Cabinet Meetings

CABINET MEETINGS FILES, 1974-1976

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

This is an artificial collection of photocopies of original documents scattered among many individual collections at the Ford Library. It was created as a directed field experience by a student in the University of Michigan's School of Information and Library Studies.

The collection documents Ford Cabinet meetings in two ways. Firstly, materials such as agendas, briefing papers, and talking points reflect the preparation for each Cabinet meeting. Secondly, minutes, personal notes, press conference transcripts, and follow-up memoranda provide valuable insight into the meetings themselves. The files are arranged chronologically, with each meeting's set of preparation documents followed by a folder of notes or minutes. Two folders of general information precede the chronological files.

QUANTITY

1.6 linear feet (ca. 3,000 pages)

DONOR

For the donor of any given document, consult the guide to the collection in which the original document is located.

ACCESS

Open. Some items may be temporarily restricted under terms of a donor's deed of gift or under National Archives and records administration general restrictions (36 CFR 1256).

COPYRIGHT

Consult the guide to the collection in which the original document is located.

Prepared by Elizabeth Dawson, June 1994

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INTRODUCTION

President Ford's Cabinet met 35 times during his administration, from August 1974 to November 1976. Most meetings took place in the morning in the White House Cabinet Room and lasted from one to two hours. Notable meetings that deviated from this routine include the May 7, 1975 meeting aboard the Presidential yacht Sequoia, which sailed in the evening; the Cabinet dinner on the evening of November 6, 1975; and the January 19, 1976 "State of the Union preview," which met in the afternoon and lasted only one half hour.

The meetings were usually formal, following set agendas, although no official minutes were recorded. Participants often included Under Secretaries, Counsellors, agency representatives, White House personnel, and various assistants, in addition to the President and Cabinet members. In what they called "an historic first," a press pool attended the first part of the February 19, 1976 meeting and produced copious notes.

The collection simplifies research on Cabinet meetings by assembling in one place copies of scattered administrative materials and meeting notes. The materials were located and copied during an extensive search of the Library's current holdings. The relevant documents were scattered throughout the files and papers of various White House staff.

This collection documents the planning and execution of Cabinet meetings, but it makes no attempt to provide background materials on the topics discussed at each meeting.

Cabinet meeting notes, both typed and handwritten, should prove valuable for many researchers. However, notes do not exist for every meeting. For most meetings, there are between one and four sets of notes. Quality among the note-takers varies as well, from the brief and cryptic notes like James Cannon's of September 8, 1976, to the comprehensive typed notes John Guthrie prepared October 11, 1974. Topics include legislative strategy, press relations, domestic and foreign policy issues, political campaigns, and White House administration. In some cases, notes have been sanitized where certain passages are temporarily restricted.

Notes and other materials have been gleaned from the following collections:

Philip W. Buchen Files

Dean Burch Files

James M. Cannon Files

--- Papers

John G. Carlson Files

Richard B. Cheney Files

James E. Connor Files

Robert T. Hartmann Files

--- Hartmann Papers

Jerry H. Jones Files

Bobbie Greene Kilberg Files

John O. Marsh Files

Ron Nessen Files

--- Papers

Presidential Handwriting File

President's Daily Diary

Press Release Unit Files

Michael Raoul-Duval Papers

L. William Seidman Files

White House Central Files Subject File (FG 10:1)

There are materials included for meetings which never took place: the meetings of January 17, 1975 and November 26, 1975 apparently were cancelled, and the meeting recorded in the President's Daily Diary for August 20, 1976 probably did not take place. It is possible that more information exists elsewhere in the Library's holdings. If additional materials are discovered, they will be copied and added to the collection.

Photographs of Cabinet meetings exist for the Sequoia voyage (5/7/75) and the Cabinet dinner (11/6/75), as well as the meetings of 8/10/75, 11/15/75, and 2/19/76. Many more photographs may be available. Researchers are encouraged to consult the Ford Library's Audio/Visual Department to perform a search of captions files.

Container List

Box 1

Cabinet Members

Cabinet Members - Attendance & Seating Policy

8/10/74

8/26/74

8/26/74 - Notes (1 set)

9/17/74

10/11/74

10/11/74 - Notes (3 sets)

10/30/74

10/30/74 - Notes (2 sets)

11/15/74

11/15/74 - Notes (1 set)

1/8/75

1/8/75 - Notes (2 sets)

1/17/75 (Cancelled)

1/29/75

1/29/75 - Notes (1 set)

2/21/75

2/21/75 - Notes (1 set)

3/12/75

3/12/75 - Notes (2 sets)

Box 2

3/26/75

3/26/75 - Notes (2 sets)

4/16/75

4/16/75 - Notes (2 sets)

4/29/75

4/29/75 - Notes (2 sets)

5/7/75 (1)

5/7/75 (2)

5/7/75 - Notes (3 sets)

6/4/75

6/4/75 - Notes (2 sets)

6/25/64

6/25/75 - Notes (2 sets)

7/16/75

7/16/75 - Notes (2 sets)

8/8/75

8/8/75 - Notes (1 set)

Box 3

8/27/75

8/27/75 - Notes (2 sets)

9/17/75

9/17/75 - Notes (1 set)

10/6/75

10/8/75

10/8/75 - Notes (1 set)

11/6/75

11/26/75 (Cancelled) 12/10/75

1/7/76

1/7/76 - Notes (3 sets)

1/19/76

2/19/76

2/19/76 - Notes (2 sets)

Box 4

4/14/76

4/14/76 - Notes (2 sets)

6/18/76

6/18/76 - Notes (2 sets)

6/29/76

6/29/76 - Notes (3 sets)

7/20/76

7/20/76 - Notes (4 sets)

8/20/76 (Cancelled?)

8/30/76

8/30/76 - Notes (2 sets)

9/8/76

9/8/76 - Notes (1 set)

9/28/76

9/28/76 - Notes (1 set: closed)

11/5/76

11/5/76 - Notes (3 sets)

Gerald R. Ford Library

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