JOHN C. VICKERMAN FILES, 1974-77

John C. Vickerman joined the White House staff in 1973. Early in the Ford administration he served as Executive Assistant to Counsellor Anne Armstrong and as Executive Secretary of the Federal Property Council. He was appointed to the Office of Public Liaison as Director for Business and Trade Associations on December 18, 1974. In this position he reported directly to William J. Baroody, Jr., Assistant to the President for Public Liaison.

Vickerman was responsible for White House liaison with leaders of business, labor and agricultural groups, including such organizations as the American Chamber of Commerce Executives and the National Macaroni Association. He initiated and ran "Tuesday and Wednesday Meetings" and irregular "Organization Briefings" for these groups. He also helped organizations with their difficulties in dealing with government agencies and represented the administration at association events.

The meetings and briefings provided a two‑way exchange between the White House and the private sector, and were often attended by the President, Vice President, or senior administration officials. The "Tuesday and Wednesday Meetings" allowed a discussion between government officials and participating groups, during which the latter ordinarily took the lead in presenting their problems and recommendations. In contrast, the "Organization Briefings" were conceived of as formal presentations by the government. The distinction between meetings and briefings blurred as time passed.

The majority of Vickerman's files contains material on various aspects of trade association and business briefings and meetings. It includes correspondence, agendas and briefing papers. The correspondence with the business and trade associations often reflects their major concerns, such as problems with federal regulatory agencies. The files show Vickerman's continual involvement with and service to the groups he supported. Included are correspondence which direct businesses to appropriate government offices to meet their needs and requests for presidential appearances and messages. The collection includes a small subject file related to the interests of these groups, such as housing and agriculture. Material on additional issues appear in the meeting files under the specific names of the organizations concerned. The collection contains no material from Vickerman's earlier White House positions.

Related Materials (October 1984)
Related materials include the files of: Jeffrey Eves, Office of Public Liaison, who proceeded Vickerman as liaison with business special interest groups; and Paul Leach, Domestic Council Staff, who handled small business programs and regulatory reform. In addition, White House Central files categories Business-Economics (BE) and Meeting-Conferences (MC), especially MC 4-5 and MC 4-6 regarding "Tuesday and Wednesday Meetings" at the White House, including related materials. Some materials reflecting Vickerman's work with the Federal Property Council appear in WHCF category FG 6-24.