RICHARD PARSONS FILES, 1974-77

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.

Dick Parsons joined the Domestic Council staff in March 1975, serving both as legal counsel and as an associate director. As counsel to the Domestic Council, he worked closely with the Counsel to the President in providing legal guidance in the formulation of domestic policy. There is little in this file to document this aspect of his work.

As associate director, Parsons succeeded Geoffrey Shepard in handling General Government, which included justice, treasury, commerce, Postal Service, civil rights and drugs. In a May 1975 reorganization his area of responsibility was subdivided and Parsons became Associate Director for Justice, Crime, Civil Rights and Communications. (Communications was transferred to F. Lynn May in January of 1976.) In April 1976, when Kathleen Ryan left the Domestic Council, responsibility for consumer affairs was given to Parsons' office. Parsons served with the Domestic Council until the end of the Ford administration and then returned to New York to work for Nelson Rockefeller.

From March 1975 to January 1976 Parsons was assisted in his duties by Lynn May, who had previously worked for Geoffrey Shepard. Dawn Bennett-Alexander assisted Parsons from March 1976 until the end of the administration. There are some indications that Kathleen Ryan served as an assistant to Parsons for a few weeks after she joined the Domestic Council in April 1975.

Parsons and his staff were responsible for advice to the President and the formulation of domestic policy in the areas of:

• affirmative action
• busing
• civil rights
• communications
• consumer affairs
• crime
• drugs
• illegal aliens
• Indians
• justice
• postal service
• Puerto Rico
• privacy
• regulatory reform
• sex discrimination
• voting rights

Although Parsons nominally had responsibility for Indian affairs, his files have virtually nothing on that subject. Perhaps the presence on the White House staff of Dr. Theodore Marrs and Bradley Patterson, both of whom handled Indian Affairs, was cause for lessened involvement by the Domestic Council. The Parsons files contain little on Puerto Rico as this file was transferred to Dean Overman near the Ford Administration.

The Parsons files contain little material on communications and virtually nothing on postal service or regulatory reform as these subjects were handled almost exclusively by Lynn May. Similarly, Parsons has little on consumer affairs as Dawn Bennett-Alexander handled that subject. In most other areas Parsons either dealt with the matters himself or else shared them with his assistants.

In a number of cases Parsons served as James Cannon's representative on committees and task forces. For this reason there are significant materials in the Parsons files on the Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens, the Interagency Committee for the Study of Problems Related to Illegal Mexican Migration into the United States, the Domestic Council Committee on the Right of Privacy, and the Domestic Council Drug Review Task Force. Parsons chaired the latter group and directed the writing of the White Paper on Drug Abuse.

One other project on which Parsons spent much time was the drafting of the President's crime message of June 19, 1975. His files contain memoranda, background information and working papers on this speech. The collection also contains information on the drafting and passage of legislation, particularly the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration reauthorization bill; the extension of the Voting Rights Act; and the drafting and approval of the Title IX regulations relating to sex discrimination in higher education.

The Parsons files consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, speeches, drafts of legislation, briefing papers, press releases, publications and newspaper clippings. Virtually all of the correspondence and memoranda are between Parsons and his White House colleagues or between Parsons and officials in government agencies; there is little correspondence from the general public. Although most of the collection dates from the period of Parsons service with the Domestic Council, occasional items from the files of his predecessor, Geoffrey Shepard, are to be found here.

Related Materials (February 1980)
Related Materials can be found in the Domestic Council files of Parsons' predecessor, Geoffrey Sheppard; his two assistants, Lynn May and Dawn Bennett-Alexander; and Dean Overman, who took over Parsons' file on Puerto Rico.