ROBIN B. MARTIN PAPERS, (1969, 1973) 1974 - 1976

Robin B. Martin came to work for Vice President Ford in February 1974, from his position as Executive Vice President of Regional Broadcasters Group. He served as a Staff Assistant in the Vice Presidential Advance Office until August 1974, when he was appointed to a similar position in the White House Advance Office, reporting directly to Advance Office Director Byron M. (Red) Cavaney. Mr. Martin held this position until February 1976.

In both posts, Mr. Martin primarily served as planner and coordinator for several facets of foreign and domestic travel. His work focused on logistical planning for trips, including accommodations and transportation, scheduling travel and events, selecting locations, managing press arrangements, supporting White House staff, and training advance volunteers. Mr. Martin also acted as the primary contact and coordinator between the White House, U.S. Secret Service, and local communities to be visited.

The Robin B. Martin Papers contain materials on domestic trips, foreign trips, and routine administrative matters. The domestic trip materials document Vice President, and later President, Gerald Ford’s U.S. travel and associated activities. A small amount of material relates to trips by Vice President Spiro Agnew. While on domestic travel, Ford attended a variety of events including fundraising dinners and luncheons, conferences, festivals, and political rallies.

The foreign trip materials document Presidential trips overseas and include State Department briefing books for countries visited, and cables discussing scheduling, security, and protocol concerns. The files include materials related to President Ford’s travels to Asia and meetings with leaders from China, Japan, Philippines, and Indonesia. There are also materials on President Ford’s travels to Western and Eastern Europe, including material on the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The administrative materials include Advance Office procedural manuals, Presidential schedules, Advance staff assignment memorandums and considerable correspondence with prospective advancemen.

Related Materials (March 2015)
Related materials are located in a number of other collections. For example, the “TR”: Trip category in the White House Central Files contains correspondence, schedules, and summaries for foreign and domestic trips; the National Security Advisor Security Files contain substantial material pertaining to foreign trips; the Peter Sorum Papers provide details into multiple domestic trips and the Europe trip of July and August 1975; and the Jerry H. Jones Files provide material on 1976 campaign trips. In addition, the personal papers of Byron M. (Red) Cavaney and Frank Ursomarso, and the White House office files of Warren Hendriks, William Nicholson and Warren Rustand, and Terrence O’Donnell provide additional insight into advance and scheduling operation.