SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Materials include August 1974 - July 1976 issues of "News and Comment", the President's daily news summary, plus draft news summaries and clippings. Also briefing books for the President's press conferences, media interviews and trips.

QUANTITY
48 linear feet (ca. 96,000 pages)

DONOR
Gerald R. Ford (accession numbers 77-107,78-22,79-8, and 83-16)

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Gerald R. Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 H. McNitt, March 1983
[s:\bin\findaid\shuman, james - files.doc]

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

James B. Shuman

May 8, 1932 - Born in New York, NY

1950-54 - B.A.,Wesleyan University, Middleton, CT

1954-56 - U.S. Navy

1956-59 - Reporter, Sharon (Pennsylvania) Herald

1959-61 - Reporter, United Press International

1961-71 - Staff writer and associate editor, Reader's Digest

1971-72 - Senior staff associate and part-time writer for John D. Rockefeller III

1972-75 - Self employed writer and consultant

1975-77 - Editor, President's news summaries; Associate Director of Communications at the White House

1977-Present - Self employed writer and consultant

Philip L. Warden

Nov. 3, 1912 - Born in Trenton, MO

1930-34 - B.A., Park College, Kansas City, MO

1934-35 - Advertising Solicitor and Reporter, Trenton (MO) Republican Times

1935-36 - B.A. (Journalism), University of Missouri

1935-40 - Reporter and Advertising, Barrick Publishing Co., Kansas City, MO

1940-42 - Financial Reporter, Chicago Tribune

1942-74 - Washington Bureau, Chicago Tribune

1944-46 - U.S. Navy

1974-75 - Editor, President's news summaries, White House

INTRODUCTION

The James B. Shuman files cover his work as editor of both the President's news summary and Presidential briefing books for meetings with the news media from April 1975 to July 1976. Also included are earlier news summaries and briefing books which he inherited from predecessors. The news summary was a compilation and distillation of printed and electronic media news articles, distributed daily to the President and about 130 White House staff. The briefing books are compilations of hypothesized questions and proposed answers. They sometimes include background information not intended to be part of the answer. Although Shuman remained on the White House staff until the end of the administration, no files concerning his work between August 1976 and January 1977 is included.

Series concerning the production of the news summaries include the raw materials clipped for use in the summaries, drafts, and published versions. While the news summaries are complete from the beginning of the administration, the drafts start with September 1974 when Philip L. Warden assumed the editorship from Lyndon K. Allin. The clippings series begin with Shuman's arrival in April 1975. These materials are useful for studying the development for the news summary and the changes it went through under different editors. It is also possible to study the manner in which the staff compiled the news summary, although the lack of an administrative file of memoranda between Shuman and his staff, his superiors, and other White House staff members makes this much more difficult.

Two series concern Shuman's work as editor of the briefing books. Included are Shuman's copies of the briefing books, President Ford's copies (which were returned to Shuman after being used), and a file of briefing material on each state. The President's copies bear only occasional annotations. While some briefing books predate Shuman's service on the White House staff, the bulk of them reflect his work.

James Shuman first joined the administration on April 3, 1975, after a career in journalism and free-lance writing. He replaced Philip Warden as news summary editor and also took over the briefing book function previously handled by Gerald Warren and Thomas DeCair. There are indications that for at least part of his service he also supervised the press office correspondence unit and the special projects unit. Among the projects handled by the latter unit was Jonathan Hoornstra's work on media analysis.

In his role as news summary editor Shuman was aided by a staff of four to five assistants who edited AP and UPI news wire stories, monitored and wrote summaries of television news broadcasts, and excerpted articles from magazines and the 40 newspapers they read regularly and 60 more they scanned. Shuman set overall policy and supervised the work of the staff, but spent more of his own time compiling briefing books.

To compile briefing books he solicited questions and answer briefing sheets (Q & A's) from executive departments and agencies, White House and Domestic Council staff members and the President Ford Committee and also drafted some himself. He combined these with state profiles, summaries of state issues (supplied by the President's special assistant for intergovernmental affairs Stephen G. McConahey), and occasional background information from members of Congress. The briefing books were apparently not distributed very widely. Besides the President and press office staff such as Ron Nessen, David Gergen and Gerald Warren, the only other person who is known to have seem them regularly is Donald Rumsfeld. A small number of briefing books which Rumsfeld retired to the White House Central Files was combined into this collection during processing.

Around August 1, 1976 Shuman gave up his news summary responsibilities to Agnes Waldron and his briefing book work to either Waldron or Anne Brunsdale. He handled general press office duties assisting David Gergen and Ron Nessen for the rest of the administration.

Related Materials (March 1983)
Among the related materials at this writing are news summaries in the Agnes Waldron files and briefing books in the David Gergen files, both covering August 1976 - January 1977; the files of his supervisor Margita White; materials in the Barry Roth files relating to a lawsuit against the White House by a former member of the news summary staff (some Shuman administrative memoranda are included in those files); and the White House Central Files subject file categories PR 16-2 (Press Conferences), PR 16-3 (Presidential News Analysis), and TR (Trips). President Ford's copies of the news summaries are among the files of the Office of the Staff Secretary.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

News Summaries, 1974-76.  (Boxes 1-41, 16.4 linear feet)
Daily copies of the President's news summaries compiled from newspaper and magazine articles and television newscasts. During Philip Warden's editorship the news summaries appeared under various formats as news summaries, digests of comment, editorials/comments on recent news, and weekend news reviews. Beginning on April 8, 1975, with Shuman's arrival as editor, the news summary was given the title News & Comment and a standard format. News & Comment was issued Monday through Saturday mornings with occasional special editions.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

News Summaries - Rough Drafts, 1974-76.  (Boxes 42-71, 12.0 linear feet)
Presswires, newspaper articles, typed summaries of broadcast stories, and logs of news shows. The materials are heavily edited and consist of rough typed, "cut and paste" or photocopied articles. As news summaries were often compiled the day before they were issued, there is sometimes a one day difference between the dates on folders here and in the previous series.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

News Summaries - Clippings, 1975-76.  (Boxes 72-92, 8.4 linear feet)
Newspaper articles and occasional magazine articles clipped for use in the news summaries. The folder for each edition may include articles with dates covering several days.

Arranged chronologically by the date they were clipped.

View container list for this series

Publications and News Clippings Subject File, 1974.  (Boxes 93-99, 2.8 linear feet)
Newspaper and magazine articles, press wires, publications, transcripts of radio and TV news and interview shows, press conference transcripts and occasional White House press releases. Topics include President Ford's activities, his family, the 1974 transition, President Nixon and his pardon, the Nelson Rockefeller nomination as Vice President, the White House staff, and other political figures.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Briefing Books, 1974-76.  (Boxes 100-117, 7.2 linear feet)
The President's briefing books for press conferences, media interviews and trips. The books contain Q & A's, occasional cables from the White House staff to the President giving last minute information, transcripts of speeches, and publications. They are divided into the general categories of domestic affairs, foreign affairs, economics, energy, CIA, and essays/overviews on specific subject. Due to a regional emphasis on trips in 1976, state profiles, local issues and revenue sharing sections were added. The copies actually used by the President are included here with his occasional annotation.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

State Briefing Materials, 1975-76. (Boxes 118-120, 1.2 linear feet)
Historical sketches, background on the population and industries of each state, Q & A's on local issues, and occasional correspondence, newspaper and magazine articles, trip schedules and lists of revenue sharing funds received by various communities. The bulk of the file duplicates material in the previous series, but occasional letters from Congressmen advising on local matters are included.

Arranged alphabetically by state.

View container list for this series

CONTAINER LIST

Box 1 - News Summaries

• 8/11-31/74

Box 2 - News Summaries

• 9/1-19/74

Box 3 - News Summaries

• 9/20/74 - 10/2/74

Box 4 - News Summaries

• 10/3-15/74

Box 5 - News Summaries

• 10/16-29/74

Box 6 - News Summaries

• 10/30/74 - 11/9/74

Box 7 - News Summaries

• 11/10-23/74

Box 8 - News Summaries

• 11/23/74 - 12/5/74

Box 9 - News Summaries

• 12/6-21/74

Box 10 - News Summaries

• 12/22/74 - 1/9/75

Box 11 - News Summaries

• 1/10-23/75

Box 12 - News Summaries

• 1/24/75 - 2/5/75

Box 13 - News Summaries

• 2/6-20/75

Box 14 - News Summaries

• 2/21/75 - 3/8/75

Box 15 - News Summaries

• 3/9-23/75

Box 16 - News Summaries

• 3/24/75 - 4/8/75

Box 17 - News Summaries

• 4/9-25/75

Box 18 - News Summaries

• 4/26/75 - 5/11/75

Box 19 - News Summaries

• 5/12-25/75

Box 20 - News Summaries

• 5/26/75 - 6/16/75

Box 21 - News Summaries

• 6/17/75 - 7/3/75

Box 22 - News Summaries

• 7/4-23/75

Box 23 - News Summaries

• 7/24/75 - 8/13/75

Box 24 - News Summaries

• 8/14/75 - 9/4/75

Box 25 - News Summaries

• 9/5-19/75

Box 26 - News Summaries

• 9/20/75 - 10/8/75

Box 27 - News Summaries

• 10/9/75 - 11/2/75

Box 28 - News Summaries

• 11/3/75 - 12/5/75

Box 29 - News Summaries

• 12/6/75 - 1/7/76

Box 30 - News Summaries

• 1/8-29/76

Box 31 - News Summaries

• 1/30/76 - 2/16/76

Box 32 - News Summaries

• 2/17/76 - 3/8/76

Box 33 - News Summaries

• 3/9-30/76

Box 34 - News Summaries

• 3/31/76 - 4/19/76

Box 35 - News Summaries

• 4/20/76 - 5/4/76

Box 36 - News Summaries

• 5/5-17/76

Box 37 - News Summaries

• 5/18/76 - 6/2/76

Box 38 - News Summaries

• 6/3-18/76

Box 39 - News Summaries

• 6/19/76 - 7/7/76

Box 40 - News Summaries

• 7/8-22/76

Box 41 - News Summaries

• 7/23-31/76

Box 42 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 9/10-30/74

Box 43 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 10/1-17/74

Box 44 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 10/18/74 - 11/4/74

Box 45 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 11/5-19/74

Box 46 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 11/20/74 - 12/10/74

Box 47 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 12/11-30/74

Box 48 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 1/1-19/75

Box 49 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 1/20/75 - 2/5/75

Box 50 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 2/6/75 - 4/10/75

Box 51 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 4/11-28/75

Box 52 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 4/29/75 - 5/15/75

Box 53 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 5/16/75 - 6/2/75

Box 54 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 6/3-18/75

Box 55 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 6/19/75 - 7/10/75

Box 56 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 7/11-30/75

Box 57 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 7/31/75 - 8/18/75

Box 58 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 8/19/75 - 9/5/75

Box 59 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 9/6-24/75

Box 60 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 9/25/75 - 10/5/75

Box 61 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 10/6/75 - 11/10/75

Box 62 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 11/11/75 - 12/5/75

Box 63 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 12/6/75 - 1/6/76

Box 64 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 1/7/76 - 2/2/76

Box 65 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 2/3-29/76

Box 66 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 3/1-31/76

Box 67 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 4/1-30/76

Box 68 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 5/1-24/76

Box 69 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 5/25/76 - 6/17/76

Box 70 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 6/18/76 - 7/12/76

Box 71 - News Summaries - Rough Drafts

• 7/13-29/76

Box 72 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 4/4-30/75

Box 73 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 5/1-24/75

Box 74 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 5/25/75 - 6/12/75

Box 75 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 6/13-30/75

Box 76 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 7/1-27/75

Box 77 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 7/28/75 - 8/11/75

Box 78 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 8/12-25/75

Box 79 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 8/26/75 - 9/10/75

Box 80 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 9/11-29/75

Box 81 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 9/30/75 - 10/14/75

Box 82 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 10/15/75 - 11/6/75

Box 83 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 11/7-25/75

Box 84 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 11/26/75 - 1/8/76

Box 85 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 1/9/76 - 2/9/76

Box 86 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 2/10/76 - 3/5/76

Box 87 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 3/6-23/76

Box 88 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 3/24/76 - 4/19/76

Box 89 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 4/20/76 -5/9/76

Box 90 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 5/10-31/76

Box 91 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 6/1-26/76

Box 92 - News Summaries - Clippings

• 6/27/76 - 7/29/76

Box 93 - Publications and News Clippings Subject File

• Africa
• Albert, Carl
• American Bar Association
• American Mood
• Amnesty
• Asia
• Associated Milk Producers, Inc.
• Atomic Energy Commission
• Bicentennial
• Buckley, William - Transcripts from Firing Line
• Budget
• Business
• Butz, Earl
• Camp David
• Capital Punishment
• CIA
• Coal Mining
• Communist Propaganda
• Congress
• Conservation
• Consumers
• Courtroom Procedures
• Crime
• Cuba
• Defense

Box 94 - Publications and News Clippings Subject File

• Detente
• Democrats
• Economic Affairs
• Election, 1974
• Election, 1976
• Election Reform
• Energy
• Environment
• Europe - Eastern
• Europe - Western
• European Economic Community
• Federal Aid to Education
• Food
• Ford - Ancestry
• Ford, Betty
• Ford - Congressional Career
• Ford - Family
• Ford - First Press Conference
• Ford - Health
• Ford - Miscellaneous (1)

Box 95 - Publications and News Clippings Subject File

• Ford - Miscellaneous (2)-(7)
• Ford - Recreation and Sports
• Ford - Relations With The Media
• Ford - Schedule
• Ford - Speeches
• Ford - Vice Presidency
• Foreign Affairs
• Foreign Affairs - India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh

Box 96 - Publications and News Clippings Subject File

• Foreign Affairs - Greece (1)-(2)
• Haig, Alexander M., Jr.
• Health
• Housing
• Humphrey, Hubert
• Hurricane Carmen
• Illegal Aliens
• Indians - Wounded Knee
• Jackson, Henry
• Johnson, Lyndon
• Kennedy, Edward
• Kennedy Family
• Kissinger, Henry A.
• Labor
• Laird, Melvin
• Law of the Sea Conference
• Legal Assistance for the Poor
• Lindbergh, Charles A.
• Local Government
• McLaughlin, Rev. John
• Media
• Middle East
• Milk Price Supports

Box 97 - Publications and News Clippings Subject File

• Minorities
• Miscellaneous
• Mitchell, Martha
• Modern Art
• National Governors' Conference
• News Summary
• Nixon - Lawsuit
• Nixon Pardon
• Nixon Resignation (1)-(4)
• Nixon Tapes
• Nuclear Weapons
• Oil
• Pension Reform Bill
• Patents
• Politics
• Population
• Privacy
• Rebozo, Charles G. "Bebe"
• Religion
• Republicans
• Rockefeller, Nelson (1)-(2)

Box 98 - Publications and News Clippings Subject File

• Rockefeller, Nelson (3)-(4)
• Rhodes, John J.
• Roosevelt, Franklin D.
• Saxbe, William
• Schlesinger, James R.
• Scherle, Bill - Report from Washington
• School Desegregation
• Scott, Hugh
• Seidman, L. William
• Senior Citizens
• Smith, Helen
• Southern Governors' Conference
• Soviet Dissidents
• Space
• Sports
• Strategic Arms Limitation
• Taxes - Proposed Gasoline Tax
• Teamsters Union
• terHorst, Jerry
• Transition (1)-(3)

Box 99 - Publications and News Clippings Subject File

• Transition (4)-(6)
• Transportation
• Unemployment
• United States Postal Service
• USSR
• Veterans Administration Information Network
• Vietnam
• Wall Street
• Washington D.C. - Elections
• Watergate Prosecutions
• Welfare Reform
• White House Staff
• Women's Rights

Box 100 - Briefing Books

• 10/9/74 - Press Conference (1)-(4)
• 11/12/74 - Press Conference (1)-(3)
• 11/26/74 - Press Conference (1)-(2)
• 12/11/74 - Briefing Book (1)-(2)

Box 101 - Briefing Books

• 12/18/74 - Press Conference (1)-(3)
• 1/4/75 - Briefing Book
• 1/23/75 - Briefing Book
• 1/27/75 - Briefing Book: First Draft for Spokesman's Briefing Book (1)-(4)
• 1/29/75 - Briefing Book: Second Draft for Spokesman's Briefing Book

Box 102 - Briefing Books

• 1/31/75 - Briefing Book (1)-(2)
• 2/1/75 - Briefing Book
• 2/4/75 - Press Conference
• 2/11/75 - Press Conference
• 2/26/75 - Press Conference
• 3/6/75 - Press Conference (1)-(2)
• 3/17/75 - Press Conference

Box 103 - Briefing Books

• 4/1/75 - Briefing Book
• 4/3/75 - Press Conference (1)-(2)
• 4/4/75 - Briefing Book
• 4/6/75 - Briefing Book
• 5/6/75 - Press Conference
• 5/14/75 - Briefing Book
• 5/19/75 - Briefing Book

Box 104 - Briefing Books

• 5/23/75 - Briefing Book
• 6/9/75 - Press Conference
• 6/25/75 - Press Conference
• 7/12/75 - Press Conference (1)-(2)
• 8/1/75 - Briefing Book
• 8/6/75 - PBS Interview

Box 105 - Briefing Books

• 8/7/75 - Wire Service Correspondents Interview
• 8/15/75 - Minnesota and Illinois Trip
• 8/29/75 - New England Television Interview
• 9/4/75 - Seattle Trip
• 9/5/75 - Briefing Book
• 9/11/75 - St. Louis Trip
• 9/16/75 - Press Conference
• 9/18/75 - Oklahoma and California Trip (1)-(2)
• 9/29/75 - Nebraska Trip (1)

Box 106 - Briefing Books

• 9/29/75 - Nebraska Trip (2)
• 10/6/75 - Cox Newspapers Interview
• 10/7/75 - Appalachian Regional White House Conference
• 10/9/75 - Press Conference (1)-(2)
• 10/17/75 - Cox Newspapers Interview
• 10/29/75 - Briefing Book
• 10/30/75 - Metromedia Anchormen Interview
• 11/3/75 - Press Conference
• 11/6/75 - New England Trip

Box 107 - Briefing Books

• 11/9/75 - Meet the Press Interview
• 11/13/75 - Scripps-Howard Editors Interview
• 11/25/75 - WMUR Interview
• 11/26/75 - Press Conference
• 12/12/75 - Hugh Sidey (Time Magazine) Interview
• 12/20/75 - Press Conferences
• 1/2/76 - Tom Brokaw/John Chancellor Interview
• 1/5/76 - Regional Newspaper Editors, St. Louis
• 1/12/76 - Time Magazine Editors Interview (1)-(2)
• 1/22/76 - New Hampshire Editors Interview

Box 108 - Briefing Books

• 2/3/76 - Walter Cronkite Interview
• 2/5/76 - Christian Science Monitor Interview
• 2/7-8/76 - New Hampshire Trip
• 2/10/76 - Sperling Breakfast Interview

Box 109 - Briefing Books

• 2/11/76 - WBZ-TV Interview
• 2/12/76 - New Hampshire Radio Interview
• 2/13-14/76 - Florida Trip (1)-(2)
• 2/17/76 - Press Conference
• 2/18/76 - Florida Newspapers Interview
• 2/19-20/76 - New Hampshire Trip (1)-(2)

Box 110 - Briefing Books

• 2/21/76 - Boston Globe Interview
• 2/24/76 - Hearst Newspapers Interview
• 2/26/76 - Ralph Renick (WTVJ-TV) Interview
• 2/28-29/76 - Florida Trip
• 3/5-6/76 - Illinois Trip

Box 111 - Briefing Books

• 3/11/76 - Illinois Trip (1)-(4)
• 3/13/76 - North Carolina Trip
• 3/26-27/76 - California Trip (1)

Box 112 - Briefing Books

• 3/26-27/76 - California Trip (2)
• 3/27/76 - Wisconsin Trip (1)-(2)
• 3/30/76 - Farm Editors Interview
• 4/2-3/76 - Wisconsin Trip
• 4/9-10/76 - Texas Trip (1)-(3)

Box 113 - Briefing Books

• 4/13/76 - American Society of Newspaper Editors Reception
• 4/14/76 - American Society of Newspaper Editors Interview
• 4/15/76 - WFAA TV/Radio Interview
• 4/21/76 - Briefing Book
• 4/22-23/76 - Indiana Trip
• 4/23/76 - Georgia Trip
• 4/27-30/76 - Louisiana and Texas Trip (1)-(2)

Box 114 - Briefing Books

• 5/2-3/76 - Indiana Trip
• 5/3/76 - Alabama Trip
• 5/7-8/76 - Nebraska and Missouri Trip
• 5/12/76 - Michigan Trip
• 5/13/76 - Scripps-Howard Broadcasters Interview
• 5/14/76 - Tennessee and Kentucky Trip
• 5/20/76 - Kentucky Media Interview

Box 115 - Briefing Books

• 5/21/76 - Tennessee Media Interview
• 5/22-24/76 - Oregon and Nevada Trip (1)-(4)
• 5/26/76 - Ohio Trip

Box 116 - Briefing Books

• 5/28/76 - Newhouse Newspapers and Rhode Island Media Nation Interview
• 6/11/76 - National Education Association Interview
• 6/18/76 - Iowa Trip
• 6/19/76 - KMPC Radio Interview
• 7/9/76 - Deseret News Interview
• 7/16-17/76 - Connecticut Trip
• 7/19/76 - Press Conference

Box 117 - Briefing Books

• 7/20/76 - Waterloo Courier Interview
• 7/22/76 - Reader's Digest Interview
• 7/30/76 - Mississippi Trip
• 8/7/76 - The Convention Film
• 8/11-13/76 - Pre-convention Interviews
• 8/28/76 - Briefing Book

Box 118 - State Briefing Materials

• Alabama - Michigan

Box 119 - State Briefing Materials

• Minnesota - Ohio (1)

Box 120 - State Briefing Materials

• Ohio (2) - Wyoming