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- Part of Records of the Office of the Chief of Staff (Clinton Administration), Harold Ickes, Jr.'s Files
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2915 Audobon
THE WHITE HOUSE
Terrace
WASHINGTON
March 22, 1995
MEMORANDUM FOR LEON PANETTA
FROM:
Alexis Herman
RE:
Bob Johnson Dinner
In the Fall of '94, you and I agreed that we would meet quarterly
in order to keep a dialogue going beyond my immediate office with
opinion leaders in the African American community. The decision
to hold these off the record informal discussions periodically,
grew out of the concerns expressed last year that African
Americans were not perceived to be a part of the inner circle
with the President or Chief of Staff on political discussions and
strategies.
We had hoped to begin these meetings last October but due to
scheduling problems, we were not successful in our efforts until
now.
The objectives of the dinner are two-fold: 1. to start an early
political dialogue on issues that are important to the community
and, 2. to have this group (and others like it) be perceived as
a real sounding board for the Administration.
The following issues are likely to be raised tonight:
1.
Affirmative Action as it relates to minority business
since these are business leaders.
2.
District of Columbia
3.
Party leadership
4.
The President's commitment to stand with minority Cabinet
members.
The discussion is informal, off the record and unstructured.
Bob Johnson, as you know, is the President of Black Entertainment
Television. He is an early supporter and the largest African
American donor historically to the Party. All others are
political and financial supporters of the President.