Another with a twist:
June 26, 2009, 12:25 pm
From the White House Files: A Fight Over Michael JacksonBy Charlie Savage
The death of Michael Jackson on Thursday recalled his brush a quarter century ago with an aide to President Ronald Reagan — John G. Roberts Jr., who would go on to become chief justice of the United States. Mr. Roberts, it appears, was not the King of Pop’s biggest fan in the White House.
Mr. Jackson had visited the White House on May 16, 1984, and appeared with Mr. Reagan at an event on efforts against drunken driving. The following month, according to files released in 2005 during Mr. Roberts’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, the White House was asked to contribute a letter from Mr. Reagan recognizing the pop singer’s work.
It was to be published in a special issue of Billboard magazine devoted to Mr. Jackson, alongside photos from the White House event, in a section about his “volunteer activities and the national recognition of his achievements.” A correspondence aide at the White House, James K. Coyne, drafted a somewhat goofy letter that he proposed having Mr. Reagan sign.
It would have read:Dear Michael:
Your visit to the White House was a real “thriller” for all of us here in the Nation’s Capital. In fact, the White House staff are still humming “Beat It” and “Billy Jean” and wondering how they’ll get tickets to one of your concerts this summer.
Your award last month was a tribute to your accomplishments in the entertainment business, but it was especially intended to recognize your generous support for our national initiative against drunk driving. This support for a cause that deeply affects so many young people is in line with your demonstrated concern for the public interest. I want to commend you on the very effective help you are giving us in persuading young people that drinking and driving do not mix.
Nancy and I send you our very best wishes for every future success and happiness.
On June 20, 1984, Mr. Coyne forwarded the proposed letter office of then-White House Counsel Fred Fielding, where Mr. Roberts, then a young associate White House counsel, was assigned to review it.
Mr. Roberts expressed acid disapproval in a June 22, 1984, memorandum to Mr. Fielding:I recognize that I am something of a vox clamans in terris in this area, but enough is enough. The Office of Presidential Correspondence is not yet an adjunct of Michael Jackson’s PR firm. “Billboard” can quite adequately cover the event by reproducing the award citation and/or reporting the President’s remarks. (As you know, there is very little to report about Mr. Jackson’s remarks.) There is absolutely no need for an additional presidential message. A memorandum for Presidential Correspondence objecting to the letter is attached for your review and signature.
The files indicate that Mr. Fielding agreed, signing the draft memorandum Mr. Roberts had written rejecting the request to have Reagan sign the letter.
But the battle was not over. Three months later, a second set of files show, the White House’s Office of Private Sector Initiatives drafted a letter from Mr. Reagan that would send greetings to Mr. Jackson as he came through Washington the following weekend for two “Victory Tour” concerts with his brothers.
Mr. Jackson’s manager, Frank M. Dileo, had sent Mr. Reagan a letter inviting him to come to the opening night at RFK Stadium, saying that the dates in Washington “have been added to the Jacksons’ tour per your request on The White House Lawn this past spring.”
The proposed letter from Reagan would politely decline the invitation, but thank Mr. Jackson for providing 400 tickets to underprivileged children. In a separate memorandum, Mr. Coyne also proposed that such a letter could go on to invite “Michael and his brothers to the White House for an informal tour and reception. James Coyne will assist in arranging details, look forward to meeting him again and meeting his brothers.”
The draft was again routed to Mr. Roberts for review, and he again expressed exasperated disapproval:I hate to sound like one of Mr. Jackson’s records, constantly repeating the same refrain, but I recommend that we not approve this letter. Sometimes people need to be reminded of the obvious: whatever its status as a cultural phenomenon, the Jackson concert tour is a massive commercial undertaking. The tour will do quite well financially by coming to Washington, and there is no need for the President to applaud such enlightened self-interest. Frankly, I find the obsequious attitude of some members of the White House staff toward Mr. Jackson’s attendants, and the fawning posture they would have the President of the United States adopt, more than a little embarrassing.
It is also important to consider the precedent that would be set by such a letter. In today’s Post there were already reports that some youngsters were turning away from Mr. Jackson in favor of a newcomer who goes by the name “Prince,” and is apparently planning a Washington concert.
Will he receive a Presidential letter? How will we decide which performers do and which do not?
Mr. Roberts once again also drafted a memo in Mr. Fielding’s name for his boss to sign rejecting the proposal. It repeated Mr. Roberts’s points with a twist:I recommend that no such letter be sent. The Jackson tour, whatever stature it may have attained as a cultural phenomenon, is a massive commercial undertaking. The visit of the tour to Washington was not an eleemosynary gesture; it was a calculated commercial decision that does not warrant gratitude from our Nation’s Chief Executive. Such a letter would also create a bad precedent, as other popular performers would either expect or demand similar treatment. Why, for example, was no letter sent to Mr. Bruce Springsteen, whose patriotic tour recently visited the area? Finally, the President, in my view, has done quite enough in the way of thanking and congratulating the Jacksons, and anything more would begin to look like unbecoming fawning.
That appeared to end the matter.UPDATE: As an addendum, Reagan had sent a letter to Mr. Jackson shortly after the singer’s hair was burned during a January 1984 accident on the set of a Pepsi commercial. Harper’s Magazine published the letter in its June 2009 issue (subscription only), and a reader reproduced it here.
In addition, it is worth noting that Mr. Roberts and Mr. Jackson had some things in common. Mr. Roberts was born in 1955 and grew up in Long Beach, Indiana. Mr. Jackson was born in 1958 less than an hour’s drive away, in Gary.
