PRESIDENT FORD COMMITTEE RECORDS
Vice Presidential Campaign Office
The PFC Vice Presidential Campaign
Office formed immediately following the selection of Senator Robert Dole as
Ford's running mate at the Republican National Convention in August, 1976. Only three weeks into the campaign, Dole
initiated a complete staff shake-down, complaining of hectic, uncoordinated and
nonstrategic scheduling. The Senator
replaced his young and inexperienced staff with aides recruited from White
House, PFC, Rockefeller and Reagan staffs.
Thereafter, David C. Owen led the Office with the sporadically realized
goal of close coordination with top PFC and White House officials. Included in the staff were Lyn Nofziger as
political advisor, Richard E. Mastrangelo as deputy director, Larry Speakes as
press secretary, Larry Eastland as operations director and Rockefeller's
advance man Gerry Watters as director of the advance team. Timothy Austin served as director of
scheduling, with former White House aide, John Sawyer as his deputy director.
The Vice Presidential Campaign
Office collection is primarily a reference file. It consists almost entirely of several small,
routine, and likely incomplete, files, the bulk of which is contained in a
large background book. Material of
interest to researchers are selected Dole speech and interview transcripts, the
Senator's voting record, and position papers on various campaign topics. The collection is otherwise lacking in
substantial research material. Virtually
no original material is present, and no staff files for individuals mentioned
above are included.
Related
Material:
Small amounts of related PFC
material are found in the General Counsel's Political File, the Research
Office's Desk Subject File, and in the unprocessed files of the Chairman's
Office. Additionally, related material is found in White House Central Files
codes for Political Affairs/Dole (PL/Dole) and Political Affairs/Debates of
Political Candidates (PL/7), and selected folders from the staff files of
William Nicholson, David Gergen, Robert Hartmann, and the papers of Ron Nessen
and Michael Raoul-Duval. Folders exist
for most staff members in White House Central Files Name File.
K1-K5 Vice Presidential Campaign Office, 1976. (2 linear feet)
Correspondence, speeches, transcripts,
background and position papers, schedules, press kits, and lists. Included are the transcripts of selected Dole
speeches and T.V. interviews, campaign schedules for the nominee's wife,
airplane manifests from campaign trips, and position papers on numerous
legislative and campaign topics. Also
included is a detailed comparison of Senator Dole's voting record and that of
Senator Walter Mondale, the Democratic vice presidential nominee and routine
constituent campaign correspondence.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
K1 Vice Presidential Campaign Office: Subject
File
Airplane
Manifests ‑ Dole Charter
Background Book ‑
Carter and Blacks
Background Book ‑
Dole/Mondale Vote by Vote Comparison (1)-(4)
Background Book ‑
Dole/Mondale Voting Record by Committee (1)-(5)
Background Book ‑
Dole/Mondale Voting Record by Subject (1)
Background Book ‑
Dole/Mondale Voting Record by Subject (2)-(13)
K3 Vice Presidential Campaign Office: Subject
File
Background Book ‑
Dole/Mondale Voting Record by Subject (14)-(18)
Correspondence A
‑ G
K4 Vice Presidential Campaign Office: Subject
File
Correspondence H
‑ V
K5 Vice Presidential Campaign Office: Subject
File
Correspondence W
‑ Z
Press Kits ‑
President Ford & Senator Dole
Schedules ‑
Mrs. Dole
Speeches
‑ Senator Dole (1)-(6)