RELATED MATERIALSRelated materials can be found in the White House Central Files Subject Files categories FG 23 and 23/A (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare), Presidential Personnel Office Files, and the David Mathew Papers.
William J.
William J. Baroody, Jr., began his career in Washington in 1961 as legislative assistant and press secretary to Republican congressman Melvin Laird. He also served as research director for the House Republican Conference in 1968 and 1969.
William E. Casselman developed a good working relationship with Congressman Gerald Ford and his staff during his tenure as Special Assistant to the President for Congressional Relations in the Nixon White House. On the strength of this relationship, Casselman was invited to work on the Ford Vice Presidential staff. When Ford became President, Casselman moved with him to the White House, as a Counsel to the President associated with Philip Buchen and Philip Areeda.
William Fisher joined the Department of the Interior as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy and Minerals in April 1975. Upon the departure of Assistant Secretary Jack Carlson in February 1976, Fisher moved up to that position.
The Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Energy and Minerals had oversight over the following offices:
William F.
William Greener had a long career in public affairs positions with the United States Air Force until 1970. After that he handled media relations for civilian agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, Cost of Living Council, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Office of Management and Budget.
Related Materials (June 2012)Passenger lists for all air and helicopter flights made by President Ford and the First Family are included in the collection White House Military Aide’s Office: Files, 1973-77.
William G. Hyland, a noted expert on U.S.-Soviet relations, had a distinguished career in government service, which began during the 1950s as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency and culminated with his tenure as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs during the Ford administration. In between, Hyland served on the National Security Council staff and as Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research.
William T. Kendall came to the White House in February 1975 directly from the staff of Senator Charles Mathias, Jr. He was appointed deputy assistant for legislative affairs (Senate) and reported to Max L. Friedersdorf, head of the Congressional Relations Office. His predecessor, Tom C. Korologos, had served President Nixon since 1971 and remained on President Ford's staff from August through December 1974. Until early 1976, Kendall was assisted by Patrick O'Donnell and thereafter, by Joseph Jenckes.
Wolfgang Lehmann had a long and distinguished career in the Foreign Service, but this collection focuses narrowly on the time he spent in South Vietnam (1973-1975), especially the closing months of the Vietnam War and the evacuation from Saigon in April 1975. During his last year in South Vietnam, Lehmann served as the deputy to Ambassador Graham Martin.
W. Allen Moore served on the Ford administration Domestic Council as Associate Director for Policy and Planning; and later, as Associate Director for Operations. The greatest portion of the files concerns social security and welfare reform topics from 1976. The files are arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically therein.
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
These are the combined files of the Directors of the Presidential Scheduling Office, Warren Rustand, and his successor, William Nicholson. Rustand previously served as Vice President Ford's Director of Scheduling and Advance. A small number of documents are included in this collection from this earlier post. In November 1975, Nicholson, who was the Deputy Director of the Presidential Scheduling Office was promoted to Director, following Rustand's resignation.
The William E. Timmons Files consist of memoranda, correspondence, briefing papers, notes and reports on legislation compiled by Timmons and his assistant Powell Moore from August to December 1974, and Timmons' routine personal correspondence from 1969 to 1974.
Wayne Valis joined the White House staff during President Nixon's second term and performed duties in areas of public liaison, recruitment, legislative tracking and speechwriting under the direction of Melvin Laird and William J. Baroody. He continued to perform many of the same duties during the Ford administration and was given the title of Director of Planning and Research for the Office of Public Liaison (OPL) in January 1975.
The White House Administrative Office was one of the permanent operating offices which remained in the White House even as Presidents changed. The Administrative Office was divided into four areas: White House budget, payroll, personnel, and supply activities. Leave records, time and attendance reports, personnel records, and the purchase of supplies and equipment necessary for the operation of the White House Office were among the matters handled by the Administrative Office.
RELATED MATERIALSSamples of public mail were filed in the White House Central Files (WHCF) Subject File "General" folders. Weekly public mail tabulations and summaries are located in WHCF Subject File subcategory WH 4-1 and in the Robert Hartmann Papers, boxes 139 - 144. A sample of received telegraphs can be found in the collection White House Telegraph and Travel Section: Sample of Telegrams. Public mail related to the First Lady and the Ford children was filed in the White House Social Office Central Files.
The Congressional Relations Office received and responded to dozens of letters addressed to the President from members of Congress each day. To control this mail and allow for easy reference, the Congressional Relations staff created a single centralized file of logs of incoming mail and copies of their outgoing letters. Copies of congressional letters drafted by other White House offices were often added to the file.
The White House Gift Unit is one of several permanent operating offices that provide support services to each administration. Marjorie Wicklein headed the office in the Ford administration, supervising a staff of eight. Wicklein reported to Robert Lindner, the Permanent Operations Offices' chief executive clerk, who in turn reported to the staff secretary, through David Hoopes, special assistant to the President.
The White House Press Release Collection contains both the press releases published and distributed by the White House Press Release Unit and most of the press releases issued informally by the Press Secretary's office. The collection originally included only press releases distributed by the Press Release Unit, but a partial set of press releases collected by the National Archives have been interfiled. Most of those added were fairly routine releases of information which the Press Office distributed. Such items were usually just photocopied and released without ever being
The White House Press Release Unit is one of the permanent White House support operations which serve each President. Supervised during the Ford administration by Mary E. Hooper, Editorial Clerk, the unit worked with the Office of the Press Secretary, receiving draft press releases, reproducing, and distributing them. They compiled a keyword index to presidential speeches, announcements, interviews, statements, press conferences, and messages whose texts were issued as press releases.
SUMMARY OF FORD ACTION ON CLEARED LEGISLATIONPublic Bills and Joint Resolutions Signed1974 - 2781975 - 2011976 - 379Total - 858Private Bills Signed1974 - 351975 - 271976 - 115Total - 177Public Bills Vetoed1974 - 24 (4 Overridden by Congress)1975 - 17 (4 Overridden by Congress)1976 - 20 (4 Overridden by Congress)Total - 62 (12 Overridden by Congress)Private Bills Vetoed1974 - 31975 - 01976 - 2Total - 5 (None overridden by Congress)INTRODUCTION
RELATED MATERIALS (December 2012)Individual staff office files document the activities of the First Lady’s staff. These include the files of: Russell Armentrout, Maria Downs, Elizabeth O’Neill, Susan Porter, Frances Pullen, and Sheila Weidenfeld. The Library also holds the personal papers of Betty Ford, Maria Downs, Peter Sorum, and Sheila Weidenfeld (unprocessed).The White House Social Office maintained several other central filing systems. See collections beginning with “White House Social Office”.
RELATED MATERIALS (December 2012)Individual staff office files document the activities of the First Lady’s staff. These include the files of: Russell Armentrout, Maria Downs, Elizabeth O’Neill, Susan Porter, Frances Pullen, and Sheila Weidenfeld. The Library also holds the personal papers of Betty Ford, Maria Downs, Peter Sorum, and Sheila Weidenfeld (unprocessed).The White House Social Office maintained several other central filing systems. See collections beginning with “White House Social Office”.
RELATED MATERIALS (December 2012)Individual staff office files document the activities of the First Lady’s staff. These include the files of: Russell Armentrout, Maria Downs, Elizabeth O’Neill, Susan Porter, Frances Pullen, and Sheila Weidenfeld. The Library also holds the personal papers of Betty Ford, Maria Downs, Peter Sorum, and Sheila Weidenfeld (unprocessed).The White House Social Office maintained several other central filing systems. See collections beginning with “White House Social Office”.
RELATED MATERIALS (December 2012)Individual staff office files document the activities of the First Lady’s staff. These include the files of: Russell Armentrout, Maria Downs, Elizabeth O’Neill, Susan Porter, Frances Pullen, and Sheila Weidenfeld. The Library also holds the personal papers of Betty Ford, Maria Downs, Peter Sorum, and Sheila Weidenfeld (unprocessed).The White House Social Office maintained several other central filing systems. See collections beginning with “White House Social Office”.
RELATED MATERIALS (December 2012)Individual staff office files document the activities of the First Lady’s staff. These include the files of: Russell Armentrout, Maria Downs, Elizabeth O’Neill, Susan Porter, Frances Pullen, and Sheila Weidenfeld. The Library also holds the personal papers of Betty Ford, Maria Downs, Peter Sorum, and Sheila Weidenfeld (unprocessed).The White House Social Office maintained several other central filing systems. See collections beginning with “White House Social Office”.
These files of the Special Files Unit consist of miscellaneous items accumulated by Gertrude B. Fry on President Ford's preparations for his debates with Jimmy Carter, his review of federal agency budget requests, and selected issues considered sensitive by Fry. Also included is a small file on the administration of the Special Files Unit. The Presidential Handwriting File and other files of the Office of Staff Secretary, originally maintained in the Special Files, are separate collections and not included here.
Although the frequency varied, the senior White House staff met about three times weekly, usually for 30 minutes, during the Ford Administration. The meetings were informal, with no agendas apparently prepared and no formal minutes recorded, and could include office principals or their "alternates."
As a permanent operating unit of the Office of the Chief Executive Clerk [1], the White House Telegraph and Travel Section arranged travel for White House staff, assisted with travel arrangements for the White House press corps, and received and dispatched all telegrams for the White House Office. The collection has no information on these duties, but does contain a sample of telegrams taken from a complete set of incoming and outgoing telegrams maintained by the Telegraph and Travel Section.
RELATED MATERIALS (October 2015)Additional material related to the Executive Residence are found primarily in the White House Central Files Subject File, category WH (White House), as well as FG-100 (Committee for the Preservation of the White House) and FG-180 (National Park Foundation) categories. Materials pertaining to the swimming pool specifically can be found in the John Stiles and Merrill Mueller Files.
Beginning in January 1976, Hendriks served as Director of the Presidential Spokesmen’s Office. This office handled event invitations that the President had to decline, but which were considered important enough that the administration should be represented at the event. The office coordinated the schedules of administration spokesmen such as Cabinet officers and agency heads and arranged for them to speak on behalf of the President.
The office provided still-photographic coverage of Gerald Ford's day-to-day activities as Vice President and President. David Kennerly, a photojournalist whom Ford met while Vice President, and four other photographers, shot approximately 290,000 photos of Mr. Ford and his staff and family. They took the photos in White House meeting rooms, offices, and the family residence; at Camp David and aboard Air Force One; during trips overseas, vacations in Colorado , and campaign swings. Kennerly enjoyed exceptional access to the President.
The White House Social Files contain materials that relate to the activities of First Lady Betty Ford and her staff. They were maintained in a designated filing scheme under the supervision of the Chief of Files and the White House Central Files staff. Included was over 500 cubic feet of mail addressed to Mrs. Ford, or both President and Mrs. Ford, from the general public that became the White House Social Files Bulk Mail File. White House staff sorted this mail into boxes by general category or topic, but it remained unorganized within each box.
The White House Communications Agency (WHCA) recorded President Ford's speeches, news conferences, and other public statements. The table below lists these recordings and is based on WHCA’s daily inventory log. Actual tape times may differ from what was indicated by the White House staff. Use the search capabilities in your PDF reader program to locate specific people or keywords in this table. There are no copyright restrictions with these recordings.
The White House Communications Agency (WHCA) recorded audio of First Lady Betty Ford’s public remarks at the White House and a few other locations. The table below is based on WHCA’s inventory log. Actual tape times may differ from what was indicated by the White House staff. Use the search capabilities in your PDF reader program to locate specific people or keywords in this table. There are no copyright restrictions with these tapes. WHCA did not make audio recordings of Mrs. Ford’s other speeches and statements.
The White House Communications Agency (WHCA) recorded press briefings by various officials, press pool reports, and occasional other events during the administration of Gerald Ford. The table below lists these recordings and is based on WHCA’s daily inventory log. Actual tape times may differ from what was indicated by the White House staff. Use the search capabilities in your PDF reader program to locate specific people or keywords in this log. There are no copyright restrictions with these tapes.
The White House Communications Agency (WHCA) made a few audio recordings of Ford family interviews. The table below lists these recordings and is based on WHCA’s daily log inventory. Actual tape times may differ from what was indicated by the White House staff. There are no copyright restrictions with these tapes. WHCA did not make audio recordings of other statements by the Ford family.
The White House Communications Agency (WHCA) recorded many of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller’s speeches, news conferences, and public statements made at the White House and other Washington, D.C. locations. The table below lists these recordings and is based on WHCA’s daily inventory log. Actual tape times may differ from what was indicated by the White House staff. Use the search capabilities in your PDF reader program to locate specific people or keywords in this log. There are no copyright restrictions with these tapes.
WHCA selectively created, or acquired, videorecordings of news and public affairs broadcasts from the national networks CBS, NBC, and ABC; the public broadcast station WETA in Washington, DC; and various local station affiliates. Program examples include: news special reports, national presidential addresses and press conferences, local presidential events, guest interviews of administration officials, appearances of Ford family members, and the 1976 Republican Convention and Ford-Carter debates.
WHCA created weekly compilation tapes of selected stories from the evening news broadcasts of the CBS, NBC, and ABC television networks. It offered these “Weekly News Summaries” to White House staff via an internal cable TV system. The stories range across a host of national political, domestic policy, and foreign affairs topics.
During the Ford administration the primary mission of the White House Photographic Office was to supply all the photographic needs of the President, the Vice‑President, and the White House staff, especially the Press Secretary. Oliver Atkins headed the Office until his December 1, 1974 resignation; immediately upon his departure David Kennerly, the President's personal photographer and Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist, took over as the overall director, at least nominally reporting to Press Secretary Ron Nessen. At the end of the Ford administration Kennerly reported to Ri