SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Phelan maintained research files for the 1976 campaign concerning Jimmy Carter's background and statements, editorial opinions and endorsements, and columnist opinion from various newspapers.

QUANTITY
23.6 linear feet (ca. 47,200 pages)

DONOR
Gerald R. Ford (accession number 77-18, 77-20)

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Gerald Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 William McNitt, December 1983
[s:\bin\findaid\phelan, wanda - files.doc]

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Wanda Ruth Mathias Phelan

Aug. 5, 1942 - Born in Kimberly, NV

1960-64 - Ponoma College, Claremont, CA (B.A.)

1964-65 - Vocabulary Editor Associate, Documentation, Inc.

1965-68 - Staff Assistant and Correspondence Control Officer, Agency for International Development

1968-70 - Correspondence Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development

1970-74 - Correspondence Specialist, White House Press Office

Oct.-Dec. 1974 - Director of the Saudi-Arabian Secretariat, Department of the Treasury

1974-76 - Public Information Officer, Water Resources Council

Aug.-Nov. 1976 - Staff Assistant, White House Press Office (on detail from the Water Resources Council)

INTRODUCTION

Wanda Phelan served in the White House press office at two different times during the Nixon and Ford administrations. From February 1970 to October 1974 she handled routine correspondence for press secretaries Herb Klein, Ron Ziegler and Jerald ter Horst. She returned to the White House press secretary's office on detail in August 1976 and worked as a staff assistant under Agnes Waldron. In this role, she maintained research files on the 1976 presidential election, concentrating on Jimmy Carter's background and statements, editorial opinion about issues and the campaign, and editorial endorsements supporting President Ford.

The Phelan files mainly cover her work in the fall of 1976. Her small chronological file of outgoing letters, August 1971 to July 1974, and a small file on media requests for interviews with President Nixon, March-July 1974, are the only materials which date from the Nixon administration. The material is routine, relating mainly to administrative matters such as notifying mailing lists of Herb Klein's departure from the White House or adding to President Nixon's collection of original drawings of editorial cartoons.

The files from Phelan's 1976 service in the press office relate almost exclusively to the presidential election. Included are transcripts of interviews and speeches given by Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale; briefing material prepared for some of President Ford's campaign trips; background on potential issues; newspaper editorials, campaign endorsements, and some related correspondence with the media; and extensive files of newspaper clippings and press wire stories concerning the campaign. Phelan apparently maintained these files to provide briefing material for the President and to verify facts on Jimmy Carter's career and the presidential campaign. Although much of the collection is routine in nature, the files provide a useful source for locating statements by the presidential and vice presidential candidates and for studying media coverage of the presidential candidates and the campaign. The research staff clipped articles and editorials from many of the daily newspapers around the country in addition to such national papers as the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post."

Some items date from November 1974 to July 1976 when Phelan was not serving on the White House staff. Apparently, Agnes Waldron brought some of them from the Editorial Staff research operation when she transferred to the press office in June 1976. Other files relating to correspondence with the media and presidential meetings with the media must have been inherited from other members of the press office staff.

Related Materials (December 1983)
Related materials include the other files of the press office staff (especially the Agnes Waldron files), the files of Charles McCall of the Editorial staff research office, and White House Central Files categories PL and PR.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

General Subject File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 1-10, 4.2 linear feet)
Correspondence, speeches, interview transcripts, briefing papers, mailing labels, press releases and newspaper clippings. Much of the series concerns the 1976 presidential election, including speeches, interviews and background materials on President Ford, Jimmy Carter, Robert Dole, Walter Mondale, and Nelson Rockefeller. Other materials include general correspondence with the news media, correspondence logs, media interview requests, information on presidential meetings with the media, and media mailing lists and directories. Three folders contain Phelan's chronological file of correspondence concerning her work in the Nixon press office, 1971-74.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Editorial Endorsements Subject File, 1976.  (Boxes 10-11, 0.4 linear feet)
Correspondence with editors, lists of Ford and Carter endorsements, and copies of some editorials. Most of the series relates to the fall campaign, although some relates to the primaries.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Editorial Endorsements State File, 1976.  (Boxes 11-13, 1.0 linear feet)
Correspondence with newspaper editors and copies of editorial endorsements of President Ford in the fall 1976 campaign. Some of the correspondence related to media topics other than endorsements, as the press office staff pulled the entire White House Central Files Name File on many editors and newspapers as background for thank-you letters.

Arranged alphabetically by state.

View container list for this series

Editorial Opinion by Columnist, 1975-1976.  (Boxes 14-17, 1.2 linear feet)
Clippings of editorial columns on national politics by over 200 newspaper columnists such as Evans and Novak, James J. Kilpatrick, Joseph Kraft, Mary McGrory, and Jerald ter Horst.

Arranged alphabetically by name of columnist.

View container list for this series

Editorial Opinion by State, 1975-1976.  (Boxes 18-32, 6.0 linear feet)
Clippings of newspaper editorials on state and national issues and politics, some general news articles on the same topics, and occasional editorial profiles and transcripts of commentary by radio and television stations. These were clipped from a wide range of daily newspapers from around the country.

Arranged alphabetically by state with some individual folders for specific newspapers thereunder.

View container list for this series

1976 Election Clipping File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 33-51, 7.6 linear feet)
Newspaper clippings from various national and local newspapers and press wire stories, mostly from 1976. Most of the clippings up to August 1976 relate only to Jimmy Carter and his campaign, but later clippings concern both the Ford and Carter campaigns. November and December 1976 clippings relate to the transition effort.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

Press Wire Stories, 1976. (Boxes 52-59, 3.2 linear feet)
Associated Press and United Press International wire service stories concerning national politics and issues, especially the presidential election.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

CONTAINER LIST

Box 1 - General Subject File

• Blacks - Press Viewpoints
• Carter, Jimmy
  - Candidate Forums, Feb. - May 1976 (1)-(2)
  - Flip Flops
  - Interviews
  - News Summaries, July - Sept. 1976 (1)-(2)
  - Schedules, Oct. 1976
  - Speeches (1)-(3)

Box 2 - General Subject File

• Carter, Jimmy
  - Speeches (4)-(6)
• Debates - Dole vs. Mondale (Transcripts)
• Debates - Ford vs. Carter (Transcripts and Press Releases)
• Democratic Platform
• Democratic Positions - Prepared Cases on
• Democrats - Interviews
• Dole, Robert (Press Conferences)
• Election Night Coverage (1)-(2)

Box 3 - General Subject File

• Ford Administration - Two Year Report
• Ford, Gerald R.
  - Briefing Material for Campaign Trips

  - General

  - Indiana

  - Michigan

- Press Conferences (Transcripts)
- Speeches (1)-(5)
- Speeches by Advocates

Box 4 - General Subject File

• Freedom of Information
• Mailing Labels - Cabinet Wives
• Mailing Labels - Friendly Columnists
• Mailing Labels - Media by State
• Mailing Labels - Republican National Committee Media Lists
• McCarthy, Eugene
• Media Birthdays (1)-(2)
• Media Correspondence, Aug. - Oct. 1976
• Media Correspondence Log by State, Aug. 1974-Sept. 1975 (1)-(4)

Box 5 - General Subject File

• Media Correspondence Log by State, Aug. 1974-Sept. 1975 (5)-(6)
• Media Executives Invited to White House Social Functions
• Media Invitations and Media Requests, Aug. 1974-Feb. 1975
• Media Invitations and Interview Requests, March-July 1975 (1)-(3)
• Media Interview Requests - Nixon, March-July 1974 (1)-(3)
• Media Mailing List (Alabama - Indiana Only) (1)

Box 6 - General Subject File

• Media Mailing List (Alabama - Indiana Only) (2)-(11)

Box 7 - General Subject File

• Media Mailing List (Alabama - Indiana Only) (12)-(14)
• Media Thank Yous
• Mondale, Walter - Speeches (1)-(2)
• Newspaper Supply List
• Phelan Chronological File, Aug. 1971-July 1974 (1)-(3)
• Polls (Mostly Newspaper Clippings) (1)-(3)
• Potential Issues - Democrats
• Potential Issues - Republicans
• President Ford Committee Newsletter, Feb. 1976
• Presidential Meetings With the Media, Oct. 1974-July 1975 (1)

Box 8 - General Subject File

• Presidential Meetings With the Media, Oct. 1974-July 1975 (2)-(3)
• Reimbursement for Expenses
• Republican Convention - Speeches, Press Conferences, Press Briefings, Press Pool Reports, and Clippings (1)-(5)
• Requested Information
• Research Categories
• Rockefeller, Nelson - Speeches and Press Conferences, Aug.-Oct. 1976 (1)-(4)

Box 9 - General Subject File

• Schweiker, Richard S. - Clippings, News Wire Stories, and Voting Record (1)-(4)
• Special Documents on the Carter Campaign - Articles, Memoranda, and Correspondence (1)-(3)
• Television Stations - Directory

Box 10 - General Subject File

• Weekly Newspapers - Directory
• Weekly Newspapers - Mailing List (1)-(3)

Box 10 (Continued) - Editorial Endorsements Subject File

• Carter Endorsements (1)-(2)
• Dole Endorsements
• Ford Endorsements - Lists (1)-(3)
• Ford Endorsements - Pre-Convention Period
• Ford Endorsements - Presidential Letters List (1)-(2)

Box 11 - Editorial Endorsements Subject File

• Ford Endorsements - Telegrams to Media (1)-(5)

Box 11 (Continued) - Editorial Endorsements State File

• Alabama - Arkansas
• California (1)-(2)
• Colorado - District of Columbia

Box 12 - Editorial Endorsements State File

• Georgia - Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa - Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine - Maryland
• Massachusetts - Minnesota
• Mississippi - Missouri
• Montana - New Mexico
• New York

Box 13 - Editorial Endorsements State File

• North Carolina - North Dakota
• Ohio (1)-(2)
• Oklahoma - Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina - Tennessee
• Texas (1)-(2)
• Vermont - West Virginia
• Wisconsin

Box 14 - Editorial Opinion by Columnist

• Abramson, Rudy
• Alexander, Holmes
• Anderson, Jack
• Anderson, William
• Andrews, Mark
• Apple, R.W., Jr.
• Baker, Russell
• Bartlett, Charles
• Baskin, Robert E.
• Bauer, David
• Beckman, Aldo
• Beeder, David
• Belden, Joseph
• Bergholz, Richard
• Bishop, James
• Block, Herbert
• Boutin, Otto
• Boyd, Robert
• Braaten, David
• Braden, Thomas
• Broder, David S.
• Buchanan, Patrick
• Buchwald, Art
• Buckley, William F., Jr.
• Cahill, Jerome
• Canham, Erwin D.
• Carvallo, John
• Chamberlain, John
• Childs, Marquis
• Clark, Eugene V.
• Coakley, Michael
• Collins, Dorothy
• Cromley, Ray
• Cronin, Thomas E.
• Curtis, L.H.
• de Toledano, Ralph
• Dillin, John
• Dillman, Grant
• Donovan, Robert J.
• Drummond, Roscoe
• Eaker, Ira C.
• Evans, Rowland and Novak, Robert (1)-(4)

Box 15 - Editorial Opinion by Columnist

• Farney, Dennis
• Field, Mervin D.
• Fritchey, Clayton
• Frye, William
• Fulbright, J. William
• Furgurson, Ernest B.
• Furgurson, Pat
• Gallup, George
• Germond, Jack W.
• Glaser, Vera
• Goodman, Ellen
• Gordon, Louis
• Greeley, Andrew
• Gulliver, Hal
• Harrigan, Anthony
• Harris, Louis
• Harsch, Joseph C.
• Hart, Jeffrey
• Healy, Robert
• Hearst, William Randolph, Jr.
• Heinl, Col. Robert D., Jr.
• Hempstone, Smith
• Hess, David
• Hoppe, Arthur
• Humphrey, Hubert
• Hunter, John Patrick
• Isaacs, Stephen
• Jackman, Frank
• Jarrett, Vernon
• Johnston, Oswald
• Jones, Clayton
• Karnow, Stanley
• Kilian, Michael
• Kilpatrick, James J. (1)-(3)
• Kraft, Joseph (1)-(3)
• Kreisher, Otto
• Kupcinet, Irving
• Laird, C.B.
• Larsen, Leonard
• Lasky, Victor
• Leavell, W.A.
• Lerner, Max
• Lewis, Anthony
• Lewis, Paul
• Lewis, Ted

Box 16 - Editorial Opinion by Columnist

• Lisagor, Peter
• Loeb, William
• Lofton John D., Jr.
• MacLeish, Rodney
• Margolis, Jon
• Mathias, Charles
• McCarthy, Colman
• McCrossen, Eric
• McGrory, Mary (1)-(3)
• Means, Marianne
• Mehler, Neil
• Mellinkoff, Abe
• Michelson, A.A.
• Miller, Loye, Jr.
• Miller, Paul
• Mollenhoff, Clark R.
• Moss, Scott
• Moynihan, Daniel P.
• Nachman, Gerald
• Needham, William
• Nolan, Martin F.
• Novak, Michael
• Noyes, Crosby S.
• Nygren, Bruce
• Oakes, John B.
• Orr, Richard
• Oser, Alan S.
• Phillips, Kevin P.
• Pierce, Neal R.
• Raspberry, William
• Reagan, Ronald
• Reinhold, Robert
• Reston, James
• Rhodes, John J.
• Riesel, Victor
• Roales, Judith
• Roberts, Chalmers M.
• Roberts, Sam
• Roche, John P.
• Rosenfeld, Stephen S.
• Roth, Robert
• Rowan, Carl T.
• Rowen, Hobart
• Royko, Michael
• Royster, Vermont
• Rusher, William A.
• Safire, William

Box 17 - Editorial Opinion by Columnist

• St. John, Jeffrey
• Samuelson, Robert J.
• Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr.
• Schorr, Daniel
• Schram, Martin
• Seib, Charles B.
• Shannon, William V.
• Shipp, William
• Simms, Kenneth
• Smith, Kingsbury
• Smith, Michael and Collins, Dorothy
• Snow, Crocker, Jr.
• Spalding, Jack
• Sperling, Godfrey, Jr.
• Squires, James
• Starr, Frank
• Stein, Herbert
• Stewart, Richard H.
• Strout, Richard L.
• Sulzberger, C.L.
• Taylor, Henry J.
• terHorst, Jerald F. (1)-(2)
• Thimmesch, Nick
• Tully, Andrew
• Turner, Robert L.
• Van Der Linden, Frank
• Van Horne, Harriet
• Von Hoffman, Nicholas
• Watson, Douglas
• Wechsler, James A.
• Welter, John
• West, Richard
• Wicker, Thomas
• Wiedrich, Robert
• Wieghart, James
• Wilkins, Roy
• Will, George F.
• Wills, Garry (1)-(2)
• Wilson, David B.
• Yoder, Edwin M., Jr.
• Yost, Charles W.
• Zorza, Victor

Box 18 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Alabama - General
• Alabama - Birmingham News
• Alabama - Montgomery Advertiser
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California - General
• California - Los Angeles Times (1)-(3)
• California - Sacramento Bee

Box 19 - Editorial Opinion by State

• California - San Diego Union
• California - San Francisco Chronicle
• California - San Francisco Examiner
• Colorado - General
• Colorado - Denver Post
• Colorado - Rocky Mountain News
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia - General
• District of Columbia - Washington Post (1)-(4)

Box 20 - Editorial Opinion by State

• District of Columbia - Washington Star (1)-(3)
• Florida - General
• Florida - Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville Journal
• Florida - Miami Herald
• Florida - Orlando Sentinel Star
• Florida - Saint Petersburg Times
• Georgia - General
• Georgia - Atlanta Constitution (1)-(3)
• Georgia - Atlanta Journal
• Georgia - Savannah Morning News

Box 21 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois - General
• Illinois - Chicago Daily News (1)-(2)
• Illinois - Chicago Sun Times (1)-(4)
• Illinois - Chicago Tribune (1)-(5)

Box 22 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Indiana - General
• Indiana - Indianapolis Star (1)-(2)
• Iowa - General
• Iowa - Des Moines Register (1)-(2)
• Kansas - General
• Kansas - Wichita Eagle
• Kentucky - General
• Kentucky - Louisville Courier-Journal
• Louisiana - General
• Louisiana - New Orleans Times Picayune
• Maine
• Maryland - General
• Maryland - Baltimore Sun (1)-(3)

Box 23 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Massachusetts - General
• Massachusetts - Boston Globe (1)-(5)
• Massachusetts - Boston Herald American (1)-(2)
• Massachusetts - Christian Science Monitor (1)

Box 24 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Massachusetts - Christian Science Monitor (2)-(3)
• Michigan - General
• Michigan - Detroit Free Press (1)-(2)
• Michigan - Detroit News (1)-(4)
• Michigan - Grand Rapids Press
• Michigan - State Journal

Box 25 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Minnesota - General
• Minnesota - Minneapolis Tribune
• Minnesota - Minneapolis Star
• Minnesota - Saint Paul Dispatch
• Minnesota - Saint Paul Pioneer Press
• Mississippi
• Missouri - General
• Missouri - Kansas City Star
• Missouri - Kansas City Times (1)-(2)
• Missouri - Saint Louis Globe Democrat (1)-(3)
• Missouri - Saint Louis Post Dispatch (1)-(2)

Box 26 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Missouri - Saint Louis Post Dispatch (3)-(5)
• Montana
• Nebraska - General
• Nebraska - Omaha World Herald
• Nevada
• New Hampshire - General
• New Hampshire - Manchester Union Leader (1)-(2)
• New Jersey - Newark Star Ledger (1)-(2)
• New Mexico - Albuquerque Journal (1)-(2)

Box 27 - Editorial Opinion by State

• New York - General (1)-(3)
• New York - New York Daily News (1)-(2)
• New York - New York Times (1)-(5)

Box 28 - Editorial Opinion by State

• New York - New York Times (6)
• New York - Newsday (1)-(2)
• New York - Wall Street Journal (1)-(3)
• North Carolina - General
• North Carolina - Charlotte Observer (1)-(2)
• North Dakota
• Ohio - General
• Ohio - Cincinnati Enquirer
• Ohio - Cleveland Plain Dealer (1)-(2)

Box 29 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Ohio - Columbus Dispatch (1)-(2)
• Ohio - Youngstown Vindicator (1)-(2)
• Oklahoma - General
• Oklahoma - Daily Oklahoman and Oklahoma City Times (1)-(3)
• Oklahoma - Tulsa Daily World (1)-(2)
• Oregon - General
• Oregon - Portland Oregonian
• Pennsylvania - General
• Pennsylvania - Philadelphia Evening Bulletin
• Pennsylvania - Philadelphia Inquirer (1)

Box 30 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Pennsylvania - Philadelphia Inquirer (2)-(4)
• Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh Press
• Pennsylvania - Scranton Times
• Rhode Island - General
• Rhode Island - Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin
• South Carolina - General
• South Carolina - Charleston Evening Post
• South Carolina - Charleston Gazette
• South Carolina - Charleston News and Courier
• South Carolina - The State (Columbia)
• South Dakota
• Tennessee - General
• Tennessee - Chattanooga News and Free Press
• Tennessee - Knoxville News-Sentinel
• Tennessee - Memphis Commercial Appeal

Box 31 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Tennessee - Nashville Tennessean (1)-(2)
• Texas - General
• Texas - Dallas Morning News (1)-(3)
• Texas - Dallas Times-Herald (1)-(2)
• Texas - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
• Texas - Houston Chronicle (1)-(2)
• Texas - Houston Post
• Texas - San Antonio Light

Box 32 - Editorial Opinion by State

• Utah (1)-(2)
• Vermont
• Virginia - General
• Virginia - Richmond News Leader
• Virginia - Richmond Times-Dispatch
• Washington - General
• Washington - Seattle Post Intelligencer
• Washington - Seattle Times
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin - General
• Wisconsin - Madison Capital Times
• Wisconsin - Milwaukee Journal (1)-(3)
• Wisconsin - Milwaukee Sentinel
• Wyoming

Box 33 - Election Clipping File

• August 1974 - April 18, 1976

Box 34 - Election Clipping File

• April 18 - June 30, 1976

Box 35 - Election Clipping File

• July 1 - 16, 1976

Box 36 - Election Clipping File

• July 17 - August 11, 1976

Box 37 - Election Clipping File

• August 12 - 18, 1976

Box 38 - Election Clipping File

• August 19 - 29, 1976

Box 39 - Election Clipping File

• August 30 - September 5, 1976

Box 40 - Election Clipping File

• September 6 - 11, 1976

Box 41 - Election Clipping File

• September 12 - 17, 1976

Box 42 - Election Clipping File

• September 18 - 23, 1976

Box 43 - Election Clipping File

• September 24 - 27, 1976

Box 44 - Election Clipping File

• September 28 - October 3, 1976

Box 45 - Election Clipping File

• October 4 - 9, 1976

Box 46 - Election Clipping File

• October 10 - 15, 1976

Box 47 - Election Clipping File

• October 16 - 19, 1976

Box 48 - Election Clipping File

• October 20 - 24, 1976

Box 49 - Election Clipping File

• October 25 - 29, 1976

Box 50 - Election Clipping File

• October 30 - November 2, 1976

Box 51 - Election Clipping File

• November 3 - December 30, 1976

Box 52 - Press Wire Stories

• July 1 - August 13, 1976

Box 53 - Press Wire Stories

• August 14 - September 3, 1976

Box 54 - Press Wire Stories

• September 4 - 23, 1976

Box 55 - Press Wire Stories

• September 24 - October 8, 1976

Box 56 - Press Wire Stories

• October 9 - 21, 1976

Box 57 - Press Wire Stories

• October 22 - November 1, 1976

Box 58 - Press Wire Stories

• November 2 - 23, 1976

Box 59 - Press Wire Stories

• November 24 - December 28, 1976