COLLECTION FINDING AID



WARREN RUSTAND AND WILLIAM NICHOLSON FILES, (1973) 1974-77

Directors of the Presidential Scheduling Office
Office of Scheduling and Advance



CONTENTS

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

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

This collection contains correspondence, calendars, schedules, schedule proposals, briefing papers, Cabinet meeting minutes, foreign travel requests, and publications compiled or created by Presidential Scheduling office staff that document Scheduling Office operations and the activities of the President, First Family, Vice President, Cabinet, and political appointees.

QUANTITY
 28.6 linear feet (approximately 52,000 pages)

DONOR
 Gerald R. Ford (1977-NLF-092; 1977-NLF-093; 1977-NLF-095)

ACCESS
 Open. Some items may be 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 Gerald R. Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 Ashlee Chism, Jeremy Schmidt, Hannah Brookhart, and Matt Green, May 2014
[S/BIN/Finding Aids and Guides/rustand and nicholson.doc]

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION


Warren Rustand


January 3, 1943 - Born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota

1965 - B.S. in Political Science, University of Arizona

1965-1968 - Faculty member at the University of Arizona

1969 - President of Warren Rustand Associates

1970-1973 - President of Executive Analysts, Inc.

1971 - M.A. in Political Science, University of Arizona

1973-1974 - Director of Scheduling and Advance, Office of Vice President Ford

1974-1975 - Director, White House Scheduling Office

1987-1997 - Chairman and CEO, Cambridge Company, Ltd.

1994-1997 - Chairman, 20/20 Laser Centers, Inc.

1996-1998 - Chairman and CEO, Rural/Metro Corp.

1997- - Director, TLC Vision Corporation

2000- - Strategic Partner, Harlingwood Capital Partners, LP

2001- - Chairman and CEO, Summit Capital Consulting

2004- - Managing Director / Managing Partner, SC Capital Partners LLC

2005- - Director, Providence Service Corp.

2006- - Chairman, Board of TLC Vision Corporation

2007-2012 - Lead Director, Providence Service Corp.

2007-2014 - Director, MedPro Safety Products

2012-2013 - Interim CEO, Providence Service Corp.

2013- - CEO, Providence Service Corp.

William Nicholson


February 18, 1943 - Born in Great Bend, Kansas

1961-1963 - Attended the University of Arizona

1966 - B.S., University of Nevada

1966-1971 - Captain, United States Air Force

1971 - Real Estate Sales Manager, Pemtom, Inc.

1972 - Director of Marketing and Sales, Pemtom, Inc.

1973-1974 - Vice President, Robert Engstrom Associates, Inc.

1974-1975 - Deputy Director, White House Scheduling Office

1975-1977 - Director, White House Scheduling Office

1984-1992 Chief Operating Officer, Amway

INTRODUCTION

These are the combined files of the Directors of the Presidential Scheduling Office, Warren Rustand, and his successor, William Nicholson. Rustand previously served as Vice President Ford's Director of Scheduling and Advance. A small number of documents are included in this collection from this earlier post. In November 1975, Nicholson, who was the Deputy Director of the Presidential Scheduling Office was promoted to Director, following Rustand's resignation. Nicholson inherited Rustand's files and continued them, largely following the same filing scheme, until the end of President Ford's term in office.

This collection contains correspondence, calendars, schedules, schedule proposals, briefing papers, Cabinet meeting minutes, foreign travel requests, and publications compiled or created by Presidential Scheduling office staff. This office served as the entrance point for all demands on the President's time, including requests for public appearances, meetings with the public or staff, or telephone calls to individuals or organizations. The Director proposed daily, weekly, and monthly schedules for the President. The proposals were first sent to the Assistant to the President for White House Operations (Donald Rumsfeld, and later, Richard Cheney) for their comments and then on to President Ford for approval. After approval, the finalized schedule would be copied and sent out to pertinent staff members. The Scheduling Office also kept finalized copies of each type of schedule, as well as copies of letters accepting or declining invitations.

Although the bulk of the collection's files pertain to the duty of scheduling, other areas are also represented. The Scheduling Office initially had major responsibility for working with the Cabinet. At the beginning of the Ford administration, the head of this office also served as Secretary to the Cabinet, and even after James Connor was named to that post in January 1975, Rustand continued much of the Cabinet liaison work. This work included briefings for new Cabinet members, developing meeting agenda, taking notes, and communications. Following Rustand's departure, these Cabinet-related duties were transferred to the Secretary to the Cabinet. An exception to this was oversight of the Presidential Spokesmen Office. This office handled event invitations that the President had to decline, but which were considered important enough that the administration should be represented at the event. The office coordinated the schedules of administration spokesmen such as Cabinet officers and agency heads and arranged for them to speak on behalf of the President.

The Scheduling Office also kept records of presidential telephone calls, scheduled political activities in conjunction with the President Ford Committee, analyzed how the President's time was spent, scheduled the use of Camp David, U.S.S. Sequoia (presidential yacht), and the President's Kennedy Center box. This collection includes reference material including presidential meeting briefing papers, press releases, and speeches.

Related Materials (May 2014)
Related materials include the Jerry Jones Files (Director, Scheduling and Advance Office), James Connor Files (Cabinet Secretary), Warren Hendriks Files (Director, Office of Presidential Spokesmen), and White House Central Files Subject File (FG 6-11: The White House Office).

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Subject File, (1973) 1974‑77.  (Boxes A1‑A28, 12 linear feet)
This series consists of correspondence, minutes, calendars, schedules, logs, reports, cables, and itineraries that document Scheduling Office operations and the activities of the President, First Family, Vice President, Cabinet, and political appointees. Included in this series are materials related to Cabinet meetings, calendars of Presidential activities, Camp David, Sequoia, and Kennedy Center box usage, foreign travel of Presidential appointees, heads of state visits, the 1976 Presidential campaign, Presidential telephone calls, political appointee spokespersons, and Presidential trips.

Arranged alphabetically.

View container list for this series

Long Range Planning File, 1974‑76. (Boxes B1‑B10, 4.3 linear feet)
This series consists of an active file of long range schedule planning documents, general and conceptual materials, long range schedule proposals, and files on potential forums. The potential forums files include requests for the President to visit certain states and venues, all of which were eventually turned down.

Arranged alphabetically. The active file is arranged by the day of the month (e.g., all the events occurring on the third day of the month are filed together). The Long Range Schedule Memos are arranged by memo date. The Potential Forums file is arranged alphabetically by location name.

View container list for this series

Schedule Proposal File, 1974‑77.  (Boxes C1‑C13, 5.5 linear feet)
This series contains proposals and background information for President Ford's weekly and daily schedule. The proposals list the events along with a brief description. Most of the scheduling proposals are represented multiple times throughout this series at various stages of the approval process. For those proposals pertaining to long range schedule events, planning began up to four months ahead of time. In most cases, though, schedule items were proposed at most two weeks prior. Before proposals went to the President, they were sent for review to the Assistant to the President for White House Operations, Donald Rumsfeld (August 1974 - October 1975), and later, Richard Cheney (October 1975 - January 1977). These unmarked copies are included in the "Rustand Scheduling Memos to Rumsfeld" and "Nicholson Scheduling Memos to Rumsfeld / Cheney" subseries. Working copies of the proposals drafted by Rustand, and later, Nicholson, are included in the "Working Papers" and "Draft Proposals" subseries. Some comments from Rumsfeld and Cheney appear on these working copies. This series also contains the final schedule proposals signed by President Ford.

Arranged in eight subseries: Original Schedule Proposals Signed by President Ford, Copies of Schedule Proposals Signed by President Ford, Proposed Additions and Events, Weekly Schedule Proposals, Rustand Scheduling Memos to Rumsfeld / Cheney, *Nicholson Scheduling Memos to Rumsfeld / Cheney, Working Papers, *Draft Proposals. Arranged chronologically by schedule date unless otherwise noted.
*Arranged chronologically by date of scheduling memorandum.

View container list for this series

Presidential Briefing Material File, 1974‑76. (Boxes D1‑D8, 3.7 linear feet)
This series consists of briefing memoranda and other background information for Presidential meetings. The memoranda describe the purpose, background details, and press plan, and include talking points and a list of participants.

Arranged chronologically by date of memorandum.

View container list for this series

Invitations File, 1975‑76.  (Boxes E1‑E6, 2.5 linear feet)
This series contains invitations that President Ford received to visit various places during his presidency, including schools, churches, cities, and to participate in various activities, including ski trips, golf, and college commencement ceremonies. Additional invitations are filed in the Subject File series in the "Congressional Requests" and "Correspondence" subseries.

Arranged alphabetically.

View container list for this series

Publications, 1974‑76. (Boxes F1‑F2, 0.5 linear feet)
This series contains publications used for reference purposes by the scheduling office.

Arranged alphabetically by title.

View container list for this series

Photographic Materials, 1974‑77.
This series contains photographic materials collected by Rustand and Nicholson in their work as directors of the Presidential Scheduling Office. Subjects include portraits of staff and administration officials; a University Business Development Center presentation; the Hydrogen car and Hydrogen Bus; and potential sites for President Ford to visit in various states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Jersey, and Washington.

Arranged in parallel to the textual materials.

View container list for this series

CONTAINER LIST

Box A1 - Subject File

Box A2 - Subject File

Box A3 - Subject File

Box A4 - Subject File

Box A5 - Subject File

Box A6 - Subject File

Box A7 - Subject File

Box A8 - Subject File

Box A9 - Subject File

Box A10 - Subject File

Box A11 - Subject File

Box A12 - Subject File

Box A13 - Subject File

Box A14 - Subject File

Box A15 - Subject File

Box A16 - Subject File

Box A17 - Subject File

Box A18 - Subject File

Box A19 - Subject File

Box A20 - Subject File

Box A21 - Subject File

Box A22 - Subject File

Box A23 - Subject File

Box A24 - Subject File

Box A25 - Subject File

Box A26 - Subject File

Box A27 - Subject File

Box A28 - Subject File

Box B1 - Long Range Planning File

Box B2 - Long Range Planning File

Box B3 - Long Range Planning File

Box B4 - Long Range Planning File

Box B5 - Long Range Planning File

Box B6 - Long Range Planning File

Box B7 - Long Range Planning File

Box B8 - Long Range Planning File

Box B9 - Long Range Planning File

Box B10 - Long Range Planning File

Box C1 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C2 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C3 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C4 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C5 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C6 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C7 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C8 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C9 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C10 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C11 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C12 - Schedule Proposal File

Box C13 - Schedule Proposal File

Box D1 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box D2 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box D3 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box D4 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box D5 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box D6 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box D7 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box D8 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box D9 - Presidential Briefing Material File

Box E1 - Invitations File

Box E2 - Invitations File

Box E3 - Invitations File

Box E4 - Invitations File

Box E5 - Invitations File

Box E6 - Invitations File

Box F1 - Publications

Box F2 - Publications