COLLECTION FINDING AID



ROBERT HORN PAPERS, 1974-75

Executive Secretary, Presidential Clemency Board



CONTENTS

Summary Description | Biographical Information | Introduction | Series Descriptions | Container List

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Materials on the administration of the Presidential Clemency Board covering such matters as budget/finance, personnel, training, board organization and workflow, and public comments. Documents include regulations, meeting minutes, training manuals, decision lists, and pardon recommendations.

QUANTITY
 8.8 linear feet (ca. 17,600 pages)

DONOR
 Robert J. Horn (accession numbers 91-38, 92-27)

ACCESS
 Open. Some items are temporarily restricted under terms of Mr. Horn's deed of gift, a copy of which is available on request. Advance consultation is required for some folders so that archivists may complete routine review for privacy or other restricted information.

COPYRIGHT
 Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. In addition, Mr. Horn has donated to the United States of America his copyright interest in any other of his writings that might be included in this collection. The copyright interest to materials written by other individuals or organizations is presumed to remain with them.

Prepared by William McNitt, August 1991; Revised by Joshua Cochran, December 2005
[s:\bin\findaid\horn, robert - papers.doc]

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION


Robert J. Horn


August 23, 1943 - Born, New York, NY

1964 - B.B.A. in Public Administration, City College of New York

1967 - J.D., Fordham University Law School

1967-68 - Part-time legislative aide to Congressman Theodore R. Kupferman of New York

1968-69 - Attorney with Perrin, Nachman and Stella of New York, NY

1969-71 - Attorney, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

1971-72 - Senior program analyst, Office of the Assistant Commissioner for Programs, Housing Production and Mortgage Credit of the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development

1972-74 - Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Housing Management, Department of Housing and Urban Development

1974-75 - Executive Secretary, Presidential Clemency Board (on detail from HUD)

1976-82 - Named Special Assistant to Governor William G. Milliken of Michigan and head of the state's Washington office.

1983-01 - Director of the Washington office of Detroit Edison. He subsequently became Assistant Vice-President of Federal Affairs for DTE, and a Corporate Officer.

1987-94 - Member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council

2000 - Served as lead attorney for George W. Bush’s recount effort in Broward County, Florida.

2001 -- Attorney, partner at Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C.

INTRODUCTION

On September 16, 1974, President Gerald Ford announced the formation of the Presidential Clemency Board, charged with creating a program of conditional clemency for those accused of draft or military absence offenses during the Vietnam War. The Board, chaired by former New York Senator Charles Goodell immediately began to develop the program and hire a staff. They borrowed Robert Horn from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to serve as Executive Secretary to the Board.

According to the Board's final report, the Executive Secretary did not direct the work of the staff, but was part of what it referred to as the "Senior Staff." Horn handled administrative matters such as access lists, budget and finance, personnel matters, and office space, and was responsible for recording meeting minutes. He saw to it that Board decisions were implemented, advised the Board Chairman and the General Counsel on general matters of policy, and suggested procedures for expediting case processing and maintaining case records. Finally, he acted on behalf of the Board with staff and outside agencies when issues of a non-legal nature arose.

The Horn Papers cover the period from October 1974 to September 1975. While portions of the collection concern rules, regulations and procedures developed by Board members and staff, the bulk documents administrative matters such as budget, finance, personnel, and office space. Other documents give a sense of the final product that the board achieved, namely the case summaries, their recommendations to the President, and the decision lists. Upon the Board’s termination in September 1975, its remaining administrative duties were transferred to the U.S. Attorney General.

An initial series of the Horn Papers containing approximately 1200 pages was processed and opened in August 1991 (boxes 1-2). A subsequent accretion of papers that includes meeting minutes, pardon recommendations, decision lists, and personnel files, was processed and opened for research in December 2005 (boxes 3-17). A small portion of the accretion remains unprocessed (boxes 18-23) due to extensive privacy concerns.

Related Materials (December 2005)
The papers of Clemency Board Chairman Charles Goodell contain extensive materials on the Board and the clemency program, as do White House Central Files categories FG 6-28 (Presidential Clemency Board) and JL 1 and its subdivisions (Amnesties - Clemencies - Pardons). White House staff files containing significant documentation include those of Philip Buchen, Bobbie Kilberg, Theodore Marrs, John Marsh, and Geoffrey Shepard. A bound copy of the Clemency Board’s Final Report to the President is housed in the Library’s book collection.

The National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, MD house the records of the Presidential Clemency Board as Record Group 429.10 (RG 429.10).

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Presidential Clemency Board Subject File, 1974-75.  (Boxes 1-2, 0.6 linear feet)
Memoranda, correspondence, press releases and publications. The materials concern the operation of the Board, including rules, regulations and procedures developed by the board members and staff, and administrative matters such as budget/finance, personnel, and office space. This series was processed and opened to research in 1991. Other series were processed and opened in 2005.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion, 1974-1975.  (Boxes 3-11, 3.4 linear feet)
Memoranda, correspondence, publications, and training manuals. The materials concern the operation of the board, including rules, regulations, procedures, and administrative matters such as budget/finance, personnel, training, organization, press relations, and public comments. (Note: Review of this series for opening is not yet complete, but if you contact the Library in advance of your visit, we may be able to open specific individual folders for research use.)

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Presidential Clemency Board Meeting Minutes, 1974-1975.  (Boxes 11-12, 0.4 linear feet)
Minutes of the Clemency Board’s meetings from October 1974 to September 1975. Minutes contain discussions of the board’s practices, organization, case loads, and other administrative issues.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

Presidential Clemency Board Recommendations to the President, 1974-1975.  (Boxes 12-14, 1.0 linear feet)
Memoranda, pardon lists issued by the White House, and case summaries of applicants giving details of their cases. Case summaries are anonymous and only identify applicants by case number. This series begins with the second set of recommendations from December 21, 1974. Copies of the first set of recommendations from November 25, 1974 can be found in box 6 of the Charles Goodell Papers. Many of the documents housed in this series are duplicates of those found in the White House Central Files JL series, and the Charles Goodell Papers. (Note: Review of this series for opening is not yet complete, but if you contact the Library in advance of your visit, we may be able to open specific individual folders for research use.)

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

Presidential Clemency Board Decision Lists, 1974‑75.  (Boxes 15-16, 0.6 linear feet)
Worksheets, memos, and decision lists chronicling the status of applicants’ cases with regard to the PCB. Decision lists are anonymous and only identify applicants by case number. (Note: Review of this series for opening is not yet complete, but if you contact the Library in advance of your visit, we may be able to open specific individual folders for research use.)

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

Presidential Clemency Board Staff Name File, 1974-1975.  (Boxes 16-17, 0.6 linear feet)
Memoranda, letters, forms, resumes, and other personnel files for PCB members and staff. (Note: Review of this series for opening is not yet complete, but if you contact the Library in advance of your visit, we may be able to open specific individual folders for research use.)

Arranged alphabetically by staff member.

View container list for this series

Presidential Clemency Board Chronological File, 1974-1975. (Boxes 18-23, 2.2 linear feet)
This series remains unprocessed and closed to research.

Audiovisual Material Transferred from the Textual Collection.

View container list for this series


CONTAINER LIST

Box 1 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File

Box 2 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File

Box 3 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 4 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 5 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 6 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 7 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 8 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 9 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 10 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 11 - Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 11 (Continued) - Presidential Clemency Board Meeting Minutes

Box 12 - Presidential Clemency Board Meeting Minutes

Box 12 (Continued) - Presidential Clemency Board Recommendations to the President

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 13 - Presidential Clemency Board Recommendations to the President

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 14 - Presidential Clemency Board Recommendations to the President

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 15 - Presidential Clemency Board Decision Lists

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 16 - Presidential Clemency Board Decision Lists

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 16 (Continued) - Presidential Clemency Board Staff Name File

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Box 17 - Presidential Clemency Board Staff Name File

(Note: Folders with the titles struck through are not yet open to research, but can be added to the Library's review queue.)

Boxes 18-23 - Presidential Clemency Board Chronological File [Unprocessed and Closed to Research]



Audiovisual Materials Transferred from the Textual Collection

All of the items are White House photographs and are in the public domain.

Items Transferred from the Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion Series, Box 8, File: Presidential Photos

Folder Accession Number Description

1

1991-NLF-038 (001-003)

Official Portrait of V.P. Gerald R. Ford (G0013), 1/7/1974, 8x10 color

2

1991-NLF-038 (004-008)

First Official Portrait of President Gerald R. Ford; stamped on the back: “This is an exact reproduction of the President’s signature.” ( A0381), 8/27/1974, 8x10 color

3

1991-NLF-038 (004-009)

Ford children watching the swearing-in of Gerald R. Ford as 38th President of the United States (A0003-09A), 8/9/1974, 8x10 color



Items Transferred from the Presidential Clemency Board Subject File Accretion Series, Box 8, File: Photographs

Folder Accession Number Description

1

1991-NLF-038 (010-012)

Meeting of the New Appointees to the Presidential Clemency Board, (A4374-17A), 5/5/1975, 8x10 b/w

2

1991-NLF-038 (013-015)

Meeting of the New Appointees to the Presidential Clemency Board, (A4374-12A), 5/5/1975, 8x10 bw

3

1991-NLF-038 (016)

Meeting of the New Appointees to the Presidential Clemency Board, (A4374-18A), 5/5/1975, 8x10 bw

4

1991-NLF-038 (017)

Clemency Board Signing Ceremony For the First Warrants for Clemency (A2216-07), 11/29/1974, 8x10 bw