JOHN G. CARLSON FILES, 1972-77

John Carlson served in the White House Press Office during the last two years of the Nixon administration and then was carried over by the Ford administration as assistant press secretary for domestic affairs. In this post his major responsibilities were preparing Press Secretary Ron Nessen for his daily press briefings and answering press queries on domestic matters. Additional responsibilities included attending domestic policy meetings held by the president when the press secretary was unable to do so; serving as press office liaison with all domestic departments, agencies, the Domestic Council, and the Office of Management and Budget; assuming the office of deputy press secretary during the president's international trips; and accompanying the press on the president's domestic trips. On January 5, 1976 he was promoted to deputy press secretary to the president.

Carlson's files include material from the Nixon administration and consist of meeting minutes, correspondence, memoranda, press releases, briefing papers, clippings, printed material, resumes, and press guidance for domestic and foreign issues. While much of the subject file consists of routine papers, Carlson's handwritten minutes of meetings he attended during the Ford administration are of special value. Minutes from Cabinet and congressional leadership meetings touch on topics such as the economy, budget, welfare reform, defense, Federal Election Commission, and 1976 presidential campaign. In addition to these minutes, meeting notes are also included in folders relating to the defense budget for FY 1977, Federal Election Commission, Ford presidential campaign, grain and oil trade agreements with the Soviet Union, New York City financial crisis, Presidential Panel on Federal Compensation, and revenue sharing extension.

Related Materials (December 1985)
Related materials can be found in the files of press office colleagues and the Ron Nessen papers.