NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR NSC EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS STAFF: FILES, 1969-1977

The "NSC East Asian and Pacific Affairs Staff Files" is a subcollection of the National Security Adviser Files.  The provenance of the Ford Library's National Security Adviser Files is described in Appendix A.

The NSC East Asia and Pacific staff provided foreign policy support to the President, Vice President, and National Security Adviser on bilateral and multilateral relations in the region.  This included, for example, the preparation of briefing materials, talking papers, schedule proposals, Qs and As, and courtesy messages.  The staff also served as points of contact for the Legislative branch, American businesses, inter-American organizations, and the general public.  It often assisted with Congressional and constituent services. 

The NSC East Asia and Pacific staff was headed by NSC Senior Staff Member Richard H. Solomon, a renowned China expert.  Solomon joined the NSC in August 1971 and carried over from the Nixon administration when Gerald Ford became President in August 1974.  Solomon left the NSC in July 1976 and was replaced by William H. Gleysteen, Jr.  Other staff members included Thomas J. Barnes, John A. Froebe, Jr., Kenneth Quinn, W. Richard Smyser, and William L. Stearman.

Scope and Content
The collection is comprised of eleven series.  Many contain materials from the Nixon administration, and the subject content of numerous series overlaps.  The materials tend to duplicate materials found in other collections (such as those listed under Related Materials), but some of the internal memoranda and supporting materials used in creating final versions of documents prepared for the President and Vice President may not be found elsewhere.

The Country File contains strong materials on the normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China; the Vietnam War within the realm of South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; and the United Nations Command and US military presence in Korea.  

The Indochina Chronological File primarily focuses on the fall of South Vietnam and evacuation from Saigon, and the Mayaguez Incident, in which communist Cambodia seized a U.S. merchant vessel in international waters.

 The Subject File contains materials on the Vietnam War and U.S. relations with many of the countries in the region.  Of particular interest are memoranda of conversations from Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's and President Gerald Ford's meetings with foreign leaders, and several National Security Study Memoranda (NSSMs) regarding U.S. policy and security objectives in the region.

The Trip File contains material on trips made by Alexander Haig, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, President Gerald Ford, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to such places as Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Paris Peace Talks, People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

The Visits File contains material for head of state visits from Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia.  Also included is a private visit by the Australian Prime Minister during the Nixon administration. 

The Meetings File contains materials from meetings of the Washington Special Actions Group (WSAG), Senior Review Group (SRG), and National Security Council (NSC).  The primary topics are the evacuation from Saigon and the Mayaguez Incident, but there are also materials on North and South Korea, including the Korean Tree Incident, Philippine base negotiations, Taiwan, Thailand, and "US Objectives in the Asia-Pacific Area."

The materials in the Mayaguez File focus on the General Accounting Office (GAO) postmortem report on the Mayaguez Incident.  The President directed the Secretaries of State and Defense and Director of Central Intelligence to provide the GAO with detailed chronologies, copies of each verbal and written order, and observations or suggestions on the improvement of NSC machinery.

The Philippine Base Negotiations File contains detailed material from the 1976 U.S.-Philippine negotiations which ultimately led to a new U.S.-Philippine Facilities Agreement.

The Working Files on Guam, Micronesia, and Korea series contains materials on the NSC Under Secretaries Committee study on Guam and its proposal for negotiating a new political relationship; the future status of the Trust Territories of the Pacific; Ambassador William Kintner's report on "U.S. Policy Interests in the Asian-Pacific Area;" the UN Command in Korea; the military situation on the Korean Peninsula; and the status of the Korean Northwest Islands. 

The Richard Solomon Subject File pertains primarily to the People's Republic of China, including Secretary of State Kissinger's 1974 trip to the PRC, seabed exploration in the China Sea, and the PRC and U.S. Liaison Offices.  There is also information on the Interagency Group on Research and Education in Foreign Affairs.

The Richard Solomon Chronological File contains materials created in whole or in part by Solomon on the People's Republic of China.  The materials cover all aspects of U.S. relations with the PRC and include many analytical items reflective of Richard Solomon's expertise on Chinese affairs.

Related Materials (December 2011)
The most closely related materials are in the National Security Adviser's Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific, Trip Briefing Books and Cables of President Ford, Presidential Briefing Materials for VIP Visits, Presidential Correspondence with Foreign Leaders, Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office Files, Kissinger Reports to the President on USSR, China, and Middle East Discussions, Trip Briefing Books and Cables of  Henry Kissinger, and U.S. National Security Council Institutional Files.  Several categories of the White House Central Files Subject File, especially country files, also contain related materials.  Researchers can identify the file locations of additional materials relating to East Asia and the Pacific or to specific countries from PRESNET search reports, which are available upon request.