NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR. PRESIDENTIAL AGENCY FILE, 1974-1977

The Presidential Agency File 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.

The Agency File is one component of the material collected and maintained by the National Security Council as a “Presidential Acquisition” file for eventual deposit in the President’s Library.  It contains the originals of many documents addressed to President Ford, quite a few of which were stamped “The President has seen” by the White House Staff Secretary’s Office.  The collection also includes many documents to or from National Security Advisers Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft that relate to presidential policy decisions, meetings between the President and agency officials, or issues in which the President was heavily involved.

The collection is arranged by the names of government agencies or international organizations.  The largest files concern the Department of Defense, CIA, NATO, U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.  Smaller, but significant, files concern the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, the Department of State, planning for State visits by foreign leaders, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Security Council.

Prominent recurring topics include decisions on agency budgets, presidential personnel appointments, and the organization and operations of agencies.  There is much policy advice to President Ford on weapons systems, nuclear nonproliferation, arms control, intelligence issues, and a wide variety of other matters.

Across the collection, the frequently high-level communications provide insight into the leadership and personalities of such agency heads as William Colby and George Bush at CIA, James Schlesinger and Donald Rumsfeld at the Defense Department, Donald Rumsfeld as Ambassador to NATO, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan as Ambassador to the United Nations.

Some noteworthy topics are clustered according to agency. The CIA and PFIAB folders contain significant material relating to Rockefeller Commission and Congressional investigations of the intelligence community.  Document requests, testimony, reorganization recommendations, and the Intelligence Oversight Board are treated.  The CIA folders include many widely-distributed economic and oil reports from 1976.

PFIAB folders also concern an experiment in competitive analysis of Soviet military and other capabilities.  This PFIAB initiative led to the formation of a group known as “Team B,” whose reports provided an alternative analysis to that given in a National Intelligence Estimate.

NATO folders are especially relevant to issues in Spain and Portugal, and to the dispute involving Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey.  Much of the latter topic relates to the impact on NATO of the U.S. arms embargo against Turkey.

United Nations folders relate in large part to the Middle East.  Topics include UN Emergency Forces in the Sinai Peninsula, UN Disengagement Observer Forces in the Golan Heights, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and a UN resolution equating Zionism with racism.  Other areas of concern are Cambodia, North and South Vietnam, North and South Korea, and the so-called North-South dialog over the needs of developing countries.

Related Materials (October 2009)
Other materials on these Federal agencies and international organizations appear in White House Central File Subject File categories FG (Federal Government Organizations) and IT (International Organizations).

Documents on the agencies and issues reflected in this collection appear in numerous locations in many different collections.  Most are in collections received from the office of the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.  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.