Frederica “Freddy” Pantlind grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her parents, Frederic J. Pantlind and Hilda W.
Richard D. Parsons was a native of New York City and a 1971 graduate of Union University's Albany Law School. Following law school he served as an assistant counsel to Governor Nelson Rockefeller and, commencing in 1973, as First Assistant Counsel. In 1975, soon after Rockefeller's confirmation as Vice President, Parsons became Deputy Counsel to the Vice President. After the end of the Ford administration, Parsons went back to working for Nelson Rockefeller.
Bradley Patterson served throughout the Nixon and Ford administrations in a variety of positions, most notably as the White House official closely monitoring the concerns of Native Americans from 1969 to 1974 and again in 1976. The files described here consist of correspondence and memoranda generated or accumulated by Patterson in 1976 as Special Assistant to the President for Native American Programs, and Patterson's correspondence on Indian issues from 1974. Patterson served on the staff of the Presidential Personnel Office from 1974 to 1977 and his files from that work will be
Bradley Patterson served in a number of positions during the Nixon and Ford administrations. These papers are from his work on the White House staff as an assistant for Native American Programs from 1969 to 1974, and again from August 1976 to January 1977. Patterson first worked in this area as an assistant to Leonard Garment during the Nixon administration, and then after serving in other roles in the Ford White House, he was appointed Special Assistant for Native American Programs by President Ford in August 1976.
Soon after suffering severe losses in the 1964 elections, Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives began discussing organizational and leadership changes. As a political scientist specializing in the study of Congress, Professor Robert Peabody of Johns Hopkins University became interested in studying these potential changes.
Wanda Phelan served in the White House press office at two different times during the Nixon and Ford administrations. From February 1970 to October 1974 she handled routine correspondence for press secretaries Herb Klein, Ron Ziegler and Jerald ter Horst. She returned to the White House press secretary's office on detail in August 1976 and worked as a staff assistant under Agnes Waldron. In this role, she maintained research files on the 1976 presidential election, concentrating on Jimmy Carter's background and statements, editorial opinion about issues and the campaign, and
The Susan Porter files include correspondence, memoranda, schedules, calendars, fact sheets and scenarios compiled by Porter during her tenure as appointments secretary to Mrs. Ford and the Ford children from August 1974 until January 1977. Porter began working in the White House in 1971.
J. Stanley Pottinger held two important Federal offices involved with civil rights enforcement during the Nixon and Ford administrations: Director of the Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Health Education and Welfare and the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
Pamela Powell came to the Nixon White House in February 1973 as an assistant to Counsellor Anne Armstrong. She remained on the staff through the Ford administration. In both administrations, and under both job titles, her responsibilities were very similar. President Nixon had charged Counsellor Armstrong with responsibility for youth affairs, and as her assistant, Powell participated in the activities she later came to direct. When Anne Armstrong resigned in December 1974, President Ford transferred the liaison functions of her office to a recently created Office of Pub
The Chairman's Office Files provide documentation of administrative, fiscal and strategic issues handled by Howard (Bo) Callaway and his immediate staff from the formation of the election committee in June 1975 until Callaway resigned in March 1976. These extant files do not reflect the activities of Roger C.B.
The General Counsel's Office Files are an important resource for examining the legal issues involved in the operation of a presidential campaign committee. In addition the collection extensively documents the development of the Federal Election Commission, its role in regulating campaign finances, and PFC receipts and expenditures. Smaller, but important, segments concern aspects of PFC operations beyond the work of the legal staff, including notes on some high-level meetings and weekly reports of the Political Office field coordinators.
The Political Office Files document strategic and organizational issues during the primary and general presidential campaigns. The files are particularly valuable for documentation on PFC organizing and campaign activities at the state and local levels. They are less reflective of campaign planning at the national level.
LIST OF CONTENTSIntroductionList of SeriesOffice FilesChairman's OfficeOffice of AdministrationPolitical OfficeGeneral Counsel's OfficeCampaign '76 Media Communications, Inc.People for Ford OfficePress OfficeResearch OfficeDelegate OfficeVice Presidential Nominee OfficeTreasurer's OfficeRelated Audiovisual MaterialList of Processing ArchivistsINTRODUCTION
PRESIDENT FORD COMMITTEE RECORDS: Actualities Audiotapes
PRESIDENT FORD COMMITTEE RECORDS: Audiovisual Material Removed from the Textual Records
PRESIDENT FORD COMMITTEE RECORDS: Campaign Commercials Videotapes
PRESIDENT FORD COMMITTEE RECORDS: General Election Radio Spots Audiotapes
PRESIDENT FORD COMMITTEE RECORDS: Primary Election Radio Spots Audiotapes
The Administrative Office Files document management and budgetary issues involved in the operation of the President Ford Committee. To a lesser degree, the extant files reflect the deputy chairman of administration's auxiliary responsibility to coordinate the Committee's support operations. In terms of reporting relationships, the deputy chairman had oversight responsibility for the PFC's research, scheduling, communications, volunteer, and convention planning operations.
The President Ford Committee's in-house advertising agency, Campaign '76 Media Communications, Inc., incorporated in December 1975. The agency's records document the creative inception, production, and placement of advertising on behalf of President Ford, from the design of a campaign logo in September 1975 until agency staff filed final reports with the Federal Election Commission in March 1977.
The Delegate Office coordinated efforts to solicit support for President Ford among uncommitted delegates selected to attend the Republican National Convention. Since the race for the Republican nomination between Ford and Ronald Reagan remained close at the end of the primary season, this effort proved crucial in providing the President with enough votes to receive the nomination.
People for Ford (PFF) was the volunteer arm of the President Ford Committee formed during the general election to develop outreach efforts to special voter groups. Directed by long-time Republican National Committee activist Elly Peterson, the PFF staff targeted women, African-Americans, professional groups, ethnics, farmers, Jews, senior citizens, and young people for particular attention.
Press Secretary Peter Kaye formed the PFC's small in-house Press Office in October, 1975. Kaye directed the organization's radio, television, and news activities through the primary campaign, reporting to the PFC Chairman. He resigned in July, 1976, when the Press Office was subsumed under a larger Communications Division, headed by newly-appointed Deputy Chairman for Communications William I.
Fredric W. Slight left the White House staff on September 22, 1975, and very shortly thereafter took up the newly created position of PFC research coordinator. Although he initially worked alone, by the heart of the primary season Slight had a staff of four assistants.The Research Office, which at various times reported administratively to either the Deputy Chairman for Administration or the Political Office, handled a variety of tasks:
The Treasurer’s Office Files document the fiscal and budgetary issues handled by Robert Moot and his successor, Royston Hughes. The Treasurer’s Office initially reported to the PFC Finance Committee headed by David Packard. In April 1976, the PFC reorganized and the Treasurer’s Office then reported directly to PFC Chairman James Baker. After the Republican National Convention in August 1976, Royston Hughes succeeded Moot as Treasurer, while serving concurrently as the Deputy Chairman for Administration.
The Vice Presidential Campaign Office collection is primarily a reference file. It consists almost entirely of several small, routine, and likely incomplete, files, the bulk of which is contained in a large background book. Material of interest to researchers are selected Dole speech and interview transcripts, the Senator's voting record, and position papers on various campaign topics.The collection is otherwise lacking in substantial research material. Virtually no original material is present, and no staff files for individuals mentioned above are included.
The Daily Diary is a minute‑by‑minute log of President Ford's official and social activities, noting attendees at meetings and persons to whom he spoke by telephone, and where and when these contacts took place. The sections below describe the Daily Diary, the index compiled by the Ford Library staff, the electronic version of the Diary, and related materials among the Ford Library's holdings.
The news summary was a compilation and distillation of printed and electronic media news articles and editorial opinion, distributed daily to the President and about 130 White House staff. During the Ford administration the news summaries were edited successively by Lyndon Allin, Philip Warden, James Shuman and Agnes Waldron. Details on the summary and its production can be found in the finding aids for the files of Shuman and Waldron.
The presidential paperwork logs (daily item by item listings of material crossing the President's desk) were compiled in the office of the Staff Secretary. That office coordinated the routine flow of paperwork to and from the President. Log entries were primarily made by staff assistant Dianna Gwin through early June 1975 and thereafter by Trudy Fry, head of the Special Files Unit. The logs appear to be complete for items which the President placed in his outbox. Many items which ended up in the outbox, however, were not logged in through the Staff Secretary's office bef
This file consists almost entirely of the reading copies of President Ford's 1,051 public messages. They are arranged chronologically. Related and supporting materials appear occasionally and include preliminary drafts and, less frequently, background material.
Most telephone calls placed or received at the White House were handled by the main White House switchboard. Calls could also be made or received over a signal line (the White House Communications Agency switchboard). In addition, the White House Communications Agency maintained a separate secure line for handling security sensitive calls. Both switchboards kept their own separate logs of calls which they handled; the Ford Library, however, does not have logs for telephone calls made over the secure line.
History of the Presidential Handwriting FilePresident Lyndon Johnson's staff started the practice of maintaining a separate handwriting file. Gertrude Fry copied the practices of the Johnson White House when she joined the Nixon staff and continued to be responsible for the file under President Ford.
Overview of the OfficeThe mission of the Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) was to provide the President with outstanding candidates for appointment for all Presidentially-appointed positions in the Federal Government. Also, from time to time, the Office provided the President with recommended policy guidance for his use in instructing Federal department and agency heads on conduct of personnel activities in their organizations.PPO responsibilities included the following:
Frances Kaye Pullen (usually know as Kaye) joined the White House staff as a speechwriter for President Ford in the Editorial Staff Office in November 1974. One year later she informally began assisting with Mrs. Ford's speech preparation and transferred to the First Lady's staff in February 1976. Pullen remained on the First Lady's staff as her speechwriter, reporting directly to Sheila Weidenfeld, Mrs. Ford's press secretary, until the end of the administration.