MICHAEL RAOUL-DUVAL PAPERS, 1974-77

The Michael Raoul-Duval papers document his political activities on behalf of President Ford's election campaign in 1976, and portions of his Domestic Council staff work in 1974 and 1975 and intelligence policy coordination in 1975 and 1976. Throughout the Ford administration, Raoul-Duval often worked in several major policy areas simultaneously, with no clean break from one duty to the next. Additional Raoul-Duval files are available as part of the Ford presidential papers (White House Staff Files - Domestic Council).

Raoul-Duval's White House Responsibilities
Continuing from the Nixon to the Ford Domestic Council staffs, Raoul-Duval handled energy, environment, and transportation issues under successive executive directors Kenneth Cole and James Cannon. He had frequent access to President Ford, often sitting in on meetings between the President and members of Congress, cabinet officers, or representatives of business, industry, and labor. Raoul-Duval continued to monitor major energy legislation after leaving the Domestic Council staff in 1975.

In 1975 both the Senate and House set up special committees to investigate alleged intelligence community abuses of authority. President Ford established a White House Intelligence Coordinating Group (ICG) and appointed Raoul-Duval to serve as executive director under John Marsh. The ICG served in part as a problem management task force to handle congressional relations strategy and respond to adverse press and public reactions. The ICG also prepared a set of recommendations on intelligence community reform and drafted an Executive Order implementing President Ford's decisions.

As the ICG completed its work in early 1976, Raoul-Duval began working closely with Richard Cheney, David Gergen and other senior advisers concerned about Ronald Reagan's successes in spring primary elections. In May Raoul-Duval campaigned for President Ford prior to the California primary. In July he represented the President in negotiations with Ronald Reagan's staff on the Republican Party platform. In May and June, before all the primary elections had been held, Cheney urged Raoul-Duval and others to draft a "rose garden" strategy for the fall election campaign. In July he revised and expanded this strategy memo into an overall strategy plan for the fall campaign. President Ford and his campaign team approved this plan in a series of late August meetings in Vail, Colorado.

A key part of both the strategy memo and the strategy plan was a series of debates with Democratic Party candidate Jimmy Carter. Raoul-Duval coordinated President Ford's preparations for the three debates that took place in:

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 23
• San Francisco, California on October 6
• Williamsburg, Virginia on October 22

Raoul-Duval helped negotiate with Carter's staff and the League of Women Voters on debate sites and logistics, pulled together numerous suggestions and issues papers, prepared briefing papers for the president, and oversaw technical operations.

In October Raoul-Duval drafted plans to smooth Ford's transition to a second term. Following Jimmy Carter's November victory, he served under John Marsh as a liaison to Carter's transition team. He also handled the administration's review of the Peterson Commission's report, which recommended substantial pay increases for federal executives.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Papers
Overall, Raoul-Duval's papers are a very good resource for the study of important policy decisions on energy and the environment, and of President Ford's election campaign. Raoul-Duval's notes from meetings between the president and his advisers or special interest representatives are of particular value. While not verbatim accounts of the meetings, the notes sometimes vividly portray the give-and-take of the president's decision making process. Raoul-Duval's deep involvement in general election campaign planning is well documented through notes and drafts of both his key campaign strategy memo and the fall campaign plan. President Ford's debate preparations are highlighted in notes from strategy meetings and negotiating sessions, in briefing materials, and in rehearsal notes and transcripts. Raoul-Duval's post-election review of the Peterson Commission report is also well documented.

The fragmented nature of the domestic policy material and the incomplete papers on Raoul-Duval's work on the Republican platform and the Intelligence Coordinating Group are the primary weaknesses of these papers. Researchers should consult Raoul-Duval's files among the Ford Papers for additional material on these and other topics.

Related Materials (February 1984)
The Raoul-Duval papers described here are closely related to additional Raoul-Duval files in the Ford Presidential papers. Among the latter, the series on domestic policy issues are available for research as are the numerous related files of colleagues on the Domestic Council staff. A portion of the Raoul-Duval files from his work on the Republican Party platform, the 1976 debates, Peterson Commission report, and the 1976 State of the Union address will soon be made available.

Almost all significant materials on the Intelligence Coordinating Group, including Raoul-Duval's files and those of John Marsh and the national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, are currently unprocessed and will not be available for some time. An exception is White House Central Files category ND 6 Intelligence.

Currently available materials on the 1976 election campaign and presidential debates vary widely in scope and quality. A listing of these materials and important reference books in the Library is available from the reference archivist. Significant files now available include WHCF categories PL Political Affairs and PL 7 Debates.

The library's audiovisual collection includes videotapes of the three Ford-Carter debates, tapes of President Ford's rehearsals prior to the first debate, and copies of various Ford campaign radio and television spot advertising. Researchers should consult the audiovisual archivist for information on availability.