ROBERT HARTMANN FILES, 1974-77

Discussed below under separate headings are: Robert Hartmann's role in the Ford White House, the scope and content of the Hartmann files, and related collections at the Ford Library.

Hartmann's Role in the Ford White House
Gerald R. Ford appointed his long-time aide Robert Hartmann as Counsellor to the President (with Cabinet status) as one of the first official acts of his Presidency. In this position Hartmann's main responsibility was to supervise the White House Office of Editorial Staff in the preparation of presidential speeches, statements, messages, and correspondence. He was also responsible for White House liaison with Republican Party organizations and advised President Ford on a wide variety of matters that went beyond his formal duties.

In the early months of the Ford administration Hartmann continued to draft a number of President Ford's speeches, as he had done for several years, but as time passed he did less speechwriting (except for a few major addresses) and concentrated on his other duties. Although Paul Theis and then Robert Orben headed the day-to-day work of the Office of Editorial Staff, Hartmann supervised the work and often edited material prepared by that office.

After Dean Burch left the White House in 1974, Hartmann became responsible for White House liaison with the Republican Party and various Republican organizations. Burch's aide Gwen Anderson joined Hartmann's staff to assist with these duties. During 1975 John Calkins also assisted Hartmann with political matters. While Hartmann and Anderson continued to handle liaison with the Republican Party in 1976, they did not play a key role in the campaign. Richard Cheney and his staff in the White House Operations Office handled most of the campaign work, including liaison with the President Ford Committee. With the exception of the President's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Hartmann did not write any campaign speeches. The Office of Editorial Staff and David Gergen of the Press Secretary's Office were responsible for most campaign speeches.

In his role as an adviser to the President, Hartmann spent a considerable amount of time in the Oval Office assisting the President and attending meetings with various groups and individuals, regularly attended Cabinet meetings, and received copies of White House staff and federal agency memoranda to the President for his input or editing before they were submitted to the President.

Scope and Content of the Hartmann Files
The Hartmann collection is strongest on speechwriting, the administration of the Office of Editorial Staff, political affairs, the selection of a new Vice President in 1974, personnel matters, and his editing or input on documents submitted to the President.

Hartmann's materials on speechwriting include case files on most, but not all, of the speeches and statements that he drafted for the President. Memoranda and multiple drafts appear for the Bicentennial speeches, the Republican Convention acceptance speech, and the 1977 State of the Union address. Smaller, but often significant, amounts of material appear for other speeches. Some major speeches, such as the 1975 and 1976 State of the Union addresses, are not represented.

The collection also documents the administration of the Office of Editorial Staff, including reports on speechwriting, message, and correspondence activity; schedules; and memoranda exchanged between Hartmann and Theis, Orben, or their staff. There are but few speech drafts by Hartmann's staff, the exceptions occurring when Hartmann took over the drafting of a speech and used another speechwriter's draft as a basis for his own work.

Hartmann's political files concern both his own work and the work of his assistants Gwen Anderson and John Calkins. Included is material on President Ford's activities in the 1974 congressional and gubernatorial campaigns, ongoing liaison with the Republican National Committee and other Republican organizations, and the 1976 presidential campaign. Although Hartmann handled some aspects of political affairs for most of the administration, White House Chief of Staff Richard Cheney had primary responsibility for White House liaison with the President Ford Committee. Hartmann's materials on the campaign relate to the drafting or editing of speeches and statements (especially the Republican Convention acceptance speech), his contacts (mostly routine) with the President Ford Committee, and documents received from Republican officials with whom he had long-time working relationships.

One special assignment which generated a significant file was to compile and report to the President on all suggestions from members of Congress, governors, the Cabinet, and others concerning the nomination of a new Vice President in August 1974. Hartmann's files contain the original incoming letters from these officials, along with tabulations and related documents.

Included in the collection are large files of documents submitted to Hartmann for his clearance and/or editing by the Domestic Council, National Security Council, White House Staff Secretary, and Presidential Personnel Office. While many of these bear only routine comments by Hartmann or his staff, some contain extensive editing or comments.

Since Hartmann was a long-time aide to Gerald Ford and had frequent access to the President, much of his advice on specific actions and issues may have been submitted orally rather than in writing. Much of the material on specific issues is routine in nature and duplicates materials found in other collections.

Related Materials (May 1987)
Other available collections on speechwriting include White House Central Files category SP (Speeches), the files of Paul Theis and Robert Orben of the Editorial Staff and David Gergen of the Press Secretary's Office, and the Reading Copies of Presidential Speeches.

The files of Hartmann's aides Gwen Anderson and John Calkins, the Dean Burch files, and White House Central Files category PL concern White House liaison with Republican Party organizations. Collections concerning the 1976 presidential campaign are listed on the Ford Library handout "The 1976 Presidential Campaign: A Guide to Manuscript Collections Available for Research."

Other material on the nomination of a new Vice President in 1974 appears in White House Central Files categories FG 38 and FG 38/A.

Hartmann's files from his work as an aide to Gerald Ford prior to August 1974 appear in the Ford congressional and vice presidential papers. Hartmann has donated some additional materials concerning his career to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Hartmann's association with Gerald Ford is recounted in his 1980 memoir Palace Politics: An Inside Account of the Ford Years.