National Security Adviser. Presidential Briefing Material for VIP Visits, 1974-1976

Presidential Briefing Material for VIP Visits is one of many sub-collections that comprise the National Security Adviser Files. The provenance of the Ford National Security Adviser Files and an explanation of the designations “Presidential” and “Institutional” are provided in Appendix A.

This collection contains materials relating to over 50 official visits to the United States by foreign heads of state and government officials.  The core materials for the visits are the briefing books prepared by the Department of State for President Ford’s meetings with the visiting dignitaries.  These briefing books include background information on U.S. bilateral relations with each country, talking points and strategy papers, and biographical sketches of members of the official party.  President Ford’s annotations are rare.  Although there are extensive background and preparatory materials for each meeting, there are no notes from the actual meetings or information on policy decisions.  The files also contain materials relating to the more routine preparations for each visit, such as developing schedules and compiling guest lists for social functions.  Briefing materials prepared for Mrs. Ford are sometimes included in the files.

Scope and Content
Middle East issues are particularly well documented, with extensive amounts of material for three visits each by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and King Hussein of Jordan, a visit by President Anwar El Sadat of Egypt, and a visit by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. 

Other countries for which there is substantial material include Japan, West Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, France, and Indonesia. 
 
Three separate visits by delegations from Japan included Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, Prime Minister Takeo Miki, and a mainly ceremonial visit by Emperor Hirohito. 

There is also extensive material for the three visits by officials from West Germany.  Chancellor Helmut Schmidt visited twice during the Ford administration, and President Walter Scheel visited once.

 Concerning the United Kingdom, there were two visits by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1975, and a ceremonial visit by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain in July 1976.  Visits that took place in 1976 generally included some form of observance of the American Revolution Bicentennial celebration. 

President Giovanni Leone and Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti of Italy each made one visit.  Interestingly, Prime Minister Andreotti’s visit occurred in December 1976, one month after President Ford lost his bid for election to Georgia governor Jimmy Carter.

There also is substantial material for the two visits by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada and the visits by President Valery Giscard d’Estaing of France and President Suharto of Indonesia.

NSC staff apparently started a file for a visit early in the initial discussion stage.  Folders remain in this series for visits that were never formally scheduled or were eventually cancelled or postponed.

Related Materials (May 2010)
Related materials are found in many other National Security Adviser files.  The subcollections Presidential Correspondence with Foreign Leaders, Memoranda of Conversations, and the various Presidential Country Files are especially closely related.  Briefing materials were also prepared for the President’s trips abroad and are filed in the President’s Trip Files.  Researchers can locate relevant materials via PRESNET search reports, which are provided upon request.  New information is entered into the PRESNET database as collections become available for research.  Researchers are encouraged to consult the Ford Library website for announcements of collection openings and to view online collections and documents.  Related online materials include the National Security Adviser Files, Memoranda of Conversations.