Roberts's Rules of Decorum

Researchers found several memos from the summer and fall of 1984 in which Supreme Court nominee John Roberts,working as a Reagan White House lawyer, advised against sending thank-you notes to Michael Jackson.

Roberts's Rules of Decorum specified that there should be no hobnobbing with celebs. On April 30, 1984, Roberts wrote to oppose a presidential award that was to have been given to Jackson for his efforts against drunk driving.

Roberts wrote:

'If one wants the youth of America and the world sashaying around in garish sequined costumes, hair dripping with pomade, body shot full of female hormones to prevent voice change, mono-gloved, well, then, I suppose 'Michael,' as he is affectionately known in the trade, is in fact a good example. Quite apart from the problem of appearing to endorse Jackson's androgynous life style, a Presidential award would be perceived as a shallow effort by the President to share in the constant publicity surrounding Jackson. . . . The whole episode would, in my view, be demeaning to the President.'

Roberts objections to celebrity extended far beyond Jackson. He was concerned about the presidential awards to celebrities being perceived as a shallow effort by the president to exploit the constant publicity surrounding celebs. He complained that:

......once you do one it becomes impossible to turn down countless others. I know there's only one John Wayne -- but there's only one Bob Hope, James Bond, Bing Crosby, etc. etc. etc.

Only one James Bond?