Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum

COLLECTION FINDING AID

MICHAEL RAOUL-DUVAL PAPERS, 1974-77

Domestic Council Associate Director;
Executive Director, Intelligence Coordinating Group;
Special Counsel to the President

CONTENTS

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

View digital copies of Raoul-Duval's Election Campaign Papers and Ford-Carter Debate Papers

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Notes from presidential meetings and other materials concerning Duval's work on energy, natural resources, transportation and other issues. Also files on the 1976 general election, including campaign strategy and preparations for the Ford-Carter debates, and files on Ford's campaign for the Republican nomination, especially the California primary. Also small files on congressional investigations of the intelligence community and planning for a second Ford term.

QUANTITY
13.0 linear feet (ca. 26,000 pages)

DONOR
Michael Raoul-Duval (accession number 80-7)

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
Michael Raoul-Duval donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 Paul Conway, February 1984 (Revised 1986)
[s:\bin\findaid\raoul-duval, michael - papers.doc]

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Michael Raoul-Duval

July 18, 1938 - Born, San Francisco, California

1957-61 - Student, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

1961-64 - Officer, United States Marine Corps

1964-72 - United States Marine Corps Reserve

1964-67 - Student, Hastings College of Law, University of California

1967-70 - Lawyer, Office of General Counsel, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation

1970-72 - Staff Assistant to the President (scheduling of trips and planning President Nixon's foreign trips)

1972-73 - Consultant on detail to the Inaugural Committee

Mar.-Oct. 1973 - Aide to HUD Secretary James Lynn in his role as Counsellor to the President for Community Development

Oct. 1973-May 1974 - Staff Assistant, Domestic Council staff

May 1974-Oct. 1975 - Associate Director for Natural Resources and Associate Director for Energy and Transportation, Domestic Council staff

Oct. 1975-Apr. 1976 - Assistant Counsellor to the President and Executive Director of the White House Intelligence Coordinating Group

Apr. 1976-Jan. 1977 - Special Counsel to the President

1977-? President, Industrial Products Group, Mead Corporation, Dayton, OH

1984-? - Management Committee Member, then Managing Director, First Boston Corporation, New York, NY

1990 - Formed Duval Group, a New York investment banking firm

1994 - Formed Michael Duval & Associates, an investment banking firm, Sante Fe, New Mexico

1999 - Retired as Chairman of Michael Duval & Associates

April 20, 2001 - Died, Sante Fe, New Mexico

INTRODUCTION

The Michael Raoul-Duval papers document his political activities on behalf of President Ford's election campaign in 1976, and portions of his Domestic Council staff work in 1974 and 1975 and intelligence policy coordination in 1975 and 1976. Throughout the Ford administration, Raoul-Duval often worked in several major policy areas simultaneously, with no clean break from one duty to the next. Additional Raoul-Duval files are available as part of the Ford presidential papers (White House Staff Files - Domestic Council).

Raoul-Duval's White House Responsibilities
Continuing from the Nixon to the Ford Domestic Council staffs, Raoul-Duval handled energy, environment, and transportation issues under successive executive directors Kenneth Cole and James Cannon. He had frequent access to President Ford, often sitting in on meetings between the President and members of Congress, cabinet officers, or representatives of business, industry, and labor. Raoul-Duval continued to monitor major energy legislation after leaving the Domestic Council staff in 1975.

In 1975 both the Senate and House set up special committees to investigate alleged intelligence community abuses of authority. President Ford established a White House Intelligence Coordinating Group (ICG) and appointed Raoul-Duval to serve as executive director under John Marsh. The ICG served in part as a problem management task force to handle congressional relations strategy and respond to adverse press and public reactions. The ICG also prepared a set of recommendations on intelligence community reform and drafted an Executive Order implementing President Ford's decisions.

As the ICG completed its work in early 1976, Raoul-Duval began working closely with Richard Cheney, David Gergen and other senior advisers concerned about Ronald Reagan's successes in spring primary elections. In May Raoul-Duval campaigned for President Ford prior to the California primary. In July he represented the President in negotiations with Ronald Reagan's staff on the Republican Party platform. In May and June, before all the primary elections had been held, Cheney urged Raoul-Duval and others to draft a "rose garden" strategy for the fall election campaign. In July he revised and expanded this strategy memo into an overall strategy plan for the fall campaign. President Ford and his campaign team approved this plan in a series of late August meetings in Vail, Colorado.

A key part of both the strategy memo and the strategy plan was a series of debates with Democratic Party candidate Jimmy Carter. Raoul-Duval coordinated President Ford's preparations for the three debates that took place in:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 23
San Francisco, California on October 6
Williamsburg, Virginia on October 22

Raoul-Duval helped negotiate with Carter's staff and the League of Women Voters on debate sites and logistics, pulled together numerous suggestions and issues papers, prepared briefing papers for the president, and oversaw technical operations.

In October Raoul-Duval drafted plans to smooth Ford's transition to a second term. Following Jimmy Carter's November victory, he served under John Marsh as a liaison to Carter's transition team. He also handled the administration's review of the Peterson Commission's report, which recommended substantial pay increases for federal executives.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Papers
Overall, Raoul-Duval's papers are a very good resource for the study of important policy decisions on energy and the environment, and of President Ford's election campaign. Raoul-Duval's notes from meetings between the president and his advisers or special interest representatives are of particular value. While not verbatim accounts of the meetings, the notes sometimes vividly portray the give-and-take of the president's decision making process. Raoul-Duval's deep involvement in general election campaign planning is well documented through notes and drafts of both his key campaign strategy memo and the fall campaign plan. President Ford's debate preparations are highlighted in notes from strategy meetings and negotiating sessions, in briefing materials, and in rehearsal notes and transcripts. Raoul-Duval's post-election review of the Peterson Commission report is also well documented.

The fragmented nature of the domestic policy material and the incomplete papers on Raoul-Duval's work on the Republican platform and the Intelligence Coordinating Group are the primary weaknesses of these papers. Researchers should consult Raoul-Duval's files among the Ford Papers for additional material on these and other topics.

Related Materials (February 1984)
The Raoul-Duval papers described here are closely related to additional Raoul-Duval files in the Ford Presidential papers. Among the latter, the series on domestic policy issues are available for research as are the numerous related files of colleagues on the Domestic Council staff. A portion of the Raoul-Duval files from his work on the Republican Party platform, the 1976 debates, Peterson Commission report, and the 1976 State of the Union address will soon be made available.

Almost all significant materials on the Intelligence Coordinating Group, including Raoul-Duval's files and those of John Marsh and the national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, are currently unprocessed and will not be available for some time. An exception is White House Central Files category ND 6 Intelligence.

Currently available materials on the 1976 election campaign and presidential debates vary widely in scope and quality. A listing of these materials and important reference books in the Library is available from the reference archivist. Significant files now available include WHCF categories PL Political Affairs and PL 7 Debates.

The library's audiovisual collection includes videotapes of the three Ford-Carter debates, tapes of President Ford's rehearsals prior to the first debate, and copies of various Ford campaign radio and television spot advertising. Researchers should consult the audiovisual archivist for information on availability.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Domestic Policy Papers, 1974-76. (Boxes 1-10, 4.0 linear feet)
Primarily material on Raoul-Duval's Domestic Council work, but also his continuing involvement with energy legislation. Of particular value are schedules, talking points, and especially notes from meetings with the President, his advisors, and others. The wide variety of topics includes energy, environmental, and transportation programs and legislation. The series also contains vouchers, schedules, reference materials, and copies of remarks, from Raoul-Duval's various official engagements outside the White House; miscellaneous copies of presidential speeches, press conferences and messages to Congress; and material on Raoul-Duval's work on the 1975 State of the Union address.

Arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder chronologically.

View container list for this series

Intelligence Coordinating Group Papers, 1975-76. (Box 11, 0.4 linear feet)
Miscellaneous notes, memoranda, agendas, and schedules primarily on the ICG's organization, meetings with the President, and routine work with the House and Senate intelligence committees. Most of Raoul-Duval's ICG files are in the Ford Presidential Papers and are currently unprocessed and unavailable for research (March 1984).

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Election Campaign Papers, 1976. (Boxes 12-24, 5.2 linear feet)
Memoranda, meeting notes, draft reports, correspondence, and press statements accumulated by Raoul-Duval during his senior-level involvement in President Ford's election campaign. His work on the California primary and the fall campaign strategy is well-documented. Especially valuable are notes from meetings with President Ford and other White House staff and various drafts of the strategy book that served as a basis for the fall campaign. A sizable portion of the series consists of copies of presidential news summaries, press wires, and other press statements.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Ford - Carter Debates Papers, 1976. (Boxes 25-31, 2.8 linear feet)
Memoranda, correspondence, meeting notes, briefing papers on policy issues, polling information, press clippings, background reports and other materials accumulated by Raoul-Duval as coordinator of President Ford's preparations for debates with Jimmy Carter. Of particular high quality are notes and memos from strategy sessions with Ford and his advisors, rehearsal materials, including issue summaries, rehearsal transcripts, and draft remarks; and suggestions received from a variety of people both within the White House and outside government.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Sub-series: Debate Working Papers, 1976. (Boxes 26-28, 1.2 linear feet)
Working papers concerning preparations for the debates, briefing materials, practice sessions, and the debate outcomes.

Arranged by debate and thereunder alphabetically.

View container list for this sub-series

Post Election Papers, 1976-77. (Boxes 32-33, 0.8 linear feet)
Memoranda, correspondence, meeting notes, draft reports, and press clippings, primarily on three of Raoul-Duval's final responsibilities in the Ford administration: pre-election plans for smoothing Ford's transition to a second term; liaison with the Carter transition team; and review of the Peterson Commission report.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

CONTAINER LIST

Box 1 - Domestic Policy Papers