Carlson, John

Office of the Press Secretary

JOHN G. CARLSON

Assistant Press Secretary for Domestic Affairs;

Deputy Press Secretary to the President:

Files, 1972‑77

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Files concerning various domestic and a few foreign policy issues, the 1976 campaign, the operation of the press office, and domestic and foreign press guidance. Includes Carlson's minutes of Cabinet meetings and presidential meetings with congressional leaders and others.

QUANTITY

4.2 linear feet (ca. 8,400 pages)

DONOR

Gerald R. Ford (accession number 77-90)

ACCESS

Open. Some items are temporarily restricted under terms of the donor's deed of gift, a copy of which is available on request, or under National Archives and Records Administration general restrictions (36 CFR 1256).

COPYRIGHT

Gerald R. Ford has donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain.

Prepared by Helmi Raaska, December 1985

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

John G. Carlson

October 23, 1940 Born, Tacoma, Washington

1963 B.A., Washington State University

1963‑65 Infantry officer, United States Army

1966 M.B.A., University of Washington

1966‑68 Personnel, public relations and industrial relations, Scott Paper Company

1969‑1972 Assistant to the Chairman of the Board, Hamilton International Corporation

1972‑74 White House Press Office staff

1974‑75 Assistant Press Secretary for Domestic Affairs

Jan. 1976-Jan. 1977 Deputy Press Secretary to the President

INTRODUCTION

John Carlson served in the White House Press Office during the last two years of the Nixon administration and then was carried over by the Ford administration as assistant press secretary for domestic affairs. In this post his major responsibilities were preparing Press Secretary Ron Nessen for his daily press briefings and answering press queries on domestic matters. Additional responsibilities included attending domestic policy meetings held by the president when the press secretary was unable to do so; serving as press office liaison with all domestic departments, agencies, the Domestic Council, and the Office of Management and Budget; assuming the office of deputy press secretary during the president's international trips; and accompanying the press on the president's domestic trips. On January 5, 1976 he was promoted to deputy press secretary to the president.

Carlson's files include material from the Nixon administration and consist of meeting minutes, correspondence, memoranda, press releases, briefing papers, clippings, printed material, resumes, and press guidance for domestic and foreign issues. While much of the subject file consists of routine papers, Carlson's handwritten minutes of meetings he attended during the Ford administration are of special value. Minutes from Cabinet and congressional leadership meetings touch on topics such as the economy, budget, welfare reform, defense, Federal Election Commission, and 1976 presidential campaign. In addition to these minutes, meeting notes are also included in folders relating to the defense budget for FY 1977, Federal Election Commission, Ford presidential campaign, grain and oil trade agreements with the Soviet Union, New York City financial crisis, Presidential Panel on Federal Compensation, and revenue sharing extension.

Related Materials (December 1985):

Related materials can be found in the files of press office colleagues and the Ron Nessen papers.

Series Descriptions

1‑7 Subject File, 1972‑76. (2.8 linear feet)

Carlson's minutes of Cabinet meetings and presidential meetings with congressional leaders and others, correspondence, memoranda, press releases, briefing papers, clippings, resumes of job applicants, and printed material relating to various domestic policy issues and the operation of the press office.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

8‑10 Domestic Press Guidance, 1974‑76. (1.0 linear feet)

Question and answer sheets which gave guidance in answering press inquiries on domestic issues. Separate files on economic indicators such as the consumer price index are located at the end of the series.

Arranged chronologically into six month periods and thereunder alphabetically by topic.

10‑11 Foreign Press Guidance, 1976. (0.3 linear feet)

Question and answer sheets which gave guidance in answering press inquiries on foreign policy issues.

Arranged chronologically into six month periods and thereunder alphabetically by topic.

11 Memoranda, 1975‑77. (0.1 linear feet)

White House memoranda relating to the operation of the press office and routine administrative matters such as requests for staff, assignment of parking spaces, and mess privileges.

Arranged chronologically.

Container List

Box 1 Subject File

Abortion

Agricultural Policy

Aliens, Illegal

B‑1 Bomber

Budget Briefings for FY 1977 (1)-(2)

Budget for FY 1977 ‑ Defense

Busing

Cabinet Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/01/07

Cabinet Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/02/19

Cabinet Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/04/14

Cabinet Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/06/29

Cabinet Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/07/20

Cabinet Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/09/28

Cabinet Meetings ‑ General

Cancer

Carlson, John G.

Concorde

Congress (1)-(2)

Box 2 Subject File

Congress (3)

Congressional Meeting Minutes ‑ 1975/11/11

Congressional Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/03/03

Congressional Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/03/23

Congressional Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/03/24

Congressional Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/04/27

Congressional Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/08/31

Congressional Meeting Minutes ‑ 1976/09/02

Conrail

Disasters

District of Columbia

Employment ‑ Executive Office of the President

Energy Independence Authority

Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries (1)-(2)

Box 3 Subject File

Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries (3)

Federal Election Commission

Ford, Gerald ‑ Campaign

Ford, Gerald ‑ Financial Statement

Ford, Gerald ‑ Meetings with State and Local Government Officials

Grain and Oil Trade Agreements with the Soviet Union (1)-(2)

Grain Sale to the Soviet Union ‑ October 1974

Hunt Commission (1)-(2)

Impoundment

Indians (1)

Box 4 Subject File

Indians (2)

Insurance ‑ No‑Fault Auto

Kent State University Shooting

Meat Controls

National Commission on Obscenity and Pornography

National Science Foundation

New York City Financial Crisis (1)-(3)

President ‑ Health

President's Commission on Olympic Sports (1)‑(2)

Box 5 Subject File

President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

President's Panel on Federal Compensation

Refugees ‑ Indochinese (1)-(2)

Regulatory Reform (1)-(2)

Resumes ‑ 1974‑75, A‑Z (1)‑(3)

Resumes ‑ 1976, A‑E

Box 6 Subject File

Resumes ‑ 1976, Advance People

Resumes ‑ 1976, F‑Z (1)‑(2)

Revenue Sharing (1)-(2)

Revenue Sharing Extension

School Prayer

Science and Technology, Federal Council for

Science and Technology Policy, Proposed Office of

Spanish Speaking Community

State of the Union ‑ 1975

Strip Mining

Box 7 Subject File

Transition Legislation, 1974

Trips (1)-(2)

Vetoes (1)-(4)

Wheat ‑ Importation of

White House Fellows

Box 8 Domestic Press Guidance

1974, A‑Z (1)‑(5)

January‑June 1975, A‑Z (1)‑(4)

July‑December 1975, A‑N (1)‑(2)

Box 9 Domestic Press Guidance

July‑December 1975, O‑Z

January‑June 1976, A‑Z (1)‑(4)

July‑December 1976, A‑Z (1)‑(4)

Box 10 Domestic Press Guidance

Economic Indicators ‑ Consumer Price Index

Economic Indicators ‑ Employment

Economic Indicators ‑ GNP

Economic Indicators ‑ Housing Starts

Economic Indicators ‑ Wholesale Price Index

Foreign Press Guidance

January‑June 1976, A‑Z (1)‑(6)

July‑December 1976, A‑E

Box 11 Foreign Press Guidance

July‑December 1976, F‑Z (1)‑(3)

Memoranda

December 1975 ‑ January 1977 (1)-(3)

List of Items Removed to Book Collection

Gerald R. Ford Library

1000 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2114