GEOFFREY C. SHEPARD FILES, 1974-75

Geoffrey Shepard served during the Nixon administration and a portion of the Ford administration as Domestic Council associate director primarily handling general government issues requiring liaison with the Justice Department, especially campaign finance reform, civil rights, drug abuse law enforcement, and Vietnam War amnesty. The materials described consist largely of files produced and accumulated by Shepard from August 1974 to February 1975, although occasional earlier items appear in the files.

As an Associate Director of the Domestic Council, Shepard worked very closely with Executive Director Kenneth Cole on a variety of significant, politically sensitive issues, many of which involved Justice Department input. He helped coordinate policy formulation on several presidential initiatives, monitored legislation in Congress, attended interagency meetings, and prepared statements, briefing papers and Q and A's for the President. Shepard participated in several Cabinet-level special committees, including the working group of the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism and Domestic Council committees on drug abuse and illegal aliens. Assistant Director Lynn May worked with Shepard on most of his activities.

The Shepard files document his role in policy development on Vietnam War amnesty, campaign finance reform, and busing; and his meetings and correspondence with agency officials handling the review of federal drug abuse and illegal aliens policies. Also included are substantive memoranda, correspondence and reports on the beginnings of Ford administration criminal law reform initiatives proposed later in 1975. Expecting to depart the Domestic Council in December 1974, Shepard prepared documents to assist his successor which summarized his responsibilities and key agency contacts and meticulously noted the arrangement and condition of his files, including lists of files retired during the Nixon administration.

While generally complete, the Shepard files contain no information on his responsibility on the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism. Security classified reports on terrorist activity sent to him can be found in Central Files (CFOA 39 and 42). In addition, Shepard's chronological files of correspondence cover only the last three months of his Domestic Council service. Shepard's successor, Richard Parsons, inherited Shepard's files and added a few items and removed some files on currently active issues before retiring the remaining files to Central Files.

Related Materials (May 1982)
The files of certain other Domestic Council staff members contain significant information on topics within Shepard's areas of responsibility, especially those of his assistant F. Lynn May, his successor Richard Parsons, and Executive Director Kenneth Cole. The White House Central Files contain a series of reports on terrorism sent to Shepard (see CFOA 39 and 42). The files of the Counsel to the President's office contain important related materials, notably the files of Philip Buchen on Vietnam War amnesty.