DAVID C. HOOPES FILES, (1972) 1974-77

David Hoopes joined the Nixon White House in April 1971. He worked as a staff assistant to the President until 1974, with responsibility for handling briefing papers and follow-up memos for President Nixon's meetings. During this time he was also given special projects to do for the Staff Secretary; in June 1974 he apparently joined the Staff Secretary's Office. Although his official title was Special Assistant to the President, he also adopted the title of "Deputy Staff Secretary." He remained within the Staff Secretary's Office during the entire Ford administration and, to an overwhelming extent, his files document his duties there.

The Staff Secretary's Office handled most aspects of White House administration, particularly paperwork flow, and assisted in the preparation of the President's schedule, follow-up on action requests, and special projects.

David Hoopes acted as an assistant to Staff Secretaries Jerry Jones then James Connor, handling the paperwork associated with daily administration of the White House. For example, his responsibilities included assigning perquisites (parking, transportation, staff mess, etc) and office space; as well as tracking personnel actions and issuing White House and Old Executive Office Building passes. Hoopes kept the papers associated with these activities in a large subject file. While the material faithfully reflects the routine duties, there also are interesting exchanges between Hoopes and senior White House staffers that reveal White House Office work flow, politics, and policy. Taken as a whole, the subject file shows insights about the presidential transition process, communication and work flow within the White House Office, and White House Office staffing patterns.

Along with the subject file, Hoopes kept a set of presidential briefing papers, arranged in chronological order. They were prepared by appropriate staff offices, then submitted to the Staff Secretary. The Staff Secretary's Office assured that briefing papers were delivered to the President in advance of meetings, and distributed to appropriate offices for information purposes. They range in topics and detail, but most cover issues for discussion and potential talking points. Briefing papers were routinely sent to the White House Central Files Subject File as well as distributed to various staff members. The Hoopes set, however, appears to be the most comprehensive and will be a valuable source to researchers interested in specific meetings on known dates.

Related Materials (June 1994)
The files of Jerry Jones and James Connor, Staff Secretaries for the Ford administration, closely relate to the Hoopes files. In addition, Hoopes has official files at the Nixon Presidential Materials Project; a copy of part of the Nixon Project finding aid is in the Ford vertical file under "Hoopes."