Remarks Announcing Appointment of Peter G. Peterson as Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Executive Director, Council on International Economic Policy

Ladies and gentlemen:

We are sorry that we delayed our meeting with you, but we have had a rather long Cabinet meeting this morning for the purpose of going over the various proposals that will be presented to the Congress, and particularly those proposals that will be included in the State of the Union Message.

At the Cabinet meeting I presented one of the men who will be playing a very active role with several members of the Cabinet over the next few months and, we trust, the next few years.

A statement has been distributed to you with regard to the setting up of a Council on International Economic Policy. And as the man who will be the Executive Director of that Council and as the man who also will be Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs, I am announcing today the appointment of Mr. Peter Peterson, the chief executive officer and also the chairman of the board of Bell and Howell.

All of you who follow business affairs know of Mr. Peterson's rather remarkable record in that field. He is, as you can see, a very young man. He is a man that has been described by his colleagues in the business community as one of the ablest--and some have even used the term brilliant--chief executive officers of this generation.

We feel very fortunate that he would take this assignment. While his primary responsibilities at Bell and Howell have been domestic, he has had a great deal of experience in international affairs, and we think that having him on the White House Staff as an Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs will be a great asset to our staff.

If I could just spend one moment to use some examples as to why this kind of council is needed, let me just tell you about my schedule for the last 4 days.

I was talking to the Secretary of State this morning, and we reminisced, as we were talking about Mr. Peterson, about the fact that over the past 4 days either personally or by phone we have been discussing matters in the field of this Council which were of great concern to the Nation.

For example, you read of the oil crisis in the Mideast. You also read of the decision of the Tariff Commission, a split decision, which now will have to come to the President, with regard to a shoe import [quota] for shoes. And you, of course, have been following the situation with regard to possible British entry into the Common Market and what decisions that may require, what impact that may have on our policies.

In all of these areas we have direct examples of matters that cut across foreign policy and domestic policy which involved, in the one instance the Department of Commerce and the Department of State, in another instance the Department of State and the Tariff Commission, in another instance the Department of State and the Department of Agriculture.
There has long been needed in the White House a direct adviser and Assistant to the President who can coordinate all of these activities.

Of course, the State Department has the primary responsibility. That is why the Secretary of State will be the Vice Chairman of this Council. I, of course, will serve as the Chairman of the Council, just as I serve as Chairman of the National Security Council and the Domestic Council.

And the Secretary of State will also, incidentally, be just as enthusiastic as I am about Mr. Peterson. Secretary Rogers was one of those who initially recommended that the Council be set up to bring these things together, and Mr. Peterson was not only my first choice but his first choice, and we are fortunate to get our first choice to serve as the man who will be the Executive Director of the Council and the Assistant to the President for International [Economic] Affairs.

I will not further detain you. Mr. Peterson will be glad to answer any questions you may have with regard to his personal plans or his future activities on the Council. And George Shultz is here for the purpose of answering any questions you might want to ask for background on the Council and what particular areas that it will cover, because its scope is very' broad, very broad in covering the whole area of international economic affairs. And Mr. Shultz, who has been consulted throughout on this matter, will be able to answer any questions in that respect.

I will just say finally I think all of you who cover the White House will find that Mr. Peterson is a very great asset to our staff, one who will be accessible to you when it is proper for him to be so to discuss some of the matters in which you have interest and one who will bring some new ideas and, more important than that, some form, some central direction to a number of areas that have simply been handled on an ad hoc basis due to the fact that they cut across so many departments.