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Press
Secretary's Office
JERALD
F. TERHORST
Press
Secretary to the President:
Files,
1974
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
TerHorst, in preparation for his press briefings, August 9‑September
6, 1974, gathered such material as schedules, draft announcements, and guidance
prepared by the National Security Council and other staff. Also included is courtesy correspondence with
well‑wishers. There is no
documentation concerning the Nixon pardon or terHorst's
resignation over it. Some office files
from the period are in the Ron Nessen Files and the
Ron Nessen Papers.
QUANTITY
1.2 linear feet
(ca. 2,400 pages)
DONOR
Gerald R. Ford
(accession number 77-107)
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 has
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unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 Barbara J. White, May
1983
[s:\bin\findaid\terhorst, jerald - files.doc]
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Jerald
Franklin terHorst
July 11, 1922 Born, Grand Rapids,
Michigan
1943‑46 Officer, U.S.
Marine Corps
1946‑51 Reporter, Grand
Rapids Press
1947 B.A.,
University of Michigan
1951‑52 Officer, U.S.
Marine Corps
1953‑57 City and state political
writer, Detroit News
1958‑60 Washington
correspondent, Detroit News
1961‑74 Washington Bureau
Chief, Detroit News
Aug.-Sept. 1974 Press Secretary to the
President
1974‑81 National affairs
columnist, Detroit News/Universal Press Syndicate
1981‑present Washington director of
public affairs, Ford Motor Company
INTRODUCTION
Jerald terHorst
was named Press Secretary to the President on August 9, 1974, the day Gerald R.
Ford became the 38th President of the United States. He was Ford's first presidential
appointment. TerHorst
was a Michigan newspaperman who had covered Ford's political career since the
1948 Congressional race.
As Press
Secretary to President Ford, terHorst was responsible
for conveying information on the President's programs and activities to the
press. Each morning terHorst
met with the President and top White House staff members, including Alexander Haig, Brent Scowcroft, Henry Kissinger, Robert Hartmann and
Donald Rumsfeld.
Afterward he prepared for his weekday and occasional Saturday briefing
of the White House press corps. Les Janka, National Security Council, provided terHorst with press items and briefings on foreign affairs
and defense related matters. John G.
Carlson, assistant press secretary, provided information on domestic
issues. The President's schedule and
other information, such as texts of presidential messages and remarks,
personnel lists, biographical data and arrangements, were posted. During the press briefing, terHorst would first review the details of the day's
schedule, make announcements, then answer questions from the press.
TerHorst's tenure as press
secretary lasted one month. On Sunday,
September 8, 1974, Ford granted a full pardon to Nixon and terHorst
presented his written resignation. He
rejoined the Detroit News as a national affairs columnist and Deputy Press
Secretary John W. Hushen became acting press
secretary.
The terHorst files cover only the period from August 9 to
September 8, 1974 when he served as press secretary. The most significant portion of the
collection is the press briefing background materials, which are useful for
viewing the administration's handling of the news media during this period of
transition. They contain extensive
guidance on current issues, but the information was often provided to the press
only when requested. Therefore, some of
this material is not available in the transcripts distributed after the
briefings. These files are also valuable
for tracing the procedures followed daily by the press secretary in preparing
for press briefing.
The majority of
the first two series in this collection, the chronological and personal files,
contain terHorst's responses to letters of
congratulations. The two series
frequently duplicate each other. The
final series, the subject file, contains Q's and A's and other press guidance
background information. Materials
reflecting his duties other than serving as spokesman for the President through
the daily press briefings do not survive.
Related Materials
(May 1983):
Related
materials include the files of his successor, Ron Nessen,
especially the press briefings series which contains the transcripts of terHorst's briefings; the Ron Nessen
papers; and the files of staff members of the Press Secretary's Office.
Series
Descriptions
1 Chronological File,
1974. (0.4 linear feet)
White carbons of
outgoing correspondence to general public, professional acquaintances and
others concerning issues such as vice‑presidential candidates, views on
policy, requests for Presidential interviews, and congratulations to terHorst.
Arranged
chronologically.
1‑2 Personal File, 1974. (0.8 linear feet)
Correspondence
exchanged with the general public, professional acquaintances and others,
including letters of congratulations and invitations to terHorst. There are occasional draft handwritten
replies. Responses dating September 9‑12,
1974, are signed by John W. Hushen.
Arrangement is
alphabetical by first letter of name of correspondent and chronological thereunder.
2‑3 Press Briefing Materials,
1974. (0.8 linear feet)
Press
announcements, memoranda, schedules, agendas, notes, White House press
releases, news wires and newspaper clippings compiled by terHorst
in preparation for daily press briefings.
The majority of memoranda are from Les Janka
(NSC) and John Carlson (Press Secretary's Office) for briefing and
guidance. Topics include the transition,
President's schedules and meetings, staff changes, resignations, domestic and
foreign affairs.
Arranged
chronologically by date of press briefing.
3 Subject File,
1974. (0.4 linear feet)
Q's and A's,
memoranda, correspondence, transcripts and speech texts routed to terHorst for background and guidance. Q's and A's and press guidance memoranda
cover both foreign and domestic topics.
Arranged alphabetically.
Container List
8/74-9/74
Personal File
A ‑ L
M ‑ Z and
Invitations
Press Briefing
Materials
8/9/74-8/23/74
8/26/74-9/6/74
Subject File
General
Q's and A's ‑
Domestic Policy
Q's and A's ‑
General
Q's and A's ‑
International Policy
Press Guidance ‑
Domestic
Press Guidance ‑
Foreign
White House Privileges