Table of Contents
This section describes the office structure in the Ford White House and cites the collections that came from each office as part of the Ford Presidential Papers. Some topically-related collections are also listed.
The following collection titles omit many names that would appear in any roster of office personnel. This is because the files of many staff became incorporated into the files of a successor or a more senior colleague. In other cases, departing White House staff may have retained files for their personal future use.
Finally, some record systems stay in the White House complex from one President to the next. For example, the White House Curator, Chief of Payroll, the Intelligence Oversight Board, the Secret Service, and the National Security Council retained
CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONS OFFICE
The CRO handled White House liaison with Congress and its members on such topics as pending legislation, program oversight, Presidential appointments, and consultation in foreign affairs. Routine services such as photo opportunities were part of the job as well.
COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT, OFFICE OF
The office provided legal advice and services to the President, his family, and White House staff. It advised on legislation, constitutional and administrative powers and duties, campaign law, judicial appointments, and regulatory issues and agencies. It also drafted legal documents, defended against legal actions, coordinated the screening of Presidential appointees for security or conflict of interest problems, and assisted in clemency and pardon issues.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| Philip Buchen Files William Casselman Files Dudley Chapman Files Jane Dannenhauer Files (closed to research) Jay French Files Bobbie Kilberg Files Kenneth Lazarus Files Barry Roth Files Edward Schmults Files James Wilderotter Files (unprocessed) | Benton Becker Papers Philip Buchen Papers Charles Goodell Papers Roderick Hills Papers Robert Horn Papers Edward Levi Scrapbooks and Speeches J. Stanley Pottinger Papers Edward Schmults Papers |
COUNSELLORS TO THE PRESIDENT
This is an artificial grouping of diverse Presidential advisers who had the title "Counsellor." Some were Nixon advisers who remained briefly under Ford. John Marsh and Robert Hartmann, by contrast, were central figures in the Ford White House. Marsh oversaw the Congressional Relations and Public Liaison Offices, and Hartmann directed the Editorial and Speechwriting Office. Assistants who worked on a few special projects are listed below, indented.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| Gwen Anderson Files Anne Armstrong Files Dean Burch Files John Calkins Files R. Mason Cargill and Timothy Hardy Files (unprocessed) John Marsh Files Robert Hartmann Files Paul McCracken Files Rogers C.B. Morton Files Kenneth Rush Files John Stiles and Merrill Mueller Files | Gwen Anderson Papers (unprocessed) Robert Hartmann Papers |
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS ASSISTANT/DOMESTIC COUNCIL STAFF
The Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs provided policy advice and directed Domestic Council staff. James Cannon held the post, preceded briefly by Nixon-appointee Kenneth Cole. Between five and nine Domestic Council associate directors specialized in different subject areas. Assistant directors and staff assistants aided them. There was significant personnel turnover and a reorganization in 1975, accompanied by some mingling and splitting of files.
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS ASSISTANT
The Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, L. William Seidman, advised on domestic and international economic issues and was Executive Director of the Economic Policy Board (EPB). The EPB's executive committee included the administration's senior economic policy officials, and it met several times each week to coordinate policy. See the following collection entries for files of Seidman, his staff, and two temporary colleagues in the White House.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| William Gorog Files Marvin Kosters Files Paul McCracken Files Kenneth Rush Files L. William Seidman Files Birge Watkins Files I. David Wheat Files | Arthur Burns Journal Arthur Burns Papers Sidney Jones Papers James Lynn Papers David Macdonald Papers Yanek Mieczkowski Research Interviews Michael Moskow Papers Paul O'Neill Papers L. William Seidman Papers (unprocessed) William Simon Papers U.S. Council of Economic Advisers Records |
EDITORIAL/SPEECHWRITING STAFF
Specialized divisions drafted Presidential speeches, composed brief Presidential articles and messages as requested by various groups and politicians, wrote form responses to routine public correspondence, and checked the factual accuracy of speeches and other public statements. Paul Theis headed the staff until January 1976 and reported to Robert Hartmann, who himself drafted key Presidential speeches. Robert Orben succeeded Theis as immediate head of the speechwriters. David Gergen's files on campaign speeches are closely related, but Gergen was part of the Press Secretary's Office.
FIRST LADY'S STAFF
The staff handled press relations, public appearances, scheduling, speeches, correspondence, honors and affiliations, and other matters for Mrs. Ford and the Ford children. In addition, a Social Entertainments Office worked with Mrs. Ford and others to coordinate menu planning, guest lists, decorations, and entertainment for social events at the White House, Camp David , and occasionally aboard the Presidential yacht.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| Russell Armentrout Files Maria Downs Files Elizabeth O'Neill Files Susan Porter Files Frances Pullen Files Sheila Weidenfeld Files | Betty Ford White House Papers Maria Downs Papers Peter Sorum Papers Sheila Weidenfeld Papers (unprocessed) White House Social Office Central Files |
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER/NSC STAFF
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs advised on defense and foreign affairs matters, and he directed the National Security Council staff. Henry Kissinger held the post until November 1975, and Brent Scowcroft succeeded him. Their files are intermingled.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| National Security Adviser Subcollections | Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the RAC Program William Hyland Papers (processing in progress) Martin Hoffmann Papers Robert Ingersoll PapersHenry Kissinger Papers (unprocessed) Melvin Laird Papers U.S. President's Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States (Rockefeller Commission) U.S. National Security Council: Institutional Records from the Ford Administration Dale Van Atta Papers |
PERMANENT OPERATING OFFICES
The majority of personnel working within the White House complex are support staff who remain as administrations change. They keep payroll accounts, create keyword indices to presidential statements, do calligraphy, provide filing and correspondence services, and much more. The vast majority of their records remain in the White House indefinitely, but selected files were customarily treated as the President's papers. See most of the collection entries in the online guide that begin "White House."
PRESIDENTIAL PERSONNEL OFFICE
A President may have some 5,000 positions to fill over a full term. The Presidential Personnel Office identifies these positions and recruits candidates, coordinates selection and political clearance, provides orientation, and helps evaluate performance. David Wimer, William Walker, and Douglas Bennett successively headed the office.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| Presidential Personnel Office Files | William Walker Papers (unprocessed) |
PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
The office assisted with the President's personal affairs and accounts, secretarial needs, and requests for autographed photos.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| Dorothy Downton Files Mildred Leonard Files Anne Kamstra Files | Mildred Leonard Papers |
PRESS SECRETARY'S OFFICE/COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
The Press Secretary and his staff spoke for the President at daily press briefings, monitored press coverage and summarized it for the President and staff, briefed the President for his own press conferences and other media encounters, advised on press relations, helped the press gather information, and provided logistical support to the press. The Press Secretary necessarily collected information on many diverse topics. A Communications Office was often truly, and always nominally, part of the Press Secretary's Office. It handled White House relations with federal agency public information officers, and it represented the President to the non-Washington press corps.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| John Carlson Files Helen Collins Files David Gergen Files Jonathan Hoornstra Files (unprocessed) Paul Miltich Files Ron Nessen Files Wanda Phelan Files President's Daily New Summaries Eric Rosenberger and Douglass Blaser Files Edward Savage Files James Shuman Files Frederick Slight Files Jerald terHorst Files Agnes Waldron Files Gerald Warren and Margita White Files | William Greener PapersPaul Miltich Papers Ron Nessen Diary Audiotapes and Transcripts (unprocessed) Ron Nessen Papers J.W. "Bill" Roberts Papers Mark Rozell Interviews Jerald terHorst Papers (unprocessed) Gerald Warren PapersMargita White Papers |
PUBLIC LIAISON OFFICE
The office cultivated White House links with interest groups, voter blocs, and groups of influential citizens. Briefings and meetings at the White House and town hall-type meetings around the country were important vehicles for these liaisons, along with participation in events sponsored by various organizations, and other, less visible, activities. William Baroody, Jr., directed the office under the general oversight of John Marsh. Some important liaison duties were discharged by White House staff in other offices: Bradley Patterson and Norman Ross (Native Americans), David Lissy (Jewish organizations), Robert Goldwin (Academics), Arthur Fletcher (African-Americans) and Rayburn Hanzlik (public forums).
SCHEDULING AND ADVANCE OFFICE
The scheduling unit helped prioritize the President's time, and it developed the President's daily and long-term schedules. It helped the President and his staff prepare for his daily appointments. The advance unit helped set criteria for and make decisions on Presidential travel. For both domestic and international trips, the advance unit orchestrated the overall planning and managed the onsite arrangements.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| Byron Cavaney Files Warren Hendriks Files Jerry Jones Files Terrence O'Donnell Files President's Daily Diary Warren Rustand and William Nicholson Files | Byron Cavaney Papers Robin Martin Papers Peter Sorum Papers Frank Ursomarso Papers (unprocessed) |
SECRETARY TO THE CABINET
The Secretary to the Cabinet organized and documented Cabinet meetings, supported communications between the President and individual Cabinet members, and helped the President remain accessible to his Cabinet. It was not a full-time post; Warren Rustand and his successor James Connor each had other duties.
| Ford Presidential Papers | Selected Associated Collections |
| Connor, James Warren Rustand and William Nicholson Files | Cabinet Meetings Collected Items |
STAFF SECRETARY'S OFFICE
Staff Secretaries Jerry Jones and successor James Connor coordinated the flow of paperwork to and from the President. For example, they ensured that memorandums to the President incorporated the views of all pertinent advisers. They also provided special file storage for the President. More routine duties included management of staff perquisites such as parking and mess privileges, and oversight of the Chief Executive Clerk and his Permanent Operating Offices.
WHITE HOUSE OPERATIONS OFFICE
This office was central to the management of the White House Office. The Cabinet and Staff Secretaries and the heads of the Presidential Personnel and Scheduling/Advance Offices all reported to the head of White House Operations. Alexander Haig, Donald Rumsfeld, and Richard Cheney held the post in succession. Few Presidential advisers, if any, had better access to Ford than did the latter two. The office head might advise on any domestic, foreign, or political issue, and in 1976 Cheney and his immediate staff became very active in the Presidential campaign.