JOHN W. "BILL" ROBERTS PAPERS, 1973-77

John W. "Bill" Roberts's background was in radio and television news reporting.  He was a newscaster for radio and television stations in Iowa and then Washington bureau chief for stations owned by Time, Inc. and McGraw-Hill.  When McGraw-Hill closed its Washington bureau, Roberts joined Vice President Ford's staff.  As Deputy Press Secretary to the Vice President, Roberts assisted in planning media coverage of events involving Ford and was responsible for all media arrangements on vice presidential trips.  Roberts was also involved in preparation of press releases, statements, speeches, and articles, and occasionally briefed the press.  In the transition to the Ford administration, Roberts became Assistant Press Secretary to the President.

In the Ford White House, Roberts's main responsibilities were in areas involving the radio and television media and still photographers.  He worked with the networks on live coverage setups in the Oval Office, East Room, and in Washington, DC.  He escorted photographers for photo sessions, served as press officer for pool trips and White House social events, wrote messages for the President to deliver by film or radio tape, drafted press releases, and suggested possible questions for press briefings and presidential news conferences.

During the final six months of the administration Roberts's duties were expanded to include supervising preparation of responses to press inquiries, press releases, and texts of presidential actions, policies, and statements.  He was responsible for all press coverage arrangements for more than 30 state dinners and formal arrival ceremonies for foreign dignitaries visiting the President, and was the designated press officer for foreign journalists covering the White House.

Scope and Content of the Roberts Papers
One value of the Roberts Papers is that they span the entire Ford vice presidency and presidency.  They provide an overall view of the Ford vice presidency through travel schedules, drafts and texts of speeches, transcripts of interviews, and clippings.  The papers relate more to Ford's speeches, travel, and public image than they do to issues.  An exception is the Domestic Council Committee on the Right of Privacy, for which there are fact sheets, working drafts of a decision paper on proposed privacy initiatives, a text of congressional testimony by Philip Buchen, and an agenda and background notes for a meeting on July 10, 1974.

The collection includes Roberts's personal observations and recollections, which he tape-recorded every few days during July, August, and September 1974.  These recollections, on four audio cassettes, provide insight into the last days of the Ford vice presidency, the transition to the presidency, and the persons and personalities involved in the events.  Roberts also tape-recorded reporters singing to Vice President Ford aboard Air Force Two and a press party held at Ron Nessen's home on August 25, 1974.  The cassettes have been transferred to the audiovisual department, and transcripts of the recordings will be placed in the folder, "Roberts - Personal - Recollections."

A segment of the presidential subject file consists of materials relating to the President's foreign trips, including schedules and briefing papers prepared for the press, press releases, and pool reports.

The 1976 presidential campaign is a recurring theme, and materials relating to this topic include Roberts's memos about the campaign and Ford's image in the "Memos" folder, and his handwritten notes from senior staff meetings and events at the Republican National Convention.  Discussion reports and memoranda are available for a staff meeting held at Camp David in August 1976 to consider the role of the press office in the general election campaign.

The bulk of the papers from the presidential years are the President's daily schedules.  In addition to schedules, these files contain briefing papers prepared for the President, press releases, pool reports, press schedules, notes on press briefings, and interview transcripts.  The value of the materials lies in their chronological arrangement and in the breadth of subjects covered, not in the depth of information on any given topic.  Because of the arrangement, researchers can focus on presidential activity for a given day or period of time.