A specific exception is the President's hobbies and preferences (see
PP).
RE: Recreation-Sports
Executive 150 pp. / General 165 pp.
Materials on miscellaneous sports topics such as correspondence with
Lord Killanin of the International Olympic Committee regarding the creation
of the President's Commission on Olympic Sports, Presidential messages
to sporting events and organizations, and inquiries about Title IX of the
Education Act of 1972.
RE 1: Basketball
Executive 85 pp. / General 20 pp.
Material on basketball games, teams, and players, including invitations
to attend Washington Bullets professional basketball games and various
college games; and proposals for meetings with the women's team from the
People's Republic of China, the Harlem Globetrotters, the 1976 NCAA champion
University of Indiana team, and the Brazilian Wheelchair team.
RE 2: Baseball - Softball
Executive 145 pp. / General 75 pp.
Material on professional and amateur baseball and softball, including
schedules of the White House softball team, passes and invitations to attend
major league and other games, requests for the President to take a stand
on the potential move of the San Francisco Giants to Toronto, Canada, and
congratulatory messages from Ford to members-elect of the Baseball Hall
of Fame.
RE 3: Bathing - Swimming
Executive 1275 pp. / General 300 pp.
Material on swimming for health and recreation, particularly on the
construction of the new White House swimming pool, including lists of donors
and form thank you letters from Ford; messages to the 1976 US Olympic swimmers;
and a meeting with a world record marathon swimmer from New York.
RE 4: Boating - Yachting
Executive 30 pp. / General 20 pp.
Material on boating and yachting, including racing. Contains material
on a meeting with the US National Rowing Team, messages to various racing
events including the WLAV raft race on the Grand River in Grand Rapids,
and requests from rowing teams for meetings with the President.
RE 5: Bowling - Billiards - Pool
Executive 17 pp. / General 7 pp.
Material on bowling, including the installation of the first bowling
center in the Soviet Union, bowling messages, and a proposal from the American
Lawn Bowlers Association to install a bowling green on the White House
grounds.
RE 6: Boxing - Wrestling - Karate - Judo
Executive 70 pp. / General 20 pp.
Material on boxing, wrestling, karate, and judo at the professional
and amateur level, including plans to install closed circuit television
in the White House for the George Foreman - Muhammad Ali fight from Kinshasa,
Zaire; messages to Ali and Foreman and a meeting with Ali at the White
House; plus copies of the first bulletin of the International Amateur Karate
Federation, with a greeting by Ford; and correspondence referring to Ford's
boxing coach days at Yale.
RE 7: Cards - Checkers - Chess
Executive 3 pp. / General 1 p.
Cross-references on the Armed Forces Chess Championship Tournament
and a reply to an inquiry on the President's interest in chess.
RE 8: Dancing
Executive 1 p. / General 5 pp.
Items on dancing, including a thank you letter to the Ford's for being
guests at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines, Iowa; a request to add
dancing to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports; and
a reply regarding use of the White House for a square dance during National
Square Dance Week.
RE 9: Egg Rolling
Executive 25 pp. / General 20 pp.
Material on egg rolling, especially at the White House on Easter Sunday.
RE 10: Football
Executive 190 pp. / General 185 pp.
Material on professional, college, and high school football, including
invitations to attend games; meetings with football personalities such
as Bart Starr of the Green Bay Packers, and the Wake Forest University
football team; the President's involvement in football in the 1930's; and
congratulatory and consolation messages to various bowl teams and high
schools.
RE 11: Golf
Executive 450 pp. / General 100 pp.
Material on golf and the President's interest in it, including invitations
to play with various politicians, acquaintances and professional golfers;
Presidential participation in Pro-Am and charity events; restoration of
the White House putting green; and congratulatory messages to various golfers
in recognition for their particular achievements.
RE 12: Hockey
Executive 8 pp. / General 11 pp.
Material on ice and field hockey, including invitations to the Michigan
Technological University Winter Carnival and to attend games of the Washington
Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers, a congratulatory message to national
champion West Chester State College's Women's Field Hockey Team, and other
correspondence regarding both professional and amateur ice hockey.
RE 13: Hunting - Fishing
Executive 10 pp. / General 1 p.
Items on hunting and fishing, including a complimentary No. 1 Fishing
License from Pennsylvania, questions about the Surface Mining and Reclamation
Act of 1975 (S. 425), and an invitation to attend the Grand American Trap-shooting
Tournament in Vandalia, Ohio.
RE 14: Olympics
Executive 600 pp. / General 150 pp.
Material on the Olympics, Pan American Games, and the Junior and Special
Olympics, including correspondence from Lord Killanin of the International
Olympic Committee regarding Lake Placid, New York's bid for the 1980 Winter
Olympics and Los Angeles, California's bid for the 1980 Summer Olympics;
creation of the President's Commission on Olympic Sports; efforts to reinstate
Jim Thorpe as an amateur and have his Olympic medals returned; Radio Free
Europe coverage of the Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria; requests for
federal aid for San Juan, Puerto Rico, host of the 1979 Pan American Games;
and correspondence related to international games.
RE 15: Gymnastics
Executive 2 pp. / General 10 pp.
Items on gymnastics, including a greeting to contestants and guests
at the 1976 National YMCA Gymnastics Championships, and a request from
the New Hampshire Academy of Artistic Gymnastics for a proclamation to
take to an international competition in Geneva, Switzerland.
RE 16: Racing
Executive 6 pp. / General 4 pp.
Items on various types of racing, including horse, auto, and soap box.
Contains a reply in regards to gambling, a message to the Sports Car Club
of America and the presentation of the President's Cup, marathon and ski
racing messages, a message marking the Bicentennial Pony Express Race in
Croswell, Michigan, and an invitation to attend the first running of the
National Thoroughbred Championship in Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
RE 17: Riding
Executive 19 pp. / General 18 pp.
Material on riding, including horse shows and bicycle riding. Contains
information on the Sixteenth Annual Washington International Horse Show;
correspondence about various cross country horseback and bicycle trips;
and invitation for the President to attend the 1976 Calgary Stampede in
Alberta, Canada, and a proposal for a National Training Center for Olympic
Athletes.
RE 18: Rifle - Pistol Matches
Executive 1 p. / General 2 pp.
Items on shooting, including White House pistol matches. Contains messages
to participants in the Palma Trophy Team Match in California in 1975 and
Camp Perry, Ohio in 1976, and thank you from Milt Mitler regarding information
on the Scheutren-Gau Main-Spessart shooting club competition in Haibach,
West Germany.
RE 19: Skating - Skiing
Executive 90 pp. / General 135 pp.
Material on snow and water skiing and skating. Contains such items
as agenda for a meeting with the American Delegation of the International
Ski School Congress, presentation of ski passes to various areas; offers
to instruct the President and interview requests; and thank you letters
for skiing invitations and ski related gifts.
RE 20: Soccer
Executive 35 pp. / General 7 pp.
Material on soccer, including a meeting with Pele, a congratulatory
message to Howard University on winning the 1974 NCAA Soccer Championship,
and other soccer related correspondence.
RE 21: Tennis
Executive 35 pp. / General 26 pp.
Material on tennis, ping-pong, and volleyball, including the White
House tennis courts. Contains plans for a White House team, schedules for
various Presidential tennis matches, background information for meetings
with tennis celebrities, offers of tennis lessons, and requests for interviews
on the President's interest in tennis.
RE 22: Track - Field Meets
Executive 55 pp. / General 2 pp.
Material on track and field events, including invitations and messages
to various track meets; requests for Presidential meetings with participants
of the IX Orienteering Championship Competition and with relay runners
from "Liberty Torch", a group who ran through all 50 states as a bicentennial
project; and an agenda for a proposed meeting with the US and USSR track
teams.
RE 23: Walking, Jogging
Executive 10 pp. / General 11 pp.
Material on walking and jogging, including messages of congratulations
and good wishes to various Bicentennial runners, and information on the
"White House Walk" sponsored by the National Association of Plumbing Heating
Cooling Contractors.
Return to Central Files Subject File Category List * Home Page
Send e-mail to the Gerald R. Ford Library