SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Working closely with White House Chiefs of Staff Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Cheney, Goldwin organized a series of seminars attended by the President on such topics as the world food situation, affirmative action, ethnicity, and jobs and unemployment. Goldwin's papers also reflect his involvement drafting occasional speeches for the President, his frequent contacts with prominent intellectuals nationwide, and his association with Donald Rumsfeld at NATO and the Defense Department. Other noteworthy subjects within the Goldwin Papers include the Cabinet and White House staff reorganization of November 1975, the Arab Boycott, crime, higher education, and presidential veto power.

QUANTITY
12 linear feet (ca. 24,000 pages)

DONOR
Robert A. Goldwin (accession numbers 92-10, 92-13).Mr. Goldwin donated an accretion of papers in 2004 (accessions 04-34 and 04-48).

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
Robert A. Goldwin donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 Tobin, November 1992; Revised by Brooke Clement, January 2005
[s:\bin\findaid\goldwin, robert - papers.doc]

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Robert A. Goldwin

April 16, 1922 - Born in New York City

1942-46 - Enlisted man and officer, US Cavalry

1950 - B.A., St. John's College, Annapolis, MD

1951-60 - Director of Research, American Foundation for Political Education, Chicago, IL

1954 - M.A., The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

1960-66 - Lecturer in Political Science and Director, Public Affairs Conference, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

1963 - Ph.D., Political Science, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

1966 - Fellow, Guggenheim Foundation

1966-69 - Associate Professor Political Science and Director, Public Affairs Conference Center, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH

1969-73 - Dean and Richard Hammond Elliott Tutor, St John's College, Annapolis, MD

March 1973-December 1974 - Special Advisor to the Ambassador of the United States Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Donald Rumsfeld, Brussels, Belgium

September 1974 - Detailed to the White House Editorial Staff from the Department of State

December 1974-October 1976 - Special Consultant to the President

1976 - Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld

1977-2004 - Director of Seminar Programs, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, DC

2003-- Advisory Council Member for the James Madison Book Award

INTRODUCTION

Robert Goldwin, a former professor of political science and director of public affairs conferences at the University of Chicago and Kenyon College, served in the White House as Special Consultant to the President. Before assuming that position, Goldwin was an assistant to Donald Rumsfeld, Ambassador to NATO. When Rumsfeld took over from Alexander Haig as Ford's chief of staff, Goldwin assisted him at the White House until November 1975, when Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defense. Goldwin then reported to Richard Cheney, Rumsfeld's former deputy and successor. In addition to his White House duties, Goldwin continued to work with Secretary Rumsfeld on occasional projects and speeches.

Goldwin described his White House role as being "an outsider on the inside" and "an idea collector." He was responsible for insuring the flow of information and ideas to the President from people outside of government. His most well-publicized activity was as the organizer of a series of White House seminars attended by the President, government officials, and academic experts. The seminars were held as informal discussions of the 1975 State of the Union address, crime, affirmative action, ethnicity, unemployment, and the world food situation.

Seminars were but one aspect of Goldwin's liaison with the academic community. He traveled frequently to university campuses for seminars and speaking engagements, relaying ideas and suggestions to the Domestic Council, appropriate government agencies, or occasionally, to the President. In addition, he was always on the lookout for qualified people for presidential appointments and was especially involved in the selection of the Librarian of Congress and the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Goldwin was also a point of contact within the administration for many organizations concerned with higher education, the arts, the humanities, and a variety of issues affecting the Jewish community in the United States.

Occasionally, Dr. Goldwin prepared or edited drafts of major presidential speeches, including the State of the Union addresses in 1975 and 1976, and a major policy address on crime in April 1975. He also suggested themes for the nation's Bicentennial celebration and proposed a statement of national vision for the President to articulate in anticipation of the 1976 presidential campaign.

The Goldwin Papers provide a unique perspective for researchers interested in how ideas outside government can influence the thinking of a president and his staff. The collection includes scholarly articles, notes from White House seminars, and correspondence with prominent thinkers nationwide. In some cases, a researcher can track an idea from its genesis in a journal article or White House seminar to eventual inclusion in a presidential speech or statement.

While most of the collection documents Goldwin's various responsibilities as a special consultant to the President, there are also materials reflecting his work for Donald Rumsfeld during Rumsfeld's tenure as Ambassador to NATO and Secretary of Defense. These include speech drafts, information compiled to prepare Rumsfeld for his confirmation hearings as Secretary of Defense, and a lengthy memorandum outlining Rumsfeld's position on arms sales.

An accretion of papers received in 2004 comprises the last two boxes of the collection. These papers include subject files relating to Ford’s decision to reorganize his Cabinet and White House staff, commonly known as “The Halloween Massacre,” as well as Goldwin’s memos, notes, research, and presidential speech preparation on topics such as crime, higher education, moderate Republicanism, and détente. A significant portion of this accretion is made up of presidential speech files, consisting of drafts, press releases, memos, and handwritten notes on themes ranging from crime, the 1976 presidential campaign, veto power, civil rights, and education.

Related Materials (January 2005)
The Goldwin Files in the White House Operations Office include two additional feet of material generated during Goldwin's White House tenure. Much of this file concerns his liaison role with various education organizations, his drafts for several presidential speeches, and documents his extensive contact with prominent Americans on a variety of domestic issues. Other related material includes the Domestic Council staff files of David Lissy on education and Jewish affairs and Sarah Massengale on cultural affairs; the White House Central Files category for education (ED); the files of the speechwriting and editorial staffs for various presidential addresses, including the reading copies of Presidential Speeches and Statements, as well as the White House Central Files category for speeches (SP).

A small, related collection of Goldwin papers is at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

General Subject File, 1973-77.  (Boxes 1-20, 8.0 linear feet)
Correspondence, memoranda, notes, reports, briefing papers, speeches, and printed material accumulated by Goldwin in his role as a special advisor to NATO Ambassador Donald Rumsfeld and special consultant to the President. Subjects include education, Jews and Israel, affirmative action, arms sales, busing, the role of the president, national vision, crime, the world food situation, State of the Union addresses, ethnicity, and jobs and unemployment. Of particular note are files on White House seminars and Goldwin's work on behalf of Donald Rumsfeld during his tenure as Secretary of Defense.

Arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically thereunder.

View container list for this series

Name File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 21-28, 3.2 linear feet)
Correspondence and reference material compiled by Goldwin from his contacts with White House staff, academic colleagues, the media, prominent intellectuals, and the public. Documents issues similar to the above series. Correspondence with some of these individuals also appears in the general subject file.

Arranged alphabetically.

View container list for this series

General Subject File Accretion, 1974-78. (Boxes 28-30, 0.8 linear feet)
Correspondence, memoranda, notes, reports, briefing papers, speeches, and printed material accrued by Goldwin in his role as a special consultant to the President. Noticeably larger subject matters include crime, higher education, veto power, and the aftermath of President Ford’s massive overhaul of his Cabinet.

Arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically thereunder.

View container list for this series

CONTAINER LIST

Box 1 - General Subject File

• Academy for Contemporary Problems
• Aging
• American Council on Education - Report on International Education (1)-(2)
• Arab Boycott (1)-(5)

Box 2 - General Subject File

• Arms Sales
• Arts
• Asia Foundation (1)-(5)
• Balance of Payments
• Brown, General George S. - Comments on Jews
• Civic Education (1)-(3)

Box 3 - General Subject File

• Clemency
• Committee for an Effective UNESCO
• Department of Defense
• Discrimination in Colleges and Universities (1)-(3)
• Drugs
• Economics
• Federal Budget
• Florida International University
• Foreign Diplomats Luncheon, 3/20/75
• Harvard College - Board of Overseers
• Goldwin, Robert
  - Article - Western Political Quarterly, 3/76 (1)-(3)

Box 4 - General Subject File

• Goldwin, Robert
  - Interviews/Lectures
  - Speeches - New College, 2/2/75 (1)-(3)
  - Speeches - Northern Illinois University, 4/28/75
  - Speeches - Maryland Independent Colleges and Universities Association, 1/29/76 (1)-(3)
  - Speeches - Kenyon College, 2/4/76 (1)-(2)

Box 5 - General Subject File

• Goldwin, Robert
  - Speeches - St. John's College, 2/20/76 (1)-(4)
  - Speeches - University of Nebraska, 5/5/76 (1)-(3)
  - Speeches - Council for the Advancement of Small Colleges, 6/17/76
  - Speeches - Smithsonian Institution, 9/16/76
  - Trips - Berlin, 3/22-26/75 (1)-(2)

Box 6 - General Subject File

• Goldwin, Robert
  - Trips - Berlin, 3/22-26/75 (3)
  - Trips - Gambier, Ohio, 5/23/76
• Higher Education Issues (1)-(6)

Box 7 - General Subject File

• Jewish Issues (1)-(8)

Box 8 - General Subject File

• Jewish Issues (9)
• Job Creation (1)-(2)
• Kenyon College - Public Affairs Conference Center (1)-(3)
• Library of Congress
• Medicine (1)-(5)
• Mental Health

Box 9 - General Subject File

• Name Bank - Recommendations
• Name Bank - Resumes (1)-(2)
• National Conference on Soviet Jewry (1)-(2)
• National Endowment for the Arts (1)-3)
• National Endowment for the Humanities (1)-(3)

Box 10 - General Subject File

• National Endowment for the Humanities (4)-(5)
• National Gallery of Art
• National Humanities Faculty
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Oil Crisis
• Panama Canal
• President
  - Articles - Saturday Evening Post, 5/76
  - Articles - U.S. News and World Report, 7/5/76 (1)-(2)
  - Briefing Book Input

Box 11 - General Subject File

• President
  - Campaign (1)-(3)
  - National Vision (1)-(2)
  - Role of the Executive (1)-(2)
  - Schedule Proposals
  - School Desegregation (1)-(2)

Box 12 - General Subject File

• President
  - School Desegregation (3)-(4)
  - Speech Ideas
  - Speech Ideas - Bicentennial
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - Background (1)-(2)
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - 1/6/75 Draft (1)-(2)
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - 1/6/75 Draft - President's Comments
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - 1/7/75 Draft
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - 1/9/75 Draft (1)-(3)

Box 13 - General Subject File

• President
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - 1/9/75 Draft - President's Comments
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - 1/10/75 Draft
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - 1/11/75 Draft
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - Undated Drafts
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - Follow-up (1)-(3)
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1975 - Reading Copy
  - Speeches - Yale Law School, 4/25/75 (1)-(3)

Box 14 - General Subject File

• President
  - Speeches - Yale Law School (4)
  - Speeches - Uranium Enrichment, 6/25/75
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1976 - 1/15/76 Draft (1)-(3)
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1976 - 1/16/76 Draft
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1976 - 1/17/76 Draft
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1976 - 1/18/76 Draft
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1976 - Follow-up
  - Speeches - Daughters of the American Revolution, 4/21/76
  - Speeches - American Jewish Committee, 5/13/76
  - Speech Writing Process
  - Veto
• Presidential Appointments
• Princeton Conference - Advising the President, 10/13/75
• Rand Corporation
• Regulating Reform

Box 15 - General Subject File

• Rumsfeld, Donald
  - Confirmation Hearings as Secretary of Defense, 11/75
  - Memoranda (1)-(3)
  - Questions and Answers on Arms Sales
  - Speeches - Atlantic Institute, 6/2/73 (1)-(3)
  - Speeches - Reuters Editors, 3/10/76

Box 16 - General Subject File

• Rumsfeld, Donald
  - Speeches - North Atlantic Council, ca. 3/76
  - Speeches - "The New Charter" (undelivered) (1)-(4)
• Sangamon State University
• St. John's College
• Smith Richardson Foundation
• Smithsonian Institution (1)-(2)
• Social Security

Box 17 - General Subject File

• South Africa
• Soviet Jews
• Speeches - Unused Ideas
• Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT)
• Student Aid for Higher Education (1)-(2)
• Syrian Jews
• Taxes (1)-(2)
• Thailand
• Trade
• Transportation
• Turkey
• UCLA Associated Students Speakers Program
• Unemployment (1)-(2)

Box 18 - General Subject File

• United Jewish Appeal
• United Nations (1)-(2)
• United Nations Association
• Vietnam War
• War Powers Act
• Welfare Reform
• White House Fellows
• White House Handbook, 10/75 (1)-(2)
• White House Handbook, 4/76 (1)-(3)

Box 19 - General Subject File

• White House Organization
• White House Seminars
  - General
  - State of the Union Themes, 12/9/74
  - State of the Union, 1/11/75
  - Open Discussion, 2/22/75
  - World Food Situation, 4/12/75
  - Affirmative Action, 9/10/75
  - Ethnicity, 9/27/75
  - Jobs and Unemployment, 11/22/75 (1)-(2)
  - Topic Ideas
• White House Staff - Biographies
• White House Transportation Agency
• Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars (1)-(3)

Box 20 - General Subject File

• Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars (4)-(9)
• Women
• Zionist Organization of America

Box 21 - Name File

• Anderson, Jack
• Barzun, Jacques
• Banfield, Edward
• Bell, Terrel
• Brann, Eva
• Bazelon, David
• Billington, James
• Boorstin, Daniel
• Brandow, George
• Breslow, Lester
• Brown, Peter
• Burger, Warren
• Burke, Edmund
• Burns, Arthur
• Califano, Joseph

Box 22 - Name File

• Carter, Jimmy
• Cheney, Richard (1)-(3)
• Cochrane, Willard
• Coleman, James
• Connor, James
• Cropsey, Joseph
• Diamond, Martin (1)-(3)

Box 23 - Name File

• Emmert, Kirk
• Farrell, Joseph
• Feldsten, Martin (1)-(4)
• Fisher, Max
• Ford, Betty
• Friedman, Milton
• Garment, Leonard
• Ginsburg, David
• Glazer, Nathan
• Goldman, Eric
• Greenspan, Alan
• Harlow, Bryce

Box 24 - Name File

• Harris and Yankelovich Survey
• Hartmann, Robert
• Hathaway, Dale E.
• Heffner, Richard
• Hersey, John
• Hesburgh, Rev. Theodore
• Higham, John
• Himmelfarb, Gertrude
• Hodgkinson, Harold
• Horwitz, Robert
• Jackson, Henry M.
• Jaffa, Harry
• Jefferson, Thomas
• Johnson, Gale (1)-(2)
• Jones, Jerry
• Kahn, Herman

Box 25 - Name File

• Kass, Leon
• King, John
• Kissinger, Henry (1)-(3)
• Kottman, Roy
• Kraft, Joseph
• Kristol, Irving (1)-(2)
• Leibman, Morris
• Levi, Edward
• Licht, Robert
• Lincoln, Abraham
• Lissy, David
• Locke, John
• Lynn, Jim

Box 26 - Name File

• Marcus, Phillip
• Marsh, John
• Mathews, David
• Merrill, Philip
• Meyerson, Martin
• Moynihan, Daniel (1)-(2)
• Nader, Ralph
• Nelson, Charles
• Nie, Norman
• Neldorf, Robert
• Nisbet, Robert
• Novak, Michael
• Novak, Robert
• O'Neill, Paul
• Patterson, Orlando

Box 27 - Name File

• Paynter, John
• Pelzman, Sam
• Percy, Charles
• Plattner, Marc
• Podhoretz, Norman
• Price, Jayne
• Raoul-Duval, Michael
• Reagan, Ronald
• Reston, James
• Riesman, David
• Ripley, S. Dillon
• Robson, John
• Rockefeller, Nelson
• Salk, Jonas
• Schlesinger, James
• Scowcroft, Brent
• Semerad, Roger
• Smith, Carleton
• Sowell, Thomas (1)-(2)
• Spaeth, Robert
• Spiro, Herbert
• Stevenson, Adlai

Box 28 - Name File

• Storing, Herbert
• Strauss, Leo
• Theis, Paul
• Thompson, Daniel
• Todorovich
• Wakefield, Rowan
• Warren, Gerald
• Wattenberg, Ben
• Weaver, John
• Wildavsky, Aaron
• Wilson, James Q.
• Wilson, Woodrow
• Wouk, Herman
• Zarb, Frank

Box 28 (Continued) - General Subject File Accretion

• Cabinet Reorganization, 11/3/1975
• Council of Social Advisers
• Crime (1)-(2)

Box 29 - General Subject File Accretion

• Crime (3)-(4)
• Goldwin, Robert
  - Lecture - “Outsider on the Inside”
  - Memos to the President
  - Resignation from Government
  - Trips - Columbus and Chicago, 3/16-19/75
  - White House Personnel Information
• Higher Education (Bell Project)
• Moderate Republicanism/Public Image (Jim Connor Project)
• Notes on “Détente”
• President
  - Interview - Pepperdine University, 11/11/1975
  - Letter - Reply to Gov. M. Thompson - 2/14/76 Draft
  - Letters to Robert Goldwin
  - “Meet the Press”, 11/9/1975
  - Schedules
  - Speech Ideas
  - Speeches - Message to the Congress on Legislative Priorities - 11/8/1974 Press
• Release
  - Speeches - Address to the Nation on Energy and Economic Programs - 1/13/1975
• Follow-up
  - Speeches - Notre Dame Academic Council, 3/17/1975

Box 30 - General Subject File Accretion

• President
  - Speeches - Boston’s Old North Church Bicentennial Lantern Service, 4/18/1975
  - Speeches - 73rd Annual Convention of the Navy League - 4/23/75 Draft
  - Speeches - Tulane University, 4/23/75
  - Speeches - Message on Crime, 6/19/75
  - Speeches - Statement on the Observance of Independence Day, 1975 - Draft
  - Speeches - Statement on the Observance of Independence Day, 1975 - Press
• Release
  - Speeches - School Integration, 7-9/75
  - Speeches - NAACP, 7/1/75
  - Speeches - American Legion, 8/19/75
  - Speeches - Dedication of Firestone Fieldhouse at Pepperdine University - 9/20/75
• Draft
  - Speeches - National Press Club - 10/29/75 Follow-up
  - Speeches - North Carolina Central University - 11/14/75 Draft
  - Speeches - Remarks at the East-West Center/University of Hawaii, 12/7/75
  - Speeches - Symposium on the American Presidency - 200 Years Later - 1/9/76
• Draft
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1976 - 1/19/76 Fact Sheet
  - Speeches - State of the Union, 1976 - 1/19/76 Press Release
  - Speeches - Lincoln Memorial, 2/12/76
  - Speeches - Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 6/14/76
  - Speeches - Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 6/21/76
  - Statement, 11/5/74
• Transferred to AV