A. JAMES REICHLEY INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, (1967) 1977-81

The James Reichley interview transcripts result from his interviews with over 160 government officials in conjunction with the writing of his book Conservatives in an Age of Change: The Nixon and Ford Administrations (Brookings Institution, 1981). They focus primarily on the personalities, philosophies, and issues of the Nixon and Ford administrations, although one series concerns the 1980 presidential campaign and transition.

In conducting the interviews, Reichley did not employ a tape recorder. He took notes during the interviews and then constructed transcripts from the notes soon afterwards. The transcripts therefore should not be considered a verbatim record of the entire discussion. While varying in length from a single page to ten pages, the average transcript is four pages.

Although Reichley conducted most of the interviews between 1977 and 1981, two date from a much earlier period. A 1967 interview with Richard Nixon focuses on his views of the upcoming presidential campaign. A 1969 interview with John Mitchell concerns the work of the Justice Department.

Reichley interviewed over fifty former members of the Nixon and Ford White House staffs, several Cabinet members and almost thirty other agency officials, thirty-five members of Congress, and four other political figures. These interviews focus on White House administration; philosophies of the two Presidents and their administrations; relationships among various administration officials; roles of the Cabinet, Domestic Council, and Office of Management and Budget; congressional liaison; presidential campaigns of 1968, 1972, and 1976; and such issues as economics, civil rights, busing, desegregation, welfare reform, and the Vietnamese War.

A number of interviews also examine the role of Bob Haldeman in the Nixon White House and attempts to influence the direction of Nixon administration domestic policies by Daniel Moynihan, Arthur Burns, and John Ehrlichman. Some Ford administration interviews focus on the role of Donald Rumsfeld and the relationship between Rumsfeld and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. Interviewees of note include Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan; Vice President Rockefeller; and Cabinet members William Coleman, Carla Hills, Edward Levi, Robert Finch, John Mitchell, John Connally, Melvin Laird, Elliot Richardson, and William Simon.

The almost thirty interviews concerning the 1980 campaign and transition include several on the conduct of the campaign, especially in Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the work of the transition team, but also cover plans for the new administration and various issues, including the Kemp-Roth proposal to cut taxes. Interviewees of note include George Bush, James Baker, Drew Lewis, and Richard Schweiker.

In his deed of gift transferring these interview transcripts to the Ford Library, Reichley specified a restriction on their use. While researchers may freely examine the transcripts and make use of the factual information they contain, no direct quotations from the transcripts may be used without written permission from James Reichley. His address is available upon request.

In arranging the interviews for use by researchers, the Ford Library staff kept the basic order established by Mr. Reichley. Three interviews were moved to more appropriate series, however, and each series was alphabetized.

Related Materials (June 1991)
Materials on many of the same topics, especially those from the Ford administration, appear throughout the Library's holdings. Other interviews with President Ford, Vice President Rockefeller, and the Ford White House staff appear in the James Cannon Papers, the James Hyde and Stephen Wayne Interviews, and the William Syers Interview Transcripts.