SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Falk handled White House liaison with U.S. territorial, state and local government officials and their organizations and lobbies. Renewal of the general revenue sharing program and the economic impact of military base closings are typical and prominent concerns.

QUANTITY
14 linear feet (ca. 28,000 pages)

DONOR
Gerald R. Ford (accession number 77-107)

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Gerald Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 Leesa Erickson Tobin, April 1982
[s:\bin\findaid\falk, james - files.doc]

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

James H. Falk

1938 - Born in Tucson, Arizona

1960 - Received B.S. degree from the University of Arizona

1965 - Received LL.B degree from the University of Arizona

1961-62 - Credit reporter, Dun & Bradstreet, Tucson, Arizona

1965-66 - Attorney, El Paso Natural Gas Co., El Paso, Texas

1966-67 - Assistant City Attorney, Tucson, Arizona

1967-68 - Attorney, Anaconda Co., Sahuarita, Arizona

1968-69 - Attorney, Johnson, Darrow, Hayes and Marales, Tucson, Arizona

1969-71 - Attorney, Waterfall, Economidis, Falk and Caldwell, Tucson, Arizona

1971-73 - Staff assistant, Domestic Council

1973-75 - Associate director, Domestic Council

1976-78 - Member, Touche Ross & Co., Washington, D.C.

INTRODUCTION

James H. Falk joined the Domestic Council staff in March 1971 as a staff assistant to Edward Morgan, Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs. Falk was promoted to Associate Director in 1973 and assumed responsibility for activities associated with intergovernmental affairs, reporting directly to the director of the Domestic Council. He remained in this position until leaving the White House staff in December 1975 to accept a job with Touche Ross & Co., an accounting firm in Washington, D.C.

Falk's primary responsibilities included maintaining White House liaison with governors, mayors, state legislators, officials of counties and other local governments; and with organizations of state, local and intergovernmental officials. These organizations included the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, Council of State Governments, International City Management Association, National Association of Counties, National Association of Regional Councils, National Governors Conference, National League of Cities, National Legislative Conference, Republican Governors Association, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

As intergovernmental liaison, Falk had a busy schedule of meetings, often seeing people that the President could not accommodate in his schedule. He handled much of the President's correspondence with state and local officials, often drafting letters for the President's signature. He also proposed presidential meetings with these individuals or groups, often participating in them himself. Falk also accompanied the President when he was invited to speak to groups of local government officials and helped to organize a series of working dinners with governors' groups across the country.

An important aspect of Falk's position was acting as the President's spokesman with state and local leaders and in turn, relaying their concerns to the appropriate White House officials. He also analyzed proposed legislation in terms of how it would affect state and local governments and worked with the New Coalition, a group of governors, mayors, state legislators and county officials, on the 1976 budget.

As intergovernmental liaison, Falk was a working member of several groups concerned with examining particular issues. He was appointed by Ford in August 1974 to a study group evaluating the general revenue sharing program and recommending whether or not the legislation for that program should be extended before its 1976 expiration.

Falk's files contain extensive material on this subject including correspondence from state and local leaders concerning renewal of the legislation; materials on alternative funding methods and adjustments to payment procedures; legislative strategy on general revenue sharing legislation extension and nondiscrimination provisions in the legislation.

Falk was also an active member of the Economic Adjustment Committee. Established by the President in 1968, this committee was responsible for coordinating and integrating appropriate federal programs into community recovery plans in areas where military bases were being closed or drastically reduced.

The Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Puerto Rico was another group in which Falk participated. The study group was created by President Nixon in 1973 to examine ways of granting Puerto Rico more self- government under its commonwealth status. When Falk left the Domestic Council he turned his Puerto Rico files over to Samuel Halper, a Domestic Council consultant on Puerto Rico. They are now included in Halper's Domestic Council Collection.

James Falk's files document his activities from the beginning of the Ford administration until December 1975, with a very small amount of earlier and later material. Falk's files from the Nixon administration are part of the Nixon presidential materials.

Related Materials (April 1982)
Related material may be found in other Domestic Council collections, particularly the files of Stephen G. McConahey, who replaced Falk as Associate Director for Intergovernmental Affairs; and Rayburn Hanzlik, McConahey's assistant. Patrick Delaney was Falk's assistant, and his materials often appear in Falk's files. There are also related materials scattered throughout the White House Central Files Subject Files.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

General Subject File, 1974-75.  (Boxes 1-14, 5.6 linear feet)
Correspondence, memoranda, press releases, working papers, reports and printed materials received or created by Falk. This file concerns the federal government's relationship with organizations of state, local and intergovernmental officials; the budget; economic policy as it affected the localities; general revenue sharing renewal; and various legislative initiatives.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

State File, 1974-75.  (Boxes 15-25, 4.2 linear feet)
Correspondence, memoranda, briefing papers, press releases, disaster declaration recommendations, meeting notes, presidential meeting and phone call proposals and printed materials received or created by Falk. Falk routinely received copies of much of the material created in the White House and the Domestic Council concerning local and state affairs. Subjects include general revenue sharing, disaster relief, administration legislative or policy initiatives, and the federal budget. Much of the correspondence is addressed to Patrick Delaney, Falk's assistant. Also included is briefing material on various state and local officials drafted by Falk for the President's use.

Arranged alphabetically by state and thereunder chronologically.

View container list for this series

Meeting File, 1974-75.  (Boxes 25-31, 2.6 linear feet)
Included are memoranda, correspondence, draft speeches, scenarios, briefing materials and printed items relating to meetings attended by Falk and sometimes by the President. These include meetings Falk attended with organizations of state, local, and intergovernmental officials; meetings of those same groups where the President gave an address and Falk had acted as liaison in planning the appearance; and White House meetings Falk attended concerning intergovernmental affairs. Many of the meeting files contain Falk's handwritten notes taken during the meeting.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

Administrative File, 1974-75.  (Boxes 31-34, 1.2 linear feet)
Internal memoranda, invitations, news clippings, resumes, questions and answers for the President's Briefing Book, employee information for the White House staff, schedule proposals and other papers concerning Domestic Council administrative matters and the Ford administration's intergovernmental activities.

Arranged alphabetically.

View container list for this series

Chronological File, 1975. (Boxes 34-35, 0.5 linear feet)
Carbons and photocopies of letters, memoranda, questions and answers for the President's Briefing Book, schedule proposals, and background material prepared by Falk during 1975. There are no materials in this file from 1974.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

CONTAINER LIST

Box 1 - General Subject File

• Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (1)-(7)
• Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations - Publications

Box 2 - General Subject File

• Budget - General
• Budget - FY 1976
• Budget - FY 1977
• Budget - Undersecretaries Group (1)-(4)
• Commission on the Future of the South
• Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)
• Congressional Black Caucus

Box 3 - General Subject File

• Consumer Reform
• Council of State Governments
• Countercyclical Legislation
• Crime
• District of Columbia - Budget
• District of Columbia - Organization Handbook (1)-(3)
• Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS)

Box 4 - General Subject File

• Economic Adjustment Committee (1)-(4)
• Economic Adjustment Committee - Franklin Arsenal, Pennsylvania
• Economic Adjustment Committee - Program (1)-(3)
• Economic Adjustment Committee - Report

Box 5 - General Subject File

• Economic Adjustment Committee - State Programs (1)-(6)
• Economic Policy
• Economic Policy - President's Program

Box 6 - General Subject File

• Economic Policy - Press Releases
• Economic Policy - Publications
• Education
• Energy (1)-(3)
• Energy - President's Energy Program (1)-(2)

Box 7 - General Subject File

• Energy - President's Energy Program (3)
• Energy - Project Independence
• Energy - Project Independence - Publications
• Fair Labor Standards
• General Revenue Sharing (1)-(4)

Box 8 - General Subject File

• General Revenue Sharing (5)-(6)
• General Revenue Sharing - Chicago
• General Revenue Sharing - Non-Discrimination Provisions (1)-(2)
• General Revenue Sharing - Publications (1)-(2)

Box 9 - General Subject File

• General Revenue Sharing - Publications (3)
• General Revenue Sharing Renewal (1)-(4)
• General Revenue Sharing Renewal - Draft Bills (1)-(2)
• General Revenue Sharing Renewal - President's Message (1)

Box 10 - General Subject File

• General Revenue Sharing Renewal - Presidential Message (2)-(3)
• General Revenue Sharing Renewal - Status Reports
• Housing and Urban Development
• Human Habitat
• International City Management Association
• Legacy of Parks Program
• Legislation
• Medical Malpractice
• National Association of Counties
• National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws

Box 11 - General Subject File

• National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
  - Consumer Credit Code
  - Limited Partnerships Act (1)-(2)
  - Uniform Probate Code
• National Conference of Republican Mayors and Municipal Officials
• National Conference of State Legislative Leaders (1)-(2)
• National Governors' Conference (1)-(2)
• National Governors' Conference - Russian Meeting
• National League of Cities - U.S. Conference of Mayors (1)

Box 12 - General Subject File

• National League of Cities - U.S. Conference of Mayors (2)-(3)
• National League of Cities - U.S. Conference of Mayors - Newsletter
• National Municipal Policy on Effective Government (1)-(2)
• National Intergovernmental Personnel Act
• New Coalition (1)-(4)

Box 13 - General Subject File

• New Coalition (5)-(6)
• Presidential Letter to Governors - Tax and Spending Cuts, 10/10/75
• Presidential Papers
• Public Works
• Republican Governors Association
• State and Local Regulatory Task Force
• State of the Union
• Safe Drinking Water Legislation
• Strip Mining
• Tax Reduction
• Town Meetings

Box 14 - General Subject File

• Unemployment
• Vice President
• WIN Committee
• Youth Camp Safety Act
• Vietnamese Refugees

Box 14 (Continued) - State File

• Alabama (1)-(3)
• Alaska (1)-(2)
• Arizona (1)-(2)
• Arkansas

Box 15 - State File

• California (1)-(3)
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida (1)-(3)
• Georgia (1)-(2)

Box 16 - State File

• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois (1) -(2)
• Indiana (1)-(2)
• Iowa (1)-(2)
• Kansas (1)-(2)
• Kentucky

Box 17 - State File

• Louisiana
• Maine (1)-(3)
• Maryland
• Massachusetts (1)-(3)
• Michigan (1)

Box 18 - State File

• Michigan (2)-(4)
• Michigan - Detroit (1)-(4)

Box 19 - State File

• Michigan - Detroit: Publications
• Minnesota (1)-(3)
• Mississippi
• Missouri (1)-(2)
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada

Box 20 - State File

• New Hampshire (1)-(3)
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York (1)-(4)

Box 21 - State File

• New York City (1)-(4)
• North Carolina (1)-(2)
• North Dakota
• Ohio (1)-(2)

Box 22 - State File

• Oklahoma (1)-(3)
• Oregon (1)-(2)
• Pennsylvania (1)-(3)
• Pennsylvania: Federal - State Affairs (1)-(3)

Box 23 - State File

• Pennsylvania: Federal - State Affairs (4)
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee (1)-(2)
• Texas (1)-(3)
• Utah (1)-(2)

Box 24 - State File

• Vermont
• Virginia (1)-(2)
• Washington (1)-(3)
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Box 25 - State File

• American Samoa
• Guam
• Puerto Rico
• Virgin Islands

Box 25 (Continued) - Meeting File

• Midwestern Governor's Conference, Minneapolis, 7/28-31/74
• Western Governors' Conference, Albuquerque, 9/29/74
• National Legislative Conference, Albuquerque, 8/12-16/74 (1)-(2)
• President's Meeting with Governors, 8/14/74
• National Association of Counties Executive Committee Meeting, Washington, DC, 8/15/74
• President's Meeting with State Legislative Leaders, 8/29/74
• Conference on Inflation, 9/74
• Southern Governors' Conference, Austin, 9/8-11/74
• National Governors' Conference Executive Committee Meeting with President, 9/14/74

Box 26 - Meeting File

• State and Local Governments Conference on Inflation, 9/23/74
• Revenue Sharing Meeting with President, 11/30/74
• Coastal Governors' Meeting with President, 11/13/74
• National Governors' Conference, Snowbird, 11/14-16/74
• White House Conference, Minneapolis, 11/26/74
• President's Meeting with Mayor Rizzo, 11/29/74
• Republican Governors' Association Conference, St. Louis, 12/1-3/74
• Post State of the Union Briefing for State and Local Leaders, 1/16/75
• Legislative Award Ceremony, 1/17/75

Box 27 - Meeting File

• Northeastern Governors' Meeting with President, 1/23/75
• President's meeting with Southeast Governors, Atlanta, 2/3/75
• White House Conference, Atlanta, 2/3/75 (1)-(2)
• President's Visit to Houston, 2/10/75
• President's Visit to Topeka, 2/10-11/75
• National Governors' Conference - Winter Meeting, 2/18-20/75
• State Dinner for Governors, 2/20/75
• National Conference on American Federalism in Action, 2/21-22/75

Box 28 - Meeting File

• White House Conference, Miami, 2/25-26/75 (1)-(2)
• National Association of Counties Legislative Conferences, 2/25-27/75
• National Conference of State Legislatures, 2/28/75
• President's Meeting with Miss America, 3/10/75
• President's Trip to South Bend, 3/17/75
• President's Meeting with Sister Cities Representatives, 3/25/75
• President's Trip to Western Governors, San Francisco, Tucson, 4/3-8/75
• President's Meeting with Governor Thomson, 4/16/75
• President's Trip to New Hampshire, 4/18/75
• State Legislative Leaders Conference, 4/24-25/75
• Republican Mayors Task Force, 5/21/75

Box 29 - Meeting File

• National Governors' Conference Annual Meeting, 6/8-11/75 (1)-(2)
• U.S. Conferences of Mayors, Boston, 7/6-9/75
• Briefing on General Revenue Sharing, 7/10/75
• Midwestern Governors' Conference, Cincinnati, 7/20-23/75
• National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, 8/2-8/75
• President's Meeting with Governors, 8/28/75

Box 30 - Meeting File

• Southern Governors' Conference, Orlando, 9/14-17/75
• Western Governors' Conference, Sun Valley, 9/21-24/75
• Meeting with Executive Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 9/24/75
• President's Meeting with Mayors of Small Cities, 10/1/75
• President's Meeting with Appalachian Governors, Knoxville, 10/7/75
• National Conference of State Legislators, Philadelphia, 10/7-10/75

Box 31 - Meeting File

• Meeting with Governor Hammond, 10/20/75
• Meeting with Terry Chambers, 10/21/75
• Japanese Governors' Meeting, 10/23/75
• Speech at Harvard Business School, 11/7/75
• President's Meeting with New England Governors, 11/7/75
• Republican Governors' Conference, 11/20-22/75 (1)-(2)
• Congress of Cities Meeting, 11/30/75 - 12/4/75
• State of the States Meeting with Governors, 12/18/75
• Meeting with Governors on Rice Surplus, 1/8/76

Box 31 (Continued) - Administrative File

• Bicentennial Theme
• Cannon/Falk Memoranda (1)-(3)

Box 32 - Administrative File

• Cannon/Falk Memoranda (4)
• Cole/Falk Memoranda (see WHCF OA 4160)
• Daily Schedules
• Domestic Council
• Domestic Policy Papers
• Domestic Policy Review
• Federal Executive Boards
• Federal - State Liaison Program
• Forms
• Intergovernmental Relations - General
• Internal Memoranda (1)-(2)
• Invitations
• News Media
• Personnel - News Clippings
• Personnel - Presidential Appointments
• Personnel - Presidential Appointment - Resumes
• Personnel - Resumes (1)

Box 33 - Administrative File

• Personnel - Resumes (2)-(4)
• Photos Sent Out
• President's Briefing Book - Background on States (1)-(2)
• President's Briefing Book - Q's and A's (1)-(3)
• President - First 100 Days
• President - Invitations

Box 34 - Administrative File

• President - Meetings
• President - Memberships and Endorsements
• President - Schedule Proposals
• Presidential Spokesman Schedule
• Public Forums
• Vice President - Weekly Briefing Paper
• Telephone Calls
• White House Office Handbook
• White House Operations
• White House Staff
• Weekly Review Report

Box 34 (Continued) - Chronological File

• Jan.-Apr. 1975

Box 35 - Chronological File

• May-Dec. 1975