Core
Collections
on
the
Vietnam
War
July
2007
Library research room hours are 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Monday - Friday, closed weekends and Federal holidays. Appointments are not required, but they are recommended for more effective reference assistance. The reference desk may be reached by telephone at (734) 205-0555 or by e-mail.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and President Ford discuss the American evacuation of Saigon, April 28, 1975.
View detailed inventories of the archival collections summarized below
by clicking on the collection titles. You can also view selected
documents on the Vietnam War.
BUCHEN,
PHILIP:
Files,
1974-1977
Counsel
to the
President
Buchen
and
his
legal
staff
helped
interpret
the
congressional
consultation
requirements
of the
1973
War
Powers
Act.
The
act
was
tested
during
the
evacuations
of Phnom
Penh
and
Saigon,
and
the
Mayaguez military
action.
Buchen
and
staff
also
advised
on refugee
admittance
and
the
clemency
program
for
draft
evaders
and
military
absence
offenders.
FORD,
GERALD:
Papers
as
Congressman and
Vice
President, 1949-1974
Starting
with
a
1953
newsletter
to
constituents
while
visiting
French
Indo-China,
Congressman
Ford's
public
statements,
constituent
mail,
reference
materials
from
House
colleagues,
Republican
Party
materials,
and
more,
track
the
course
of
the
war
and
its
domestic
reverberations.
GOODELL,
CHARLES
E.:
Papers,
1973-77
Goodell
chaired
the
Presidential
Clemency
Board,
established
by
Ford
to
devise
and
administer
an
earned
clemency
program
for
Vietnam
War-era
draft
resisters
and
military
absence
offenders.
Included
are
board
minutes,
reports,
case
summaries
(names
omitted),
and
internal
memoranda.
A
closely
related
collection
is
the
papers
of
board
executive
director
Robert
J.
Horn.
HARTMANN,
ROBERT
T.:
Papers,
(1884)
1934-1983
As
House
Minority
Leader
Ford’s
closest
aide,
Hartmann
accumulated
detailed
minutes
of
Congressional
leadership
meetings
with
President
Nixon,
1969-1972,
transcripts
of “Ev
and
Jerry
Show” press
briefings,
1966-1967,
and
a
wide
variety
of
material
in
such
folders
as “Credibility
Gap” or “McNamara
Mismanagement.”
LAIRD,
MELVIN
R.:
Papers,
1959-2003
Laird
was
a
senior
House
Republican
in
the
1960s
and
served
as
Richard
Nixon’s
Secretary
of
Defense,
1969-72.
Included
are
memoranda,
briefing
papers,
reports,
telegrams,
press
releases,
and
speeches
on
the
Vietnam
War,
Cambodia,
Laos,
and
POWs/MIAs.
Many documents on the first three topics are still closed pending review
for declassification, but it is possible to submit Mandatory Declassification
Review requests for specific documents. Other folders may require
consultation well in advance of a research visit so archivists may complete
review of requested folders. A small number of series are closed
pending the publication of a planned memoir. Please contact
the Library for more information.
LEHMANN,
WOLFGANG:
Papers,
1973-1979
(1999)
Lehmann
was
chief
deputy
to
U.S.
ambassador
Graham
Martin
in
Saigon.
His
papers,
photos,
and
oral
histories
record
events
of
the
time,
administrative
matters
in
the
aftermath
of
the
evacuation,
and
the
subsequent
published
and
unpublished
accounts
of
Lehmann
and
other
participants.
NATIONAL
SECURITY
ADVISER
FILES:
During
1999-2000,
in
anticipation
of
the
twenty-fifth
anniversary
of
the
April
1975
fall
of
Phnom
Penh
and
Saigon,
the
Ford
Library
staff
identified
and
reviewed
for
possible
declassification
its
National
Security
Adviser
holdings
on
the
Vietnam
War.
Every
folder
title
that
included
the
name
of
an
Indochina
country,
person,
entity,
or
event
became
part
of
the
project.
Folders
containing
approximately
39,000
pages
were
so
identified
and
reviewed.
New
rules
on
declassification
(Executive
Order
12958)
and
help
from
key
agencies
made
possible
the
Library’s
Vietnam
project.
The
Department
of
State
dispatched
an
on-site
consultant
whose
guidance
and
encouragement
were
vital
to
the
launch
of
the
project.
The
Central
Intelligence
Agency
digitized
all
Indochina
documents
for
which
it
wholly
or
partly
controls
access
(approximately
25%
of
the
documents).
It
assigned
a
declassification
team
to
review
the
digital
version,
and
many
of
these
documents
are
now
reviewed
and
open.
Where
archivists
lacked
either
the
expertise
or
the
authority
to
declassify
an
item,
they
have
prepared
a “pinksheet” withdrawal
record
to
assist
the
researcher
in
seeking
further
action.
Some
National
Security
Adviser
material
on
Indochina
undoubtedly
was
omitted
from
the
April
2000
declassification
project.
This
material
is
intermingled
with
material
on
many
other
topics,
in
many
National
Security
Adviser
subcollections,
and
filed
under
such
general
headings
as,
e.g. “ China” or “Scowcroft
Chron
File.”
The
volume
of
Vietnam
Declassification
Project
material
in
the
following
National
Security
Adviser
collections
will
range
from
many
boxes
to
a
single
folder.
____.
BACKCHANNEL
MESSAGES,
1974-1977
Especially
sensitive
White
House
communications
with
Ambassador
Graham
Martin
in
Saigon
were
sent
and
received
in
the
White
House
Situation
Room
via “the
Martin
Channel.”
____.
KISSINGER-SCOWCROFT
WEST
WING
OFFICE
FILES,
1969-1977
These
files
were
kept
in
the
White
House
west
wing
office
occupied
by
Henry
Kissinger
and
his
successor,
Brent
Scowcroft.
Many
other
National
Security
Adviser
collections,
by
contrast,
were
kept
by
NSC
and
other
staff
elsewhere
in
the
White
House
or
in
the
adjacent
Old
Executive
Office
Building.
The
collection
includes
folders
on
the
Mayaguez
action,
contacts
with
Prince
Sihanouk,
and
extensive
information
on
the
secret
peace
negotiations
between
Kissinger
and
Le
Duc
Tho
conducted
through
the
French
intermediary,
Jean
Sainteny,
from
1969
until
1971.
____.
LEGISLATIVE
INTERDEPARTMENTAL
GROUP
FILES,
1971-1974 (1976)
The
LIG
was
most
active
in
1971-1972.
It
coordinated
efforts
to
deal
with
Congress
on
aid,
military
assistance,
war
limits
and
powers
legislation,
and
information
and
declassification
requests.
____.
MEMORANDA
OF
CONVERSATIONS,
1973-1977
Detailed
handwritten
notes
were
taken
during
President
Nixon’s
and
President
Ford’s
conversations
with
foreign
government
officials,
senior
U.S.
national
security
officials,
and
occasional
others.
The
notes
were
then
rendered
into
formal,
transcript-like
memoranda
of
conversation.
____.
NSC
EAST
ASIA
AND
PACIFIC
AFFAIRS
STAFF:
Files,
(1969)
1973-1976
These
work
files
of
NSC
staff
encompass
many
diplomatic
and
military
topics.
Included,
for
example,
are
background
materials
for
numbered
National
Security
Study
Memoranda;
minutes
of
various
Washington
Special
Action
Group
meetings;
memoranda
of
conversations
from
Henry
Kissinger’s
and
Alexander
Haig’s
trips
to
Indochina;
reports
for
and
from
the
Paris
peace
negotiations;
and
more.
____.
NSC
INFORMATION
LIAISON
WITH
COMMISSIONS
AND
COMMITTEES:
Files,
1974-1977
The
NSC
Secretariat
accumulated
Indochina-related
documents
of
the
1960s
while
responding
to
Congressional
investigations
of
the
intelligence
community
in
1975.
The
Secretariat
also
handled
Congressional
and
General
Accounting
Office
requests
for
information
about
the
Mayaguez
action.
____.
NSC
INTERNATIONAL
ECONOMIC
AFFAIRS
STAFF:
Files,
(1973)
1975-1976
Contains
a
very
few
items
on
MIA
issues
and
North
Vietnamese
economic
affairs
after
the
war.
____.
NSC
MEETINGS
FILE,
1974-1977
A
rich
collection
of
transcript-like
meeting
minutes
on
many
topics,
especially
SALT,
but
including
the
final
weeks
of
the
war
and
the
Mayaguez
action.
All declassified
minutes are
reproduced
on
our
website.
____.
NSC
PLANNING
AND
COORDINATION
STAFF:
Files,
1972-1975
Contains
a
few
folders
mostly
on
Cambodia
and
Vietnam
aid
issues
____.
NSC
PRESS
AND
CONGRESSIONAL
LIAISON
STAFF:
Files,
1973-1976
Includes
a
small
quantity
of
Vietnam-related
material
compiled
to
aid
in
answering
press
and
Congressional
queries
on
diverse
topics.
____.
NSC
VIETNAM
INFORMATION
GROUP:
Intelligence
and
other
reports,
1967-1975
Primarily
State
Department
and
CIA
cables
concerning
North
and
South
Vietnam.
They
concern
the
war;
relations
with
the
Saigon
government;
South
Vietnam’s
political
climate,
opposition
groups,
religious
sects,
ethnic
groups,
labor
unions,
corruption,
and
censorship;
peace
negotiations;
North
Vietnam’s
military
and
economy;
and
events
in
Laos
and
Cambodia.
____.
NATIONAL
SECURITY
STUDY
MEMORANDA
AND
DECISION
MEMORANDA,
1974-1977.
All declassified
memoranda are
reproduced
on our
website.
These
include
NSSM
213
on U.S.
assistance
policy
and
programs
for
South
Vietnam,
and
NSDM
322
on captured
U.S.
equipment.
____. “OUTSIDE
THE
SYSTEM” CHRONOLOGICAL
FILES,
1974-1977.
A collection
of documents
on a
wide
range
of topics
that
were
not
logged
into
the
NSC
computer
control
number
tracking
system,
including
scattered
items
on the
Vietnam
War,
Cambodia,
Laos,
Vietnamese
refugees,
and
POWs/MIAs.
____.
PRESIDENTIAL
CORRESPONDENCE
WITH
FOREIGN
LEADERS,
1974-1977
A folder
for
President
Nguyen
Van
Thieu
and
one
for
President
Lon
Nol
contain
both
substantive
and
routine
correspondence,
and
supporting
material.
____.
PRESIDENTIAL
COUNTRY
FILES
FOR
EAST
ASIA
AND
THE
PACIFIC,
1974-1977
Primarily
memos
by
NSC
staff
to
the
National
Security
Adviser,
or
by
him
to
President
Ford,
regarding
high-level
issues
in
U.S.
relations
with
North
and
South
Vietnam,
Cambodia,
and
Laos.
Many
State
Department
cables
are
included
as
well.
The
focus
is
on
diplomacy
rather
than
intelligence
or
military
matters.
____.
PRESIDENTIAL FILES OF NSC LOGGEED DOCUMENTS: Selected documents arranged
by log number, (1973) 1974-1977
The NSC Secretariat often logged documents and created thin case files
while tracking action on them. Indochina-related topics include: declassification
requests for documents dating to 1960s, military assistance, aid, refugees,
disposition of captured U.S. equipment, and the Mayaguez action.
____.
PRESIDENTIAL
NAME
FILE,
1974-1977
Pertinent
material
is
filed
under:
Cyrus
Eaton,
Admiral
Noel
Gayler,
Senator
Mike
Mansfield,
Ambassador
Graham
Martin,
Senator
Sam
Nunn,
Dean
Rusk,
W.R.
Smyser,
Senator
John
Sparkman,
Sir
Robert
Thompson,
and
D.
Warshaw.
____.
PRESIDENTIAL
SUBJECT
FILE,
1974-1977
Includes
folders
on
refugee
issues
and
on
White
House
liaison
with
the
National
League
of
Families
of
MIAs
and
POWs.
___.
SAIGON
EMBASSY
FILES
KEPT
BY
AMBASSADOR
MARTIN:
Copies
made
for
the
NSC,
(1963)
1970-1975
(1976)
Most
of
the
material
dates
from
the
Nixon
and
Ford
administrations,
but
there
are
earlier
items
including
material
on
the
Diem
coup
in
1963.
A
chronological
run
of
backchannel
cables
between
Ambassadors
Bunker
and
Martin
in
Saigon
and
national
security
adviser
Kissinger
comprise
most
of
the
collection.
In
addition,
there
are
talking
points
for
meetings
with
South
Vietnamese
officials,
mainly
President
Thieu;
reports
and
memoranda
of
conversations
from
those
meetings;
drafts
of
speeches;
drafts
of
proposed
agreements
prepared
by
both
sides;
and
military
situation
and
intelligence
reports.
The
secret
and
later
public
Paris
peace
talks
are
a
dominant
topic,
along
with
the
subsequent
unraveling
of
the
peace
agreement
culminating
in
the
fall
of
Saigon.
____.
STAFF
ASSISTANT
JOHN
K.
MATHENY
FILES,
1975-1976
Matheny
accumulated
material
from
many
agencies
while
working
on
an
internal “ Mayaguez
Performance
Evaluation.”
NESSEN,
RON:
Papers,
1974-77
Press
Secretary
Nessen’s
Papers
include
background
material
on
events
in
Indochina
and
notes
from
many
meetings
partly
concerned
with
Indochina.
A
separate
collection,
the
Ron
Nessen
Files,
has
indexed
transcripts
of
daily
briefings
for
the
White
House
press
corps,
with
Indochina
a
frequent
topic.
SEA-LAND
SERVICES,
INC.:
Mayaguez
interviews,
1975
Sea-Land,
as
corporate
owner
of
the
merchant
ship
Mayaguez,
conducted
extensive
interviews
with
the
ship’s
officers
and
crew
upon
their
rescue
and
arrival
in
Singapore.
U.S. MARINE CORPS HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISION:
Copies of Oral Histories on the Mayaguez Action
and Related Marine Unit Operational Records, 1965-1977
The collection includes compact disks of oral histories (audio files only)
with Marines who participated in the Mayaguez action.
It also includes compact disks containing Marine unit operational records
from the Mayaguez action. These disks,
as an incidental by-product of their creation, also contain extensive
operational records from the Marine units' participation in other phases
of the Vietnam War. Most
of these records date from 1965-1970, but some concern the evacuations
of Phnom Penh and Saigon, and the later transfer of refugees to the United
States. The Ford Library staff has printed to paper, as an additional
convenience to researchers, all operational records that date from the
Ford presidency.
U.S.
NATIONAL
SECURITY
AGENCY:
Intercepts
of
helicopter
radio
messages
during
the
evacuation
of
the
U.S.
Embassy,
Saigon
,
April
30,
1975
The
NSA
conducted
authorized
intercepts
of
helicopter
pilot
radio
transmissions
during
the
evacuation
of
the
Embassy.
The
Library
thanks
the
NSA
Historical
Office
for
discovering,
declassifying,
and
copying
the
resulting
texts.
U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Institutional Files, 1974-1977
The collection
contains minutes of NSC meetings and Washington Special Actions Group
meetings, focusing especially on the closing weeks of the Vietnam War
and the evacuation of Americans and refugees.
WHITE
HOUSE
CENTRAL
FILES
(WHCF),
1974-1977
This
vast
file
system
was
shared
by
all
White
House
staff.
Contents
range
from
public
opinion
mail
to
declassified
briefing
papers.
The
WHCF-Subject
File
has
numerous
file
headings
pertinent
to
the
war.
The
WHCF-Name
File
provides
a
partial
name
index,
very
incomplete,
to
the
Subject
File.
WHITE
HOUSE
CONGRESSIONAL
RELATIONS
OFFICE,
1974-77
This
office
provided
Presidential-Congressional
liaison
on
such
issues
as
aid
to
South
Vietnam,
use
of
the
War
Powers
Act,
MIA
and
POW
concerns,
the
clemency
program,
and
the
admittance
of
refugees.
The
files
of
office
head
Max
Friedersdorf
and
each
of
his
staff
contain
pertinent
material.
There
is
additional
material
in
the
files
of
Counsellor
to
the
President
John
O.
Marsh,
to
whom
this
office
reported
and
who
was
himself
a
former
Member
of
Congress
(D-VA)
and
Defense
Department
official.
WHITE
HOUSE
PUBLIC
LIAISON
OFFICE
The
Ted
Marrs
Files
document
interagency
efforts
on
behalf
of
Indochina
refugees
entering
the
U.S.
in
1975.
The
Milt
Mitler
Files
concern
Mitler’s
liaison
role
with
families
of
MIAs
and
POWs,
1972-1976.
WHITE
HOUSE
STAFF
SECRETARY’S
OFFICE
The
James
Connor
Files
include
Cabinet
meeting
minutes,
October
1974-October
1975,
and
these
are
reproduced
on
our
website.
A
few
hundred
pages
of
Indochina-related
material
are
found
in
the
White
House
Special
Files
Unit:
Presidential
Files
and
in
the
Presidential
Handwriting
File,
where
the
Staff
Secretary
kept
some
of
the
documents
annotated
by
the
President.
The
President’s
Daily
Diary
gives
a
very
detailed
chronological
accounting
of
the
President’s
day,
including
actual,
as
opposed
to
scheduled,
meeting
times
and
participants.
White
House
Communications
Agency
(WHCA),
1974-1977
WHCA
videotaped,
for
playback
over
the
White
House
cable
system,
selections
from
network
nightly
news
broadcasts
and
special
broadcasts.
Included
is
news about
Indochina.
WHCA
audiotaped
nearly
all
presidential
speeches
and
press
conferences,
the
daily
press
briefings
and
question
sessions
held
by
the Press
Secretary,
and
occasional
special
briefings
conducted
from
the
White
House
by
Secretary Kissinger
and
others.
White
House
Photo
Office,
1974-1977
Photographers
created
a
daily
record
of
the
President’s
private
meetings,
travels,
and
public
events.
They
occasionally
recorded
the
work
of
White
House
staff,
Ford
family
life,
and
the
work
of
the
First
Lady.
An
exception
to
the
normal
scope
Photo
Office
work
is
White
House
chief
photographer
David
Kennerly’s
record
of
General
Weyand’s
mission
to
Saigon
in
March
1975.
Other
AV
materials
Pertinent
additional
material
includes
photos
from
Congressman
Ford’s
1953
trip
to
Saigon,
photos
from
an
album
kept
1973-1975
by
Saigon
deputy
ambassador
Wolfgang
Lehmann,
photos
acquired
in
the
course
of
Ford
Museum
exhibit
planning,
complimentary
videotapes
provided
by
broadcasters
of
Vietnam
War
retrospectives,
and
miscellaneous
other
items.