National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables of President Ford, 1974-76

The White House Situation Room: Noon and Evening Notes is one of many sub-collections that comprise the National Security Adviser Files.

This collection especially includes briefing books prepared for President Ford in anticipation of his meetings with foreign leaders during his trips overseas. It also includes briefing books for President Ford’s trips to the United Nations, a summit in Puerto Rico, and a stay at Vail, Colorado.  In addition to the briefing books, there is much other trip-related material.

The briefing books contain background papers, talking points, draft communiqués, tentative schedules, and biographical sketches.  Background papers prepared by Secretary of State Kissinger are often of special interest.  They detail Kissinger’s past meetings with world leaders, particularly Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union and Mao Zedong of the People's Republic of China, and provide Kissinger’s assessments of their personalities and negotiating styles.

In addition to briefing books, many of the trip files contain: State Department and White House cable traffic, communications sent to and from Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft (HAKTO/TOHAK and SCOTO/TOSCO messages) during the trip, and background materials prepared for the press.  The different types of communications are identified by the folder titles.  Folders titled "General" contain memoranda concerning the preparation of briefing materials, various drafts of briefing books, materials concerning advance work and scheduling, and occasional substantive documents.  Cable traffic covers both pre-trip planning and the exchange of information during the trip.

President Ford’s first major overseas trip was to the Soviet Union’s city of Vladivostok, a Pacific seaport, for nuclear arms control discussions with Leonid Brezhnev.  The November 1974 trip also included state visits to nearby U.S. allies, Japan and South Korea.

In December 1974, French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing hosted President Ford on France’s Caribbean island territory of Martinique.  Their discussions of world economic and energy issues led to the first international economic summit of leaders of the major industrial democracies.  It was held near Paris, France, in November 1975.  This was followed by a second economic summit, of comparable scope, hosted by President Ford in Puerto Rico in June 1976.

President Ford traveled again to Europe in spring 1975.  He joined other allied leaders for a NATO summit meeting in Belgium.  Ford then traveled to Salzburg, Austria, for a critical meeting with President Anwar Sadat of Egypt on Sinai disengagement talks between Israel and Egypt.  This trip also included visits to Italy, the Vatican, and Franco’s Spain.

In summer 1975, President Ford traveled to Helsinki, Finland for the largest gathering of European heads of state since the Congress of Vienna in 1815.  This Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe addressed security, national boundary, economic and cultural cooperation, and human rights issues across Europe.  During this trip President Ford also visited West Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Romania.

Seven months after the military defeat of U.S.-supported governments in South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, President Ford returned to East Asia in December 1975.  His main goal was to meet Chinese communist leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping and sustain the movement toward normalization of diplomatic relations begun under President Nixon.  After leaving Beijing, President Ford visited Indonesia and the Philippines.

The briefing books are a good source of information on U.S. foreign relations, with materials on the Soviet Union, arms control, Middle East peace negotiations, international economic issues, developing relations with China, the Helsinki agreements, and NATO.  Their value lies more in the background information they provide than in information on foreign policy decision-making in the Ford administration.  In addition to what appears in the briefing books, other briefing materials and talking points can also be found in folders for specific meetings and in folders titled "General."

When First Lady Betty Ford and daughter Susan Ford traveled with the President, separate briefing books were also prepared for them.  This collection includes copies of their materials for the May-June 1975 trip to Europe and the November-December 1975 visit to the Far East.

Related Materials (January 2011)
Some overlap exists between these trip files and many National Security Adviser subcollections, especially Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger, and Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Brent Scowcroft.  Typewritten copies of many TOHAK messages are also found in the Brent Scowcroft Daily Work Files.  Related materials may also be found in the Presidential Country Files for places President Ford visited.  Memoranda of conversations detailing the discussions with foreign leaders held during these trips may be found in the Memoranda of Conversations subcollection or in the Kissinger Reports on USSR, China, and Middle East Discussions.