A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
All Ford Library manuscript and other non-audiovisual collections are listed here alphabetically by title. Most collections are technically subgroups of the Gerald Ford Papers, but many other donations and deposits are included as well. When you read the collection entries, please bear in mind these points:
- A person's "Files" are materials left in the White House to become part of the Ford Papers. A person's "Papers" are materials that he or she held privately and later donated to the library. The difference in content can be very small.
- Every collection that is open to research has its own finding aid--a narrative explanation and summation of contents plus a list of folder titles. Finding aids to open collections can be viewed by clicking on collection titles below.
- Collection topics are mentioned selectively in order to illustrate contents. They are not comprehensive listings.
- A parenthetical date, such as (1971) 1974-76, means that a small body of material is dated earlier or later than the bulk of the material.
- Quantities (expressed here in linear feet of shelf space) can be translated roughly into 1 foot equals 2,000 pages.
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR UNITED STATES-CHINA TRADE See UNITED
STATES-CHINA BUSINESS COUNCIL.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Files,
(1969) 1974-77 (340
feet)
See NATIONAL
SECURITY ADVISER FILES.
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Institutional records from the Ford era
See U.S.
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL...
NEEDHAM,
PAMELA:
Files, 1974-75 (4 feet)
Domestic Council: Staff Assistant; Associate Director for Health,
Social Security, and Welfare.
Social Security financing, welfare reform, health, and consumer protection
are the main topics .
NESSEN, RON:
Diary audiotapes and transcripts, 1974-81 (one foot)
Journalist and Press Secretary to the President.
Unprocessed - closed to research.
NESSEN,
RON:
Files, 1974-77 (32 feet)
Press Secretary to the President.
This collection supplements the richer Nessen Papers described below. Included
are case files about press interviews with Ford, transcripts of ter Horst's
and Nessen's daily press briefings, a selective subject and name index to the
transcripts, and press release drafts. View digital images of the documents in the Press Secretary's Press Briefing Transcripts series.
NESSEN,
RON:
Papers, 1974-77 (120 feet)
This is the key collection on press relations and administration of the White
House Press Office. Included are minutes of staff "improvement sessions," notes
from meetings, files of correspondence with subordinates and colleagues,
subject files, case files and briefing books for press interviews with the
President, question-and- answer guidance on expected queries, transcripts
of Nessen's daily press briefings, and Nessen's telephone logs and schedule
books. The collection can be valuable for selected domestic policy and foreign
affairs topics. It is useful on the 1976 primary and general election campaigns,
especially for media relations and information about Ronald Reagan and Jimmy
Carter, but less so on campaign planning and strategy.
Nessen recounted his White House experience in It Sure Looks Different
From the Inside (1978) and Making the News, Taking the News (2011). View digital images of the documents from selected series.
NICHOLSON, WILLIAM See RUSTAND,
WARREN.
O'DONNELL,
PATRICK, and JOSEPH JENCKES:
Files (1969), 1974-76 (7 feet)
Congressional Relations Office: Special Assistants to the President
for Legislative Affairs (Senate).
O'Donnell and his successor, Jenckes, worked with senators regarding legislation,
personnel appointments, and routine courtesies. Brief files on numerous topics
comprise much of the collection. Among the larger files are those on the Freedom
of Information Act and on uranium enrichment policy. There are several small
chronological correspondence files.
O'DONNELL, TERRENCE:
Files, 1974-77 (14 feet)
Scheduling and Advance Office: Aide to the President.
This collection consists primarily of the President’s schedules, domestic and foreign trip itineraries, and presidential briefing books, which include background information, talking points, and biographical sketches. There are also materials relating to the 1976 presidential campaign, including Republican Party and President Ford Committee contacts, analysis of Carter campaign strategy for the states visited by President Ford, and analysis of the issues that affected those states. Additional materials pertain to usage of the presidential boxes in the Kennedy Center by members of the White House staff and their guests, trips and events associated with the nation’s bicentennial, and campaign trips associated with the 1974 congressional elections.
O'NEILL,
ELIZABETH:
Files, 1974-77 (4 feet)
First Lady's Staff: Director of Correspondence.
The First Lady's correspondence unit answered her mail from the general public
on such topics as health, requests for recipes, media interviews, and the Equal
Rights Amendment. Reference files on these topics and carbons of outgoing letters
are included. The collection incorporates material from O'Neill's predecessors
Gwendolyn King, Marba Perrot, and Thomas McCoy, and material from Mrs. Ford's
personal assistant, Nancy Howe.
O'NEILL,
PAUL H.:
Papers, 1975-77 (3 feet)
Office of Management and Budget: Deputy Director
Copies of O'Neill's outgoing correspondence, arranged by date, with the President
and his staff; federal, state, and local government officials; and others.
ORBEN, ROBERT:
Files, 1974-77 See THEIS,
PAUL and ROBERT ORBEN
ORBEN, ROBERT:
Papers, 1947-2005 (40
feet)
Editorial and Speechwriting Staff: Special Assistant to the President
This collection contains materials relating to Robert Orben’s comedy writing career encompassing his work as a humor consultant and speechwriter for television personalities, corporate clients, and politicians. Materials compiled during his tenure as speechwriter for President Ford are also included.
ORLEBEKE, CHARLES J.:
Papers 1975-77 (9 feet)
Department of Housing and Urban Development: Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.
The papers focus on housing, community development, and urban policy, including the President's Committee on Urban Development and Neighborhood Revitalization. There is an unprocessed accretion.
OVERMAN,
DEAN:
Files, 1975-77 (3 feet)
Domestic Council: White House Fellow assisting Vice President
Rockefeller; Associate Director for Policy and Planning.
Materials on Puerto Rico , including drafts of the 1977 statehood bill, are
the most notable feature of this collection. Overman also accumulated material
on the fiscal health of state and local governments, and the 1977 State of
the Union Address.
PANTLIND, FREDERICA:
Papers, 1933-38 (1982) (less than one foot)
Grand Rapids friend of Gerald Ford.
Letters from young Gerald Ford to Frederica Pantlind, a hometown friend and neighbor. Also included are Pantlind’s newspaper clippings on University of Michigan football and on Gamma Delta Tau high school sorority, invitations to social events, and date books. The letters reveal much about Gerald Ford’s life as a college student and athlete and, to a lesser extent, his work as an assistant coach at Yale University. The entire collection has been digitized. View digital images of the documents.
PARSONS,
RICHARD:
Files, 1974-77 (10 feet)
Domestic Council: Associate Director for Justice, Civil Rights,
Drugs, Consumer Affairs.
Parsons chaired the Domestic Council's Drug Review Task Force. He was also
active in the areas of privacy, gun control, affirmative action, busing to
achieve school desegregation, voting rights, sex discrimination by educational
institutions, and illegal immigration.
PATTERSON,
BRADLEY H., JR.:
Files, (1973) 1974-76 (2 feet)
Special Assistant to the President for Native American Programs.
Native American protest, legislation, and policies of special concern to Native
Americans, and Patterson's work as a White House liaison with federal officials
and tribal organizations, are the core of this collection. Patterson's files
as Assistant Director of Operations, White House Personnel Office, are elsewhere,
among that office's records. View digital images of the documents.
PATTERSON,
BRADLEY H., JR.:
Papers, 1973-77 (3 feet)
Supplementing the above collection, this separate donation especially concerns
litigation involving Native American land claims, sovereignty issues, and fishing,
water, and mineral rights.
PEABODY,
ROBERT L.:
Research interview notes, 1964-67 (less than one foot)
Political scientist.
In the aftermath of the severe setbacks suffered by House Republicans in the
1964 elections, Peabody interviewed in confidence many Republican Members of
Congress as their leadership contests unfolded. He conducted more interviews
as the new leadership took hold. Most interviews focussed on the contest for
House Minority Leader between Ford and Charles Halleck. Others concerned Melvin
Laird's election as chairman of the House Republican Conference, Les Arends's
election as Minority Whip, and the selections of John Rhodes and Charles Goodell
to chair planning and policy committees. The interviews were the basis for
a journal article, later reprinted as a chapter in Leadership in Congress:
Stability, Succession, and Change (1976). These detailed interview notes
may not be quoted for publication except by advance written permission of Professor
Peabody.
PHELAN,
WANDA:
Files, (1971-75) 1976 (24 feet)
Press Secretary's Office: Staff Assistant for Research.
Phelan maintained research files for the 1976 campaign, concentrating on Jimmy
Carter's background and statements, editorial opinions and endorsements, and
columnist opinion from state and local newspapers.
PORTER,
SUSAN:
Files, 1974-77 (10 feet)
First Lady's Staff: Appointments Secretary.
Porter handled scheduling for Mrs. Ford and the Ford children. She screened
invitations, coordinated their plans with the President's staff, and kept records
of Mrs. Ford's awards and honorary affiliations.
POTTINGER,
J. STANLEY:
Papers, 1968-81 (56
feet)
Department of Health, Education and Welfare: Director,
Office of Civil Rights; Department of Justice: Assistant Attorney General,
Civil Rights Division.
The
collection especially concerns Federal investigation, enforcement, and policy
in civil rights. Examples of issues include school desegregation, women’s
rights, Native American rights, affirmative action, education, employment,
government surveillance, and protest and government actions at Kent State University
and Wounded Knee.
POWELL,
PAMELA A.:
Files, 1973-76 (8 feet)
Public Liaison Office: Director for Youth Affairs.
Powell's files relate primarily to White House liaison with youth organizations
and adults working with young people, as well as administration of the White
House summer intern program.
See "Must I make advance arrangements to see certain "open" collections?"
NOT FULLY DESCRIBED IN PRESNET.
PRESIDENT
FORD COMMITTEE:
Records, (1968, 1971-74) 1975-77 (349 feet)
The PFC conducted Ford's campaigns against Ronald Reagan for the Republican
Party Presidential nomination and against Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter.
Strengths of the PFC collection include campaign law, finances, advertising,
implementation of strategy at the state level, volunteer operations, and the
collection of polling data. A weakness is the dearth of files from the chairman's
office. Some voluminous routine financial records remain closed pending processing.
PRESIDENT'S
DAILY DIARY, 1974-77 (46 feet)
The diary is a minute-by-minute log of every individual or group that Ford
met, individuals with whom he spoke by telephone, and where he went. The White
House compiled it from logs kept by the Secret Service and others and from
records kept by Ford's scheduling and appointments staff. The diary is exhaustive,
but it may not be authoritative especially regarding telephone calls. There
is a small subject file on the creation and use of the diary, including a September
1974 time allocation study. The Library has digitized one set of Diaries (but not the rest of the collection). View the digitized Daily Diaries.
PRESIDENT'S
DAILY NEWS SUMMARIES, 1974-77 (17 feet)
Press Office staff abstracted and excerpted printed and electronic news media
articles, editorial opinion, and even political cartoons. They "published" the
resulting daily news summaries for about 130 White House staff and others,
eventually under the masthead News & Comment. These are the ribbon
copies, which went to Ford. He very seldom annotated them, although he reportedly
read them regularly. This is an incomplete set, to be supplemented by editors James
Shuman's and Agnes
Waldron's incomplete sets.
PRESIDENT'S
HANDWRITING FILE, 1974-77 (41 feet)
This key file contains option and briefing memorandums, reports, articles,
and other documents that Ford initialed, otherwise annotated, or occasionally
drafted. The subject range is wide, from arms control and sex discrimination
to Christmas stamps and beverage container deposits. The quantity may be thin
on any one topic, however, and the White House filed elsewhere highly sensitive
defense and foreign affairs documents. The White House kept this file in chronological
order, but the Ford Library created a duplicate set and arranged it by subject.
The duplicate subject set is readily available to research. The original chronological
set is available only with advance notice and in limited volume. View digital images of the documents in the Chronological File.
PRESIDENT'S
PAPERWORK LOG, 1974-77 (2 feet)
This is a log of all paperwork that went to or from Ford through the normal
paper-flow channel administered by the Staff Secretary. The log cites each
item delivered to the President for signature, decision, or information.
PRESIDENT'S
SPEECHES AND STATEMENTS:
Ford's reading copies, 1974-77 (17 feet)
Ford delivered over one thousand speeches, veto messages, press conference
statements, and other prepared remarks. His large-type delivery texts, usually
on cards and often annotated by him, are here along with occasional supporting
material. The final texts of presidential speeches, public remarks, press conferences,
and campaign debates may be found in the multi-volume series U.S. President, The
Public Papers of the Presidents (available online through the American
Presidency Project website). View digital images of the documents.
PRESIDENT'S
TELEPHONE LOGS, 1974-77 (1 foot)
Included are logs of incoming and outgoing telephone calls handled through
the White House switchboard and the nonsecurity signal line of the White House
Communications Agency. The Ford Library does not have logs of calls over the
security line. Almost all log entries are duplicated in the President's Daily
Diary.
PRESIDENTIAL PERSONNEL OFFICE:
Files, 1974-77 (273 feet)
Working files of the White House office which handled administration personnel appointments. Included are files on the search for potential appointees, the screening process used to evaluate candidates and solicit opinions, and the Presidential decision process. The bulk of the collection concerns appointments to positions in Cabinet departments, independent regulatory agencies, the Federal judiciary, and the numerous Federal boards and commissions. Only occasional scattered folders concern appointments to the White House staff.
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS COMMISSION See U.S.
NATIONAL STUDY COMMISSION ON THE RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS OF FEDERAL OFFICIALS
PULLEN,
FRANCES KAYE:
Files, 1974-77 (2 feet)
White House Editorial Office: Associate Editor. First Lady's
Staff: Staff Assistant; Speechwriter.
Pullen drafted speeches and remarks for both President and Mrs. Ford.
This collection comprises background materials, drafts, and "reading copies" from
her work for Mrs. Ford. Pullen's workproducts for President Ford are located
in the Theis-Orben
Files. View digital images of the documents.
QUARTEL, ROBERT:
Papers, 1975-76 (4 feet)
Presidential Clemency Board staff; President Ford Committee Answer Desk Coordinator
This collection consists primarily of materials related to the 1976 Presidential Campaign, mostly letters from the public requesting information on President Ford’s positions on issues, and the responses of the President Ford Committee Answer Desk to those letters. Also included is a series of Presidential Clemency Board reports documenting performance measurement and analyzing the process of deciding cases.
QUERN,
ARTHUR:
Files, 1975-77 (9 feet)
Domestic Council: Associate Director for Health, Social Security,
and Welfare; Deputy Director for Policy and Planning. Deputy Assistant
to the President for Domestic Affairs.
Prominent subjects include food stamp reform, Social Security financing, and
busing for school desegregation; extensive staff and Vice-Presidential input
for the 1976 State of the Union Address; review of FY 1978 domestic program
budgets; and general administration of the Domestic Council staff.
RANDALL, EDWARD
:
Architectural Drawings of Gerald and Betty Ford's Rancho Mirage Home, 1977 (less than one foot)
Building contractor
This collection consists of a complete set of construction drawings for Gerald and Betty Ford’s post-Presidential home in Rancho Mirage, CA..
RAOUL-DUVAL,
MICHAEL:
Files, 1974-77 (20 feet)
Domestic Council: Associate Director for Natural Resources and
Transportation. Assistant Counsellor to the President. White House Intelligence
Coordinating Group: Executive Director. Special Assistant to the President.
Domestic Council files concern energy policy generally, and particularly fossil
fuel production, the 1974 coal strike, auto emissions and strip mining legislation,
and domestic transportation and international aviation policies. Duval was
active in the 1976 primary and general elections. These files reflect a range
of President Ford Committee differences with Reagan Republicans over the party
platform. Duval also assisted John Marsh as the White House responded to congressional
demands for better oversight of the intelligence community, but these files
remain closed.
RAOUL-DUVAL,
MICHAEL:
Papers, 1974-77 (13 feet)
This is a wide-ranging and substantive collection. In domestic policy, it includes
notes from miscellaneous Presidential meetings on energy, natural resources,
transportation, and the space program. In politics, it includes material on
the California Ford-Reagan primary; drafts of a strategy book for the campaign
against Jimmy Carter; negotiation, rehearsal, strategy, and study materials
for the Ford-Carter debates; and meeting notes on campaign concerns. Smaller
segments concern congressional investigations of the intelligence community,
transition plans should Ford win the 1976 election, and the Peterson Commission
on federal executive pay.
REED,
NATHANIEL:
Papers, 1971-76 (one foot)
Department of the Interior: Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife,
and Parks.
Speeches and congressional testimony comprise the collection.
REICHLEY,
A. JAMES:
Files, 1976 (2 feet)
White House Operations Office: Consultant.
Reichley prepared occasional campaign-related strategic analyses and long-range
observations, and public statements, on topics ranging from Eastern Europe
to "Presidential vision." Also included in this qualitatively diverse
collection are drafts of a major Ford policy statement on nuclear proliferation.
REICHLEY,
A. JAMES:
Research interviews, (1967) 1977-81 (1 foot)
Scholar. Former White House Operations Office consultant.
This collection includes over 160 short transcripts of interviews with officials
of the Nixon and Ford administrations, Members of Congress, participants in
the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign and transition, and occasional others. Reichley
made the transcripts from notes taken during the interviews, many of which
he used in Conservatives in an Age of Change: The Nixon and Ford Administrations (1981).
Researchers must secure Mr. Reichley's written permission in order to use direct
quotes from the interviews.
REINHARDT, JOHN E.:
Papers, 1971-81(9 feet)
State Department official.
Documents Reinhardt's work as Director of both the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the United States International Communications Agency (USICA).
RICHARD NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT:
Oral histories
conducted by director Tim Naftali, 2007-09 (34 DVDs)
Unprocessed - closed to research.
ROBERTS,
JOHN W. "Bill":
Papers, 1973-77 (14 feet)
Deputy Press Secretary to Vice President Ford. Press Secretary's
Office: Assistant Press Secretary to the President.
Collection highlights include a taped and transcribed private diary (available in the digital library) from the
Nixon-Ford transition, July-September 1974, and notes from senior staff and
other meetings. A chronological case file of the President's schedule and supporting
material makes the bulk of the collection. In the White House, Roberts handled
daily liaison with radio and television media and still photographers.
ROBSON,
JOHN E.:
Papers, 1970-93 (30 feet)
Government official, including Chairman, Civil Aeronautics Board,
1975-77.
Robson was a vigorous proponent of airline deregulation, and the collection
especially concerns his work to that end. The papers also include an extensive
1981 oral history, as well as miscellaneous materials on Robson's other work
in economic and transportation issues for the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush
administrations. Researchers may wish to contact the Lyndon Johnson Library
for additional Robson papers, which date from his work 1966-68 at the Office
of Management and Budget and as head of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration.
Note: a 1995 accretion to this collection is currently unprocessed and not
available to research.
See "Must I make advance arrangements to see certain "open" collections?"
NOT FULLY DESCRIBED IN PRESNET.
ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION See U.S.
PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON CIA ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES.
ROCKEFELLER, NELSON - FBI VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION INVESTIGATION:
Case File, (1950, 1952, 1969) August 1974 – December 1974 (2 feet)
Press Secretary's Office: Directors of Press Advance.
ROSENBERGER,
ERIC and DOUGLASS BLASER:
Files, 1974-77 (20 feet)
Press Secretary's Office: Directors of Press Advance.
Press advance involved logistical planning and support for media covering the
President's domestic and foreign trips. A small subject file includes useful
folders on the 1976 campaign and advance procedures. Case files for foreign
trips are occasionally substantive. Domestic trip files are routine accumulations
of schedules, airport diagrams, and the like, with rare, modest exceptions, e.g. New
Hampshire , 1976.
ROSS,
NORMAN:
Files, (1972) 1974-75 (6 feet)
Domestic Council: Assistant Director for Natural Resources.
Ross accumulated significant files on Native American issues and the work of
the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on Puerto Rico , plus less extensive files on
miscellaneous agricultural and environmental issues, including oceanic policy
and freshwater resources.
ROTH,
BARRY N.:
Files, 1973-77 (43 feet)
Office of the Counsel to the President: Staff Assistant, Assistant
Counsel, Associate Counsel to the President.
Material concerning his work on legal matters, especially in the areas
of information and access (Freedom of Information, Nixon Papers, declassification,
etc.) and political affairs (Federal Election Commission rulings and
decisions, allocation of trip expenses, etc.). Included are folders
he inherited from Associate Counsel William Casselman, folders turned
over to him by Counsel to the President Philip Buchen, entire series
on political travel and White House Special Files administration that
he took over from other White House staff members, and Executive Protective
Service appointment records concerning visitors to the Ford vice presidential
offices and those of the Rockefeller Commission.
See "Must I make advance arrangements to see certain "open" collections?"
ROWAN, ROY See SEA-LAND
SERVICE, INC.
ROWEN,
HOBART:
Reference materials about Arthur Burns, 1959-82 (one
foot)
Economic affairs journalist, Washington Post.
Includes press release texts of Burns speeches, television interviews, and
congressional testimony; printed materials; notes from discussions and interviews.
ROZELL,
MARK J.:
Research interviews, 1989-90 (less than
one foot)
Political Scientist.
Included are transcripts of interviews with Gerald Ford and Robert Hartmann,
and with Press/Communications Office staff John Carlson, William Greener,
Ron Nessen, J.W. "Bill" Roberts, Larry Speakes, Jerald terHorst,
Louis M. Thompson, Jr., Gerald Warren, and Margita White. Rozell created
the interviews in writing The Press and the Ford Presidency (1992). Citations should
credit Professor Rozell.
RUSH,
KENNETH:
Files, 1974 (less than one foot)
Counsellor to the President for Economic Policy.
This is a fragmentary file on miscellaneous economic matters, August-September
1974.
RUSTAND, WARREN, and WILLIAM NICHOLSON:
Files, (1973) 1974-77 (29 feet)
Scheduling and Advance Office: Directors of Scheduling. Cabinet Secretary.
(Rustand).
This collection contains correspondence, calendars, schedules, schedule proposals, briefing papers, Cabinet meeting minutes, foreign travel requests, and publications compiled or created by Presidential Scheduling office staff that document Scheduling Office operations and the activities of the President, First Family, Vice President, Cabinet, and political appointees.
RYAN,
KATHLEEN:
Files, 1975-76 (less than one foot)
Domestic Council: Assistant Director for General Government;
Assistant Director for Consumer and Cultural Affairs.
This remnant file consists of Ryan's correspondence arranged by date. Consumer
protection proposals are the major topic. Dawn
Bennett-Alexander inherited most of Ryan's files.
SAINT
VINCENT'S COLLEGE (PA) U.S.S. MONTEREY COLLECTION: Collected
items, 1943-44 (1997). (Less than one foot)
Includes ship newsletters edited by Lt. Ford, a photocopy of a combat diary
kept by crew member John Priolette, and related items donated by Mr. Priolette
via Saint Vincent 's College.
SAVAGE,
EDWARD J.:
Files, 1974-75 (3 feet)
Press Secretary's Office: Assistant Press Secretary for Foreign
Affairs.
Savage worked with foreign journalists covering Washington , with U.S. and
foreign embassies on press arrangements related to head of state trips and
visits, and with the National Security Council's press liaison officer. Amid
the press releases and routine correspondence are NSC guidance for answering
anticipated queries, and trip/visit briefing material.
SCHAPSMEIER,
EDWARD L.:
Ford-annotated mss of Gerald R. Ford'sDate With
Destiny (1989) (less than one foot)
Historian and biographer.
At the invitation of the author, Ford made brief occasional annotations to
the draft manuscript.
SCHLEEDE,
GLENN R.:
Files, 1974-77 (28 feet)
Domestic Council: Associate Director for General Government;
Associate Director for Energy and Science.
This is a key collection for legislation and policy affecting the development,
production, and environmental impact of nuclear, fossil, and alternative energy
sources. Topics include the Alaska pipeline, offshore oil, clean air, coal
mining, deregulation of energy pricing, naval petroleum reserves, proliferation
of nuclear power technology, and uranium enrichment. Other significant files
concern the space program, earthquake prediction, and structures for providing
the President with advice on science and technology policy.
SCHLEEDE,
GLENN R.:
Papers, 1973-75 (less than one foot)
Domestic Council: Assistant Director for Natural Resources; Associate
Director for Energy and Science.
The collection consists of weekly briefing papers on current activities, produced
by Domestic Council staff for Nixon presidential adviser Melvin Laird, then
for Vice Presidents Ford and Rockefeller.
SCHMIDT, ALEXANDER M.:
Papers, 1967-90 (48 feet)
National Institutes of Health: Chief, Education and Training Branch, Regional Medical Programs; Food and Drug Administration: Commissioner; Academia
This collection contains materials relating primarily to the administration of food and drug regulatory policy in the United States on such topics as the drug approval process; the introduction of new drugs into the marketplace; over-the-counter drugs and self-medication; new treatments and therapies for cancer, stroke, diabetes, and influenza; food safety; and food additives and additives in veterinary food products.
SCHMULTS,
EDWARD C.:
Files, 1974-77 (16 feet)
Office of the Counsel to the President: Deputy Counsel to the
President. Domestic Council Review Group on Regulatory Reform: cochair.
Included are the files of Schmults and his predecessors, Philip Areeda
and Roderick Hills. They were involved in legal aspects of such varied
issues as antitrust, the Arab boycott of firms dealing with Israel, the
Task Force on Questionable Corporate Payments Abroad, executive privilege
and "legislative
encroachment," sex discrimination by educational institutions, and New
York City finances. Hills and Schmults were deeply involved in wide-ranging
federal deregulation efforts. These included, for example, the trucking and
telecommunications industries and revision of the 1936 Robinson-Patman Act.
SCHMULTS,
EDWARD C.:
Papers, 1973-77 (1978-81) (15 feet)
General Counsel and Undersecretary, Treasury Department;
Deputy Counsel to the President
Materials related to legal determinations and advice given within the Treasury Department and White House on such topics as Watergate, General Revenue Sharing Program, Emergency Loan Guarantee Program, railway improvement, regulatory reform, constitutional or statutory powers of the President, conflict of interest rules, standards of conduct, political restrictions, and a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues involving legal questions.
SCOTT,
STANLEY S.:
Papers, (1969) 1971-77 (20 feet)
Assistant to the White House Director of Communications; White
House Office of Public Liaison: Special Assistant to the President for
Minority Affairs; Agency for International Development: Assistant Administrator
for Africa.
Scott was a leading White House representative to and advocate for African
Americans. The bulk of the collection spans the late Nixon and early Ford administrations
and concerns such topics as the Congressional Black Caucus, the role of African
Americans in the Republican Party and the administration, civil rights, and
equal employment opportunity.
SCOWCROFT, BRENT See NATIONAL
SECURITY ADVISER
SEA-LAND
SERVICE, INC.:
Collected materials re the Mayaguez, 1975 (less
than one foot)
Included are transcripts and audiotapes of interviews with the officers and
crew of the Mayaguez . Sea-Land Service Inc., the crew's employer,
conducted the interviews in the days immediately after recovery of the ship
and crew from the Khmer Rouge. Sea-Land has donated the tapes, and Dartmouth
College Library has provided annotated transcripts and related notes from the
papers of Roy Rowan, who had used the tapes in writing The Four Days of
the Mayaguez.
SEIDMAN,
L. WILLIAM:
Files, 1974-77 (128 feet)
Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs. Economic Policy
Board: Executive Director.
This is a key collection for domestic and international economic policies and
issues. It includes most records of the Economic Policy Board (EPB), an interagency
body chaired by Treasury Secretary William Simon. The EPB was the administration's
primary forum for coordinating economic policy development and oversight. Topics
range from the larger issues of inflation, taxation, energy, and trade, to
such narrower problems as Iranian investment in Pan American Airlines and product
liability. Most file segments are easy to use, but a careful researcher may
also want to gain access to EPB minutes and memorandums through a subject index
in box 19 , and to Seidman's computer-numbered correspondence through a log
in box 213 . Sometimes overlooked are Seidman's political affairs file and
his files on trips to international economic summits, the Middle East, Eastern
Europe, and the U.S.S.R. Seidman's assistant, Roger Porter, described and analyzed
the EPB in Presidential Decision Making: The Economic Policy Board (1980).
See also Seidman's informal memoir of his work for Ford, Reagan, and Bush in Full
Faith and Credit (1993).
SEIDMAN, L. WILLIAM:
Papers, 1974-77 (46 feet)
Unprocessed - closed to research.
SEMERAD,
ROGER:
Papers, 1974-76 (1 foot)
Domestic Council: Staff Assistant for Education, Labor and Veterans
Affairs; Executive Director, President's Advisory Committee on Refugees.
Primarily copies of outgoing correspondence, arranged by date and usually routine.
See also David
Lissy Files.
SHEPARD,
GEOFFREY:
Files, 1974-75 (3 feet)
Domestic Council: Associate Director for General Government.
Shepard primarily handled issues requiring liaison with the Justice Department.
Well-documented subjects include drug abuse, law enforcement, campaign finance
reform, civil rights, and the Vietnam War amnesty program.
SHLAES, JOHN See EVES,
JEFFREY P.
SHISKIN,
JULIUS:
Papers, (1934) 1955-78 (11 feet)
Bureau of the Census: Chief Statistician, 1945-69. Office of
Management and Budget: Chief Statistician, 1969-73. Bureau of Labor
Statistics: Commissioner, 1973-78.
Shiskin was a leader in the development of modern statistical methods for national
economic measurement and forecasting. His books, articles, speeches, and testimony
form the core of this collection.
SHUMAN,
JAMES B.:
Files, 1974-76 (54 feet)
Press Secretary's Office: Editor of the President's Daily News
Summaries; Associate Director of Communications.
Ford's briefing books for press conferences, interviews, and trips are filed
here. They anticipated queries, recommended answers, and offered background;
they were often supplemented by profiles of participants, the event, and the
political context. Ford very rarely annotated them. The collection also includes
news clippings, drafts, and final issues of daily summaries of print and television
news coverage, which Shuman published for about 130 White House staff members.
For the period after July 1976, see the Agnes
Waldron Files for news summaries and the David
Gergen Files for briefing books.
SIMON, WILLIAM E.:
Microfiche of papers, 1972-77 ( 9 feet,
or ca. 4,000 fiche and ca. 1000 pages)
Treasury Department: Deputy Secretary, 1973-74; Secretary, 1974-77.
View the finding aid on
the Lafayette College website. Simon was a major figure in the Ford administration,
and this extensive and substantive collection treats most of the trade, fiscal,
monetary, energy, and economic issues facing the U.S. government at the time.
The law enforcement, customs, presidential protection, and currency and coinage
responsibilities of the Treasury Department are also documented. Simon articulated
his conservative views and offered some recollections in A Time for Truth (1978),
and he completed a thousand-page interview in the process of writing the
book. The interview is available in paper form. The John M. Olin Foundation,
with the support of Mr. Simon, funded this microfilm edition of the original
Simon Papers. For information on the original papers and possible interlibrary
loan of microfiche in modest quantity, contact Special Collections, Skillman
Library, Lafayette College , Easton , Pennsylvania 18042 .
SLIGHT, FREDERIC W.:
Files, (1969-73) 1974-77 (9 feet)
Press Secretary's Office: Staff Assistant; Deputy Special Assistant.
Material prepared or compiled by Slight documenting his work assisting Counsellor to the President Anne Armstrong and in communications office activities. There are extensive materials related to Spanish speaking Americans and White House communications.
SORUM,
PETER H.:
Papers, 1973-77 (6 feet)
Ford Vice Presidential Reception Committee member; Advanceman
for Vice President Ford; Advanceman for First Family.
Primarily briefing, planning, and related materials for events and domestic
and foreign trips of First Family members, especially Mrs. Ford. Also
includes a series related to a reception honoring Ford as vice-president
designate.
STAPLES and CHARLES, LTD.:
Gerald R. Ford Museum exhibit
design records, 1977-82 (11 feet)
Unprocessed - closed to research.
STEEPER, FREDERICK:
Papers, 1983-2006 (41 feet)
Political analyst and survey research expert for presidential and other candidates.
Materials concerning Frederick T. Steeper’s work as a Michigan-based political analyst and career in survey research and analysis for Republican Presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial candidates and campaign organizations. The collection contains materials related to Steeper’s work for the Republican National Committee, George H.W. Bush’s 1992 and 1996 Presidential campaigns, George W. Bush’s 2000 and 2004 Presidential campaigns, and various state campaigns.
STENECK,
NICHOLAS H.:
Research materials for The Microwave Debate (1984). (4
feet)
Historian.
Included are government documents received under the Freedom of Information
Act, articles from science journals, the press, and other sources, and related
material, on the microwave bombardment of the U.S. embassy in Moscow .
STEVER,
H. GUYFORD:
Papers, (1930) 1936-93 (124 feet)
Scientist, university and government administrator, and consultant
to government and industry.
The collection spans Stever's career: a physics student before World War II,
various positions at M.I.T. and with the military 1941-65, president of Carnegie
Institute and Carnegie-Mellon University 1965-72, director of the National
Science Foundation 1972-76, director of the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy 1976-77, and consultant to government and industry.
In the 1980s, Stever was very active with the National Academy of Sciences
while also holding various advisory positions related oceanographic and atmospheric
research, the superconducting super collider, the space shuttle, space policy,
and other topics. Also included is Stever's participation in such professional
bodies as the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Stever's main interests were aviation, guided missiles and space craft, outer
space, engineering, and technology development. He was unusually assiduous
in saving his papers. In consequence, and despite his apparent care in leaving,
as much as practical, "official" records with the agencies and
universities that employed him, Stever's papers include useful material from
all stages of his career.
STILES,
JOHN R. and MERRILL MUELLER:
Files, 1974-76 (9 feet)
Consultants to Counsellor Marsh.
Most of the collection relates to fundraising and construction for a new White
House swimming pool. Stiles and Mueller were coordinators for the project.
There also is material from Stiles's interest in housing issues and the Bicentennial
celebration.
See "Must I make advance arrangements to see certain "open" collections?"
SYERS,
WILLIAM:
Research interviews, 1984-85 (less than
one foot)
Political scientist.
Syers interviewed Ford's associates about his congressional career and his
approach to congressional liaison as President. Included are transcribed interviews
with former congressional colleagues, White House Congressional Relations Office
staff and others: William Baroody Jr., Philip Buchen, Pat Butler, Richard Cheney
(closed), Barber Conable, Glenn Davis, Max Friedersdorf, Charles Goodell, Bryce
Harlow, Robert Hartmann, Joseph Jenckes, William Kendall, Thomas Korologos,
Melvin Laird, Charles Leppert, Thomas Loeffler, Patrick O'Donnell, Roger Porter,
Patrick Rowland, Hugh Scott, and L. William Seidman.
TEETER,
ROBERT:
Papers, 1967-2004 (114 feet)
Survey research analyst; political strategist for
the Republican Party and Republican candidates.
This collection documents Teeter's work as a leader in survey research and
as a key campaign strategist for Republican gubernatorial, senatorial, and
presidential candidates, especially Richard Nixon in 1972, Gerald Ford in 1976,
and George H.W. Bush in 1980, 1988, and 1992. The collection also documents
his work at Market Opinion Research and Coldwater Corporation, including public
opinion surveys conducted for NBC News/The Wall Street Journal, the Council
for Excellence in Government, and the Educational Testing Service. Some portions
of the collection are unprocessed and closed.
See "Must I make advance arrangements to see
certain "open" collections?"
The newly established Gerald R. Ford Scholarship in Memory of Robert Teeter
supports research in late twentieth century political affairs that include
use of the Teeter Papers. For details, see "What
research grants are available?". View digital images of Teeter's 1972 and 1976 presidential campaign memoranda.
TerHORST,
JERALD F.:
Files, 1974 (1 foot)
Press Secretary to the President.
TerHorst, in preparation for his press briefings August 9- September 6, 1974
, gathered such material as schedules, draft announcements, and guidance prepared
by the National Security Council and other staff. Also included is courtesy
correspondence with well-wishers. There is no documentation concerning the
Nixon pardon or terHorst's resignation over it. Some office files from the
period are in the Nessen
Files and the Nessen Papers.
TerHORST, JERALD F.:
Papers, 1957-81 (17 feet)
Washington Bureau Chief, Detroit News.
Press Secretary to the President. Author.
Unprocessed - closed to research.
TERRY, SUE
Letters from Sara Jane Moore, 1977-80 (under one foot)
Editorial representative.
Unprocessed - closed to research.
THEIS,
PAUL, and ROBERT ORBEN:
Files, 1974-77 (41 feet)
Editorial and Speechwriting Staff: Executive Editor (Theis);
Special Assistant to the President (Orben).
Theis and his successor, Orben, were the immediate supervisors of the speechwriters.
Theis also directed the research and messages staffs. Case files with drafts
of many of Ford's speeches and statements make the core of the collection,
but the series is incomplete overall and inconsistent in content. From August
1974 to November 1975, this office sent the bulk of the speech case file material
to White House Central Files, where it can be found in Subject
File category SP3. Researchers should also see the Robert
Hartmann Files and Papers, and the David
Gergen Files. Robert Hartmann's Palace Politics (1980) and
John J. Casserly's The Ford White House: Diary of a Speechwriter (1977)
are useful related memoirs.
THEIS,
PAUL:
Papers, (1949) 1960-75 (1990) (8 linear
feet)
Director of Public Relations, Republican National Congressional
Committee; Executive Editor, White House Editorial and Speechwritng Staff.
Primarily an extensive reference file of 1960s and early 1970s Republican Party
campaign literature, advertising packets, and training materials. There is
a fragmentary file of 1975 Presidential Mail-sample Reports.
TIMMONS,
WILLIAM E.:
Files, (1969) 1974 (9 feet)
Congressional Relations Office: Assistant to the President for
Legislative Affairs.
Timmons was Nixon's head of congressional relations, staying to serve under
Ford, August-December 1974. Miscellaneous legislative issues, personnel appointments,
routine courtesies, scheduling, the 1974 elections, and administration of the
office are central themes of this collection. Timmons's routine social correspondence,
1969-74, is also included.
TRAIN, RUSSELL:
Copy of private journal, 1974-77 (less
than one foot)
Environmental Protection Agency: Administrator.
Unprocessed - closed to research.
TRIMPE, JAMES L.
30-30 Club scrapbook, (1931) 1965-2005 (less than one foot)
High school classmate of Gerald Ford and fellow member of the 30-30 Club.
This scrapbook consists of textual materials and photographs compiled by James L. Trimpe related to the 30-30 Club. The club, which met annually on Thanksgiving Day, consisted of the members of the 1930 All-City championship football team of South High School (Grand Rapids, Michigan). The collection consists of club reports and correspondence, group photographs, and newspaper clippings primarily related to the 1974 team reunion hosted by Gerald Ford at the White House.
UNITED
STATES-CHINA BUSINESS COUNCIL:
Records, 1973-88 (302 feet)
The USCBC is an organization of businesses united to expand commercial relations
with the People's Republic of China . The U.S. government encouraged its formation
in the wake of President Nixon's 1972 visit to China . The USCBC has sponsored
exchanges of trade delegations, facilitated participation in trade fairs, provided
advisory services on Chinese business practices and cultural expectations,
and served as a clearinghouse for information on all aspects of China 's economy
and commercial relations with all nations. Initially named the National Council
for U.S.-China Trade, the USCBC changed its name to reflect its growing involvement
in investment, joint ventures, and other aspects of commercial relations. Only
1973-82 records are open.
NOT FULLY DESCRIBED IN PRESNET.
U.S.
AD HOC ADVISORY GROUP ON PUERTO RICO:
Records, 1973-75 (3 feet)
Federal records: part of National Archives Record Group 220.
The Group, created jointly by President Nixon and Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico Governor Hernandez Colon, explored ways to expand self-government
and self-determination within the framework of Commonwealth.
U.S.
COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS:
Records, (1969) 1974-77 (70 feet)
Federal records: part of National Archives Record Group 459.
The CEA under chairman Alan Greenspan was an important player in Ford administration
economic policy making. The CEA provided economic analysis and advice to Ford
on such issues as agricultural and food policy; housing construction; environmental
and energy policies; supplies of strategic materials; exploitation of sea resources;
management of timber resources; transportation problems and policies; functioning
of the labor market and problems of the unemployed; proposals for health insurance
and income maintenance; and needed improvement in the government's economic
statistics. There is an unprocessed accretion.
The papers of two earlier CEA members and chairmen, Gardner Ackley (1962-68)
and Paul McCracken (1956-59 and 1969-71), are available to research at
the Bentley Historical Library, which neighbors the Ford Library.
U.S.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT:
News articles, 1974-77 (15 feet)
Part of the Gerald Ford Papers.
White House copies of several Defense Department periodicals that reprinted
or summarized defense-related articles. Titles include Current News, Radio-TV
Dialog, Equal Opportunity-Current News, and Friday Review
of Defense Literature.
U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. HISTORICAL OFFICE:
Public Statements of Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, 2001-06 (5 feet)
Bound copies of the transcripts of Secretary Rumsfeld’s remarks, testimony, press briefings, press conferences, and media interviews concerning his work as Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration and various national security issues.
U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION:
Special agent application case file of Gerald R. Ford,
Jr., 1941-42 (1974-76) (less than one foot)
Federal records: part of National Archives Record Group 65.
Included is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's background investigation of Gerald Ford, who had applied to be a special agent in
June 1941.
U.S.DEPARTMENT OF STATE. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF PROTOCOL. CEREMONIALS DIVISION:
Gerald R. Ford Condolence Books, 2006-07
Federal records: part of National Archives Record Group 59.
Condolence books from the U.S. Department of State and its various diplomatic missions around the world commemorating the death of former President Gerald R. Ford.
U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY. MILITARY DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON. DIRECTORATE OF
CEREMONIES AND SPECIAL EVENTS:
Photocopies of selected records re President Kennedy, 1963-65 (2
feet)
Duplicates of Federal records in National Archives Record Group 338.
Included are photocopies of files on the transport of President Kennedy's body
from Dallas to Bethesda Naval Hospital , his funeral and interment, and administration
of the gravesite. The originals are at the National Archives.
U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY. OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE:
Investigatory records on Gerald Ford, applicant for a commission,
1941-42 (1975) (less than one foot)
Federal records: part of National Archives Record Group 289. Included is the Office of Naval Intelligence's background investigation of
Gerald Ford, who had applied for a commission in the intelligence branch of
the Naval Reserve in December 1941. Mr. Ford waived his privacy rights to permit
this file's release. View a digital copy of the file.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY. OFFICE OF NAVAL PERSONNEL:
Microfiche of Gerald Ford's military service records, 1942-
Copy of federal records part of National Archives Record Group 24.
Unprocessed - closed to research.
U.S.
ENERGY RESOURCES COUNCIL: Records, 1974-76 (2 feet)
Part of the Gerald Ford Papers.
The Energy Resources Council was a high-level interagency body that coordinated
policy pending creation of a Department of Energy. Included are background
papers, records of action, and other material from ERC executive committee
meetings. Topics span production, conservation, and importation of various
energy forms.
U.S.
MARINE CORPS. HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISION:
Copies of oral histories on the Mayaguez action and related Marine
unit operational records, 1965-77 (2 feet)
(Non-record copies given by Marine Corps)
Compact disks of oral histories (audio files only) with Marines
who participated in the Mayaguez action.
Also includes compact disks containing Marine unit operational records
participating in the Mayaguez action. Some
of these units also participated in the evacuations of Phnom Penh and Saigon,
as well as other actions dating to 1965. As an additional convenience to researchers,
the operational records dated from the Ford presidency have been printed to
paper.
U.S.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION. HISTORICAL OFFICE:
Oral histories and publications, 1972-93
(less than one foot)
Copies of material concerning the early Space Shuttle program, including NASA
publications, near-print items, and oral histories with John Erlichman, James
Fletcher, Don Rice, H. Guyford Stever, and Caspar Weinberger.
U.S.
NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY:
Photocopies of Radio messages from the helicopter evacuation of U.S. Embassy,
Saigon, 29-30 April 1975 (less than one foot)
The NSA recorded the radio transmissions of helicopter pilots as they flew
to and from the US Embassy on the last day of the evacuation. These photocopies of transcripts were given to the Ford Library by the NSA during the 25th anniversary of the embassy evacuation.
U.S.
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL:
Institutional/historical records, 1974-77 (47
feet)
Ford-era files retained by the NSC until the end of the Clinton administration
for continuity of government. Much of the material relates to the preparation
of National Security Decision Memoranda and National
Security Study Memoranda; briefing papers and minutes from NSC committee,
working group, and panel meetings; and the history, organization, and administration
of the NSC itself.
U.S.
NATIONAL STUDY COMMISSION ON THE RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS OF FEDERAL OFFICIALS:
Selected duplicate records, 1974-77 (8 feet)
Extra copies from commission records in National Archives Record Group 220.
The Public Documents Commission, as it was popularly known, studied and recommended
action on the control, disposition, and preservation of documents produced
by federal officials, particularly the President. Transcripts of public hearings,
commissioned studies and reports, and print material compose the bulk of the
collection.
U.S.
PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON CIA ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES (Rockefeller
Commission):
Files, (1947-74) 1975 (41 feet)
Part of the Gerald Ford Papers.
In 1975, the Rockefeller Commission investigated the CIA for alleged illegal
domestic activities, including plans to assassinate foreign leaders and possible
involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy. In compliance with the
President Kennedy Assassination Records Act of 1992, Ford Library staff have
searched for all files in this collection that relate to the assassination
of President Kennedy or to the anti-Castro activities that some people allege
are connected to the assassination. The Assassination Records Review Board
then coordinated the release, redaction and partial release, or continued restriction
of these items. The results of this work are open to research.
Most of this collection, however, relates to neither the Kennedy assassination
nor anti-Castro operations. These other materials remain unprocessed and restricted.
NOT FULLY DESCRIBED IN PRESNET.
U.S.
PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON OLYMPIC SPORTS:
Records, 1975-76 (45 feet)
Federal records: part of National Archives Record Group 220.
Ford created the commission in response to continuing conflicts among U.S.
amateur sports organizations and declining performance by the U.S. in the Olympic
Games and other international competitions. There are extensive files on individual
sports and related organizations, especially the Amateur Athletic Union, the
National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the United States Olympic Committees.
NOT FULLY DESCRIBED IN PRESNET.
U.S. SECRET SERVICE. EXECUTIVE PROTECTIVE SERVICE:
Files, 1974-77 (124
feet)
This collection contains records created by the Executive Protective Service in the performance of their duties of securing the White House and Old Executive Office Building facilities and grounds, and protection of the President and the First Family. The records document the visitors to the Oval Office, President’s Private Study, and Cabinet Room, and the movement and activities of the President and the First Family at the White House. The bulk of this collection consists of group lists and individual appointment cards of visitors.
UNIVERSITY
OF MICHIGAN. LAW SCHOOL:
Student case file of Gerald Ford, 1937 (1974). (Less
than one foot)
Application, transcript, and other items regarding Ford's enrollment in the
1937 summer term. A digital copy of the case file is available online.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN .
OFFICE OF VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS. GERALD FORD
LIBRARY AND MUSEUM FUND:
Records, 1977-87 (16 feet)
Unprocessed - closed to research.
URSOMARSO, FRANK:
Papers, 1973-2006, Bulk 1974-77 (11 feet)
Scheduling and Advance Office: Advanceman for President Ford.
This collection contains material concerning the operation of the White House Advance Office during the administration of President Gerald R. Ford and planning for foreign and domestic trips for President Ford and the First Family. It also includes material related a few vice presidential and post presidential trips, and Gerald Ford's state funeral.
VALIS,
WAYNE H.:
Files, 1973-77 (7 feet)
Public Liaison Office: Director of Planning and Research.
Valis was general assistant to Melvin Laird in 1973 and then to William Baroody,
Public Liaison head. The qualitatively and topically diverse files concern
personnel, consumer protection, and matters ranging from a 4-H Club briefing
to an encounter with a Soviet Embassy official. There is little on planning
and research despite Valis's title.
VAN
ATTA, DALE:
Papers, 1968-78 (6 feet)
Journalist
Chronologically-arranged photocopies of selected Central Intelligence Agency Staff Notes, Weekly Reviews, and issues of the National Intelligence Daily and National Intelligence Bulletin; Department of State INR morning summaries, memos and memoranda of conversations; and Defense Intelligence Agency documents regarding intelligence issues and findings. Also included are National Security Council documents as well as an almost complete collection of National Security Decision Memoranda from 1969 to 1976. The documents cover an extensive range of foreign policy and national security topics and provide analyses of numerous foreign political situations. The documents were acquired by Dale Van Atta while covering those issues during his career as a journalist.
VANDER
TILL, GORDON:
Papers, (1959-60) 1968-76 (1 foot)
Director of Representative Ford's Grand Rapids office.
The main topics are a movement to make Ford the running mate of Richard Nixon
in 1960, and Ford's 1970 and 1972 congressional campaigns. Material on the
Reverend Billy Zeoli and Ford's book Portrait of the Assassin are
among miscellaneous other items.
VICKERMAN,
JOHN C.:
Files, 1974-77 (15 feet)
Public Liaison Office: Director for Business and Trade Associations.
Vickerman organized meetings and briefings for the benefit of such groups as
the American Retail Federation and the Business Council.
VISSER,
ROBERT P.:
Papers, 1972-78 (8 feet)
General Counsel, President Ford Committee
Major 1976 campaign topics include ballot security, delegate selection
and other convention rules, state and federal election laws, Federal Election
Commission, campaign finance rules, insurance, volunteers, candidate travel
costs, and the campaign organization's incorporation and liquidation.
WAGNER,
BRUCE S.:
Papers, 1975-76 (2 feet)
President Ford Committee: executive vice president
and chief operating officer, Campaign '76 Media Communications, Inc.
Wagner headed the advertising operation of the Ford campaign throughout the
primary elections in spring 1976. Memos and other files from this work comprise
the collection.
WALDRON,
AGNES M.:
Files, 1976-77 (8 feet)
Communications Office: Director of Research; Editor, President's
Daily News Summaries.
From August 1976-January 1977, Waldron published News and Comment for
White House staff members. It was a daily news summary of articles, editorials,
and political cartoons from the national print and television press. See the James
Shuman Files for earlier issues. Waldron also accumulated a small research
file on 1976 campaign issues, coverage, and Ford opponents.
WALKER, WILLIAM:
Papers, 1974-75 (3 feet)
White House Presidential Personnel Office: Director
Unprocessed - closed to research.
WARREN,
GERALD:
Papers, 1974-75 (1984) (One foot)
Press Secretary's Office: Deputy Press Secretary and Communications
Office Director
A reference file primarily of newspaper and magazine articles, interview and
press conference transcripts, speech texts, and press releases regarding Ford's
presidency and Nixon's early post-presidency.
WARREN,
GERALD L. and MARGITA WHITE:
Files, 1974-76 (14 feet)
Press Secretary's Office: Deputy Press Secretary (Warren); Assistant
Press Secretary (White); Directors of Communications.
Warren and his successor, White, provided information for the out-of-town press,
helped organize special events for media groups (e.g., a Booth Newspapers
breakfast meeting), and mobilized agency public affairs officers on behalf
of administration goals. The files suggest a restrained Communications Office
approach in the wake of Watergate. John Anthony Maltese's Spin Control:
The White House Office of Communications and the Management of Presidential
News (1992) contains a history of the office.
WATKINS,
BIRGE:
Files, 1974-77 (3 feet)
Office of Presidential Assistant for Economic Affairs: Staff
Assistant.
Routine courtesy correspondence drafted for L. William Seidman's signature,
Seidman schedules, reference files of press releases and similar nearprint material on consumer
protection and youth employment, and office procedure items, typify the collection.
WAYNE, STEPHEN See HYDE,
JAMES F. C., Jr.
WEIDENFELD,
SHEILA:
Files, (1924) 1974-77 (26 feet)
First Lady's Staff: Press Secretary.
This collection includes extensive files on Mrs. Ford's background, views on
public issues, daily activities, press coverage, and domestic and foreign travels.
Also, there are files on the Ford children, a newsclips file on Mrs. Ford dating
to 1924, and Weidenfeld's notes from research and advice-seeking meetings prior
to assuming her post. Because the East Wing press corps also covered social
events, there are files on arrival ceremonies and state dinners for visiting
dignitaries. Weidenfeld recounted her experiences in First Lady's Lady (1979).
WEIDENFELD,
SHEILA:
Papers, 1973-2009 (18 feet)
This collection mostly documents Weidenfeld's tenure as the Press Secretary to First Lady Betty Ford, Mrs. Ford's activities, press operations, Weidenfeld's personal correspondence, and materials related to the writing of Weidenfeld’s book, First Lady’s Lady. This collection is temporarily closed under the terms of the donor's deed of gift.
WETZEL, ROY:
Papers, 1945-2011 (47 feet)
Broadcast Journalist; NBC News Executive.
Supporting materials collected by Roy Wetzel while making audio and video recordings of presidential national conventions, elections, and other political events. Also documents Wetzel’s activities as an NBC News executive and leader and innovator in the field of news media and political analysis.
WHEAT,
I. DAVID, JR.:
Files, 1974-75 (1 foot)
Staff Assistant to Anne Armstrong, Counsellor to the President;
Staff Assistant to L. William Seidman, Assistant to the President for
Economic Affairs.
This fragmentary file of modest value includes material on the Economic Policy
Board, the Legacy of Parks Program, and the Rome World Food Conference.
WHITE,
MARGITA:
Papers, 1975-76 (2 feet)
Press Secretary's Office: Assistant Press Secretary. Communications
Office: Director.
Included are notes from White House senior staff meetings, June 1975 - July
1976, a small subject file, and chronological correspondence and memorandums
files. See also the Warren-White
Files for more material on the activities of White and her predecessor
in the Communications Office, Gerald Warren.
WHITE HOUSE ACCOUNTS, PURCHASES AND PAYROLL
OFFICE:
Travel expense files, 1974-76 (2 feet)
Unprocessed - closed to research.
WHITE
HOUSE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE:
Files, 1974-76 (14 feet)
Open to research is an initial accession of materials, mostly printed, relating
to White House Office budgets and appropriation hearings for fiscal years 1975-77.
Later accessions are unprocessed.
WHITE HOUSE
CENTRAL FILES, 1974-77 (2,730 feet)
The White House Central Files (WHCF) was a filing and retrieval system shared
by President Ford and his staff. It includes many of their communications
with each other, federal agencies, Members of Congress, and individuals
and institutions across the spectrum of American public and private life.
Some routine foreign government correspondence is included as well.
WHITE
HOUSE CENTRAL FILES, OFFICE OF THE:
Files, 1974-77 (less than one foot)
Included are a set of signed statements by departing White House staff on the
disposition of their files; records of changes to the Central Files filing
manual; and name stamps for senior staff.
WHITE HOUSE CHIEF EXECUTIVE CLERK'S OFFICE:
Files, 1974-76 (6 feet)
Unprocessed - closed to research.
WHITE
HOUSE CONGRESSIONAL MAIL FILES, 1974-77 (38 feet)
Included are detailed logs and abstracts of letters from each Senator and Representative,
arranged by both name and date. In addition, there are logs and copies of letters
from the White House to Members, arranged by both date and name. There are
miscellaneous other materials as well.
See "Must I make advance arrangements to see certain "open" collections?"
WHITE
HOUSE GIFT UNIT:
Files, 1974-77 (13 feet)
The files concern the disposition of gifts received by members of the First
Family from foreign and domestic donors. Included are a head of state gift
exchange register, declarations of receipt, gift lists, card catalogs, acknowledgements,
packing lists, and more.
NOT FULLY DESCRIBED IN PRESNET.
WHITE HOUSE MAIL ROOM:
Gift control cards, 1974-77 (2 feet)
This collection has been transferred to the Ford Museum .
WHITE
HOUSE MILITARY AIDE'S OFFICE:
Flight manifests and other files, 1973-77 (less
than one foot)
Included are passenger lists for jet and helicopter flights made by President
Ford or the First Family, and a 1973-75 invitations file for military aide
Richard Lawson.
WHITE HOUSE PERSONNEL OFFICE
See PRESIDENTIAL PERSONNEL OFFICE
WHITE
HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHIC OFFICE:
Files, 1974-76 (2 feet)
Routine requests for photographs and related services are the bulk, with scattered
items on management of the office. The photographs taken by the staff of this office are described with other audiovisual collections.
WHITE
HOUSE PRESS RELEASE UNIT:
Key phrase and word index to Presidential statements, 1974-77 (31
feet)
White House volunteers created this detailed card index to press releases of
Ford's speeches, announcements, interviews, statements, press conferences,
and messages. Over 200,000 entries give keyword or phrase, the context phrase,
and full text citation. In addition to country, personal name, or place entries,
there are entries for phrases, e.g. "legal order occurs only
through...", and entries for topics, e.g. "Women in Government" or "Mutual
and Balanced Force Reduction." Entries are not accessible via the
PRESNET database.
WHITE
HOUSE PRESS RELEASES AND POOL REPORTS, 1974-77 (23 feet)
This is an apparently complete set, arranged by date. It includes press pool
reports. The Library is currently scanning all of the press releases. View digital images of the documents.
WHITE
HOUSE RECORDS OFFICE:
Legislation case files, 1974-77 (28
feet)
When Congress passed a bill, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) usually
collected analyses and comments from the federal agencies most concerned. OMB
summarized, commented on, and forwarded this material to the White House, where
selected staff members added comments and, sometimes, drafts of Presidential
statements. The case file went to the President before he made his final veto
or sign decision. The materials tend to be analytic and legalistic, with political
concerns muted, and there are no case files for some bills. There is an unprocessed accretion. View digital images of the documents.
WHITE
HOUSE SENIOR STAFF MEETING NOTES, 1974-76. (2 feet)
White House senior staff met about three times weekly, usually for 30 minutes
and without the President, but they apparently created no systematic records
of their meetings. Various attendees, however, sometimes made informal notes
that can be found in their respective collections. In 1993, archivists searched
open collections, found items on over 325 senior staff meetings, reproduced
them, and compiled this set arranged by meeting date. The items vary greatly
in research value and legibility. This set of reproductions is not subject-indexed
in PRESNET, but most of the scattered originals were previously indexed.
WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL OFFICE CENTRAL FILES, 1974-1977 (337 feet)
This filing system was shared by the White House East Wing staff, who assisted Mrs. Ford and the Ford children in their public activities. It includes a Subject File, Name File, Chronological File, and Bulk Mail File that are comparable to the separate system used by the President and his staff in the West Wing. Also included are the East Wing Staff Files and the Ford Children Files. Correspondence with the general public comprise most, but not all, of the material. The material concerns views on public issues, expressions of support or criticism, holiday greetings, invitations, schedule requests, and plans, assistance requests and offers, and other matters.
See "Must I make advance arrangements to see certain "open" collections?"
NOT FULLY DESCRIBED IN PRESNET.
WHITE
HOUSE SPECIAL FILES UNIT:
Presidential files, 1974-77 (5 feet)
The Ford Special Files Unit was a remnant of the office that administered sensitive
Presidential papers for Richard Nixon. Nonetheless, there are small but often
significant files on Ford-Carter debate preparations, busing, Indochina refugees,
aid to New York City, a nuclear policy review, Panama Canal negotiations, Puerto
Rico, science and technology advice, Secret Service protection, federal executive
salaries, the Republican legislative agenda, and Ford's federal budget review
decisions. There is also material on the Special Files Unit itself. View digital images of the documents.
WHITE
HOUSE TELEGRAPH AND TRAVEL SECTION:
Telegrams sent and received, 1974-77 (2
feet)
The telegraph staff created three copies of routine telegrams sent and, especially,
received. Incoming telegrams from the general public comprised the overwhelming
majority. One copy went to the White House Central Files staff, and a second
copy went to the White House sender/recipient. The telegraph staff kept the
third set, in chronological order. This is a two percent sample from the third
set, since destroyed.
WHITE HOUSE TELEPHONE OFFICE:
Logs, ticket stubs, and contact lists, 1974-77 32 feet)
Unprocessed - closed to research.
WHITE
HOUSE USHER'S OFFICE:
Files, 1974-77 (3 feet)
This collection includes materials pertaining to staff appointments, events, swimming pool construction, Christmas preparations, budgets and expenditures, and construction of a warehouse for storage of furnishings. Also included in the collection is material related to the production of a film on the history of the White House.
WHYTE,
WILLIAM:
Scrapbook, 1974-75 (less than one foot)
Personal friend of Gerald Ford. U.S. Steel Corporation executive.
These newspaper and magazine articles concern Whyte's friendship with Gerald
Ford and his role as an unofficial adviser.
WILDEROTTER, JAMES A.:
Files, 1975-77 (8 feet)
Office of the Counsel to the President: Associate Counsel to the
President.
Unprocessed - closed to research.
WILSON,
JAMES M.:
Papers (1952), 1964-77 (2 feet)
State Department official.
In 1972, Wilson was detailed to the White House as U.S. Deputy Representative
for Micronesian Status Negotiations. In 1975 he took the new post of State
Department Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, handling human rights and
refugees issues. The collection has substantive material from both posts. Wilson
served as U.S. Minister in Thailand and the Philippines , 1964-70, and as
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific, 1970-72. Miscellaneous
material from these posts is also included.
WIMER, DAVID See PRESIDENTIAL PERSONNEL OFFICE
WOLTHUIS,
ROBERT K.:
Files, 1974-77 (2 feet)
Congressional Relations Office: Special Assistant to the President.
Wolthuis was the immediate deputy to Max
Friedersdorf, the office head. This small but valuable collection is
most notable for minutes of several Presidential meetings with Republican
and bipartisan congressional leadership, September 1975-June 1976, on domestic,
foreign, and political affairs.
ZARB,
FRANK:
Papers, 1974-78 (5 feet)
Federal Energy Administration: Administrator. Energy Resources
Council: Executive Director.
Memorandums to Ford and a limited subject file concern the production, importation,
and conservation of energy resources. View digital images of the documents.
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