in the day)

Anonymous said...

Cmon TSB! Those socialites of the 50's of the catcholic (I mean Catholic) variety were all slaves to the social register. I think Lee was that princes 3rd wife out of 5. She traded him in fast the first time rumors started flying and the Archbishop was glad to comply. Just ask Kitty Kelley. gwb

TSB said...

GWB: You are really up on your social register celebrity personalities! I'm learning more than I ever knew before about lee. Good call on the Kitty Kelley book.

Anonymous said...

Ya TSB; I was really tuned in in the 50's but I don't think I heard anything about the Korean War til the 70's when I asked my dad what the
deal was with firing MacArthur. He said it was 'complicated'. gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: My favorite one is with the two of them on the camel. That camel is saying "Wow! That is some high class cologne back there! I better get my nose in the air and step up my game."
gwb

James said...

Happy New Years TSB, GWB, CAA, new entity Pixie Wonk, and any other rascals, scamps, rapscallions, blaggards, blackguards,scoundrels, bounders, varlets, footpads, and cut purses lurking in this habitue!

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year everybody!! gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: Watching Myron Magnet discuss his book
'The Founding Fathers At Home 1735-1817 I didn't know Washington
had a fleet of fishing boats (on the Potomac)and exported salted fish; experimented with 60 crops before settling on wheat and ran a distillery. Is all that stuff on display at Mt. Vernon?
gwb

James said...

This is probably way OT, but maybe an preview for what's coming for certain people in 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=W9q7mvc6bsY

TSB said...

GWB: George's distillery is indeed on display, but it's located a little ways away from the home at Mount Vernon. The home itself includes displays on his crops, and has the dock that his ships sailed from plus the ramp that was used to roll the hogsheads barrels of crops to the dock.

Mount Vernon is a top pick of mine for tourists. It's still owned and run by a private organization (the Mount Vernon Ladies Society), unlike many historic homes that eventually get donated to the National Park Service.

The founders were quite business-minded. Jefferson's and Madison's homes show that same focus on science and industry, too, but George was the superior entrepreneur.

Anonymous said...

Thanks TSB! I notice your fav historian Arthur Herman ?? has a new book out about Plato and Socrates! He sold 250,000 of his book about the Scots. I think the new one looks more interesting. Myron Magnet says Washington originally built Mt. Vernon to show the British that he wasn't a lightweight.. which they continued to believe.. stealing his slaves, crops etc while he was away fighting the French& Indian war. gwb

Anonymous said...

James: That's exciting footage..are you talking about Clapper and Snowden? gwb

TSB said...

GWB: I saw that new book by Herman while doing shopping on Christmas Eve, and resisted the impulse to buy it right away. I'll add it to my reading list, for sure.

James said...

GWB: The powers that seem to be in DC, NYC, and several other places. The list is long, but Nemesis is up for the job.