James M. Cannon Research Interviews and Notes - Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library

JAMES M. CANNON

Research Interviews and Notes, 1989-1994

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

The collection contains audiotapes and transcripts of Cannon’s interviews with President Gerald R. Ford, First Lady Betty Ford, and many others. It also contains Cannon’s notes taken while reading transcripts of Trevor Armbrister’s 1977 interviews with President Ford and a few additional documents and notes. The material was used in the writing of Cannon’s 1994 book Time and Chance: Gerald Ford’s Appointment with History.

QUANTITY

0.8 linear feet (approximately 1600 pages) and 30 audiocassettes

DONOR

James M. Cannon (accession numbers 2000-017, 2006-005, and 2006-006)

ACCESS

Interview transcripts, research notes and document copies are open. Audiotapes for transcribed interviews are also open. All untranscribed audiotapes remain closed. Some other items may be temporarily restricted under terms of the donor's deed of gift, a copy of which is available on request, or under National Archives and Records Administration general restrictions (36 CFR 1256).

COPYRIGHT

James M. Cannon donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain.

Prepared by William McNitt, January 2008; revised Dec. 2008

[s:\bin\findaid\cannon, james - research interviews and notes.doc]

INTRODUCTION

James M. Cannon, who worked for many years as a journalist and aide to Nelson Rockefeller, joined the Ford White House staff as Executive Director of the Domestic Council in February 1975 and served until the end of the Ford administration. Many years later he approached President Ford with a plan to write a book about the President’s life and career. That project resulted in the publication of Time and Chance: Gerald Ford’s Appointment with History (New York: HarperCollins, 1994), with a second volume currently (2008) in progress.

This collection documents some of Mr. Cannon’s work in planning and researching the book. It contains tapes and some transcripts for interviews he conducted with President Ford and many others along with Cannon’s notes on other sources (especially the 1977 interviews with President Ford conducted by Trevor Armbrister), and some lengthy letters written to Cannon by Presidents Ford and Nixon. In addition to rough transcripts created by Mr. Cannon, each folder also contains full transcripts created by the staff of the Ford Library.

The interviews conducted with President Ford by Mr. Cannon concern all phases of his life from his childhood through the Presidency and even touch on the 1980 presidential campaign. Perhaps due to the fact that the book does not cover most of the Ford Presidency, these interviews deal only with a limited number of topics from the White House years – mostly the transition, the Nixon Pardon, and some aspects of the 1976 presidential campaign. There is extensive discussion on many earlier aspects of Ford’s life and career, however. The interviews concern his parents, his stepfather, elementary school, high school, University of Michigan, Yale University, his girlfriend Phyllis Brown, his work as an attorney, his World War II experiences, the 1948 congressional campaign, work on the House Appropriations Committee, the Fords’ homes in Grand Rapids and Washington, the Warren Commission, election as Minority Leader, the attempt to impeach Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Watergate and the Nixon impeachment, and the resignation of Spiro Agnew as Vice President and the appointment of Ford to replace him. Any individual interview many discuss a number of these topics in no special order, so it may be necessary to examine portions of several different interviews to see all of the information on any one topic.

Cannon’s research notes on other sources are ones that he took while researching Time and Chance. One major resource that he used was the 3641 pages of interviews with Ford conducted by Trevor Armbrister in 1977 to assist with the writing of President Ford’s memoir A Time to Heal. Although Cannon’s notes include frequent short quotations from the Armbrister interviews, they serve primarily as an index to them. Therefore these notes contain nowhere near the level of detail that appears in the complete Armbrister-Ford interviews (which are not included in this collection). Other Cannon notes concern both additional sources and notes to himself about plans for researching and writing the book.

The Library staff has opened Cannon’s research notes, Cannon rough interview transcripts, Cannon’s interview audiotapes, and the Library-created complete transcripts of the Gerald Ford interviews. The bulk of the audiotapes are still closed to research (see list in Appendix A). The Library staff hopes to begin reviewing, transcribing and opening other tapes as time permits.

Related Materials (January 2008):

In addition to this collection, the Ford Library has both the James Cannon Files (part of President Ford’s donation of working files of White House staff members) and the James Cannon Papers (donated to the Library by Mr. Cannon). Both collections focus primarily on Mr. Cannon’s role as Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs and Executive Director of the Domestic Council from 1975 to 1977. Neither collection contains materials directly related to his book on President Ford.

Although President Ford made available to Mr. Cannon the extensive transcripts from the 1977 interviews used in the writing of his memoir A Time to Heal, those transcripts are not currently open to research.

Box 1 Research Interviews and Notes File

Ford Book - Continuing Inventory of Research Material (Bibliography)

Ford Book - Files of Sources and Subjects (including Subject Index to Interviews), 1/18/92

Ford Book - Files of Sources and Subjects (including Subject Index to Interviews), 9/15/94

Ford Book - Notes on Sources, 1990

Ford, Betty - Interview, 4/30/90 (re Dorothy Gardner Ford and President Ford Sr.,her courtship by Gerald R. Ford, Philip Buchen, Bunny Buchen, 1948 congressional campaign, the early years in Washington, and family life)

Ford, Betty - Interview, 7/20/90 (re Dorothy Gardner Ford and President Ford Sr., house in Alexandria, decision to retire to California, and growing up in Grand Rapids)

Ford, Betty - Notes on her 1977 Trevor Armbrister Interview

Ford, Betty - Notes on her Book "The Times of My Life"

Ford, Betty - Quote on Marriage

Ford, Gerald - Index to Interviews Up to 4/29/90

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 9/1/89 (re planning for the book, economics, American-Soviet relations, selection as Vice President in 1973, transition to the presidency, veto strategy, 1976 presidential campaign, Nixon pardon)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/24/90 (re high school football, coach Cliff Gettings, friend Art Brown, Leslie King and parents’ divorce and child support battles, University of Michigan, coach Harry Kipke, coaching and law school at Yale University, Phyllis Brown, practicing law in Grand Rapids, Frank McKay, Republican Home Front organization)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/25/90 (re elementary school, Dorothy Gardner Ford and President Ford Sr., growing up in Grand Rapids, Boy Scouts, South High School, 1948 congressional campaign, Bartel Jonkman, Earl Michener, John Tabor, House Appropriations Committee and intelligence subcommittee, Federal budget)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/26/90 (re personal traits such as tolerance or his temper; South High School; retirement plans in 1972; Spiro Agnew’s resignation as Vice President; Melvin Laird and the nomination as Vice President; Andrew Goodpaster; vice presidency and staff members Robert Hartmann, John Marsh, Philip Buchen and L. William Seidman; Watergate; Henry Kissinger; Brent Scowcroft; Bryce Harlow; Al Haig; Nixon pardon, USS Monterey in World War II)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/27/90 (re Nixon resignation, swearing-in as President, Henry Kissinger, Al Haig, Andrew Goodpaster, appointment of Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President, selection of Robert Dole as 1976 campaign running mate, economics, Alan Greenspan, Arthur Burns, end of the Vietnamese War, Graham Martin, James Schlesinger, decision to run for President in 1976, campaign debate statement on Eastern Europe)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/29/90 (re Ford speeches, the Ronald Reagan challenge for the Republican nomination, decision to drop Nelson Rockefeller from the ticket, campaign debate statement on Eastern Europe, election loss, 1980 presidential campaign)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/30/90 (re courtship of Betty, 1948 congressional campaign, Jack Stiles, Bartel Jonkman, Frank McKay, apartments in Washington and building the house in Alexandria, Ford-Reagan discussions at the 1980 Republican Convention)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 11/30/90 (re Nelson Rockefeller nomination as Vice President, selection of Bob Dole as 1976 campaign running mate, Winston Churchill, parents’ divorce, his temper, Leslie King, Watergate, Nixon-Ford transition, Nixon pardon, post presidential career)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/22/92 (re interest in the law and work as an attorney, Phyllis Brown, 1948 congressional election and early days in Congress, Earl Michener, House Appropriations Committee, defense appropriations, Warren Commission, coaching at Yale University, working at Yellowstone National Park, service in the Navy during World War II, Vietnamese War, Bill and Hillary Clinton)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/23/92 (re House Appropriations Committee, defense appropriations and intelligence subcommittee, Ford homes in Grand Rapids and Washington/Alexandria, Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Warren Commission, campaign for the 1960 nomination as Vice President)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/24/92 (re House of Representatives, deaths of Dorothy Gardner Ford and President Ford Sr., Cuban Missile Crisis, campaign for chair of the House Republican Conference against Charles Hoeven, 1964 presidential campaign, Warren Commission, Minority Leader campaign against Charles Halleck, 1968 presidential campaign, Richard Nixon, attempt to impeach Justice William O. Douglas, trip to China in 1972, revenue sharing legislation, plans to retire from the House, selection as Vice President in 1973)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/25/92 (re golf, favorite books as a child, work while at the University of Michigan, House of Representatives, House Appropriations Committee, Nixon resignation, Bob Griffin, Alexander Haig, administration shake-up in November 1975, Donald Rumsfeld, James Schlesinger, Henry Kissinger, executive-legislative relations, post presidential career)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/21/93 (re the book project, Betty Ford Center, Phyllis Brown, Nixon pardon)

Ford, Gerald - Interview, 4/22/93 (re Minority Leader contest against Charles Halleck, attempt to impeach Justice William O. Douglas, Watergate, Nixon impeachment, Wight Patman, Nixon resignation, Nixon pardon, fall of South Vietnam, economics, Tip O’Neill, 1976 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan, Bill and Hillary Clinton, discussion of regrets from throughout his life)

Ford, Gerald - Letter Containing Reflections on His Reaction to Learning that He Would Become President, 4/22/93

Ford, Gerald - Telephone Conversation (discussion of people to interview for the book), 2/6/90

Ford, Gerald - Telephone Conversation, 5/5/93 (re Tom Austin, Tom Hamilton, Phyllis Brown)

Ford, Gerald - Telephone Conversation, 6/14/93

Ford, Janet - Telephone Conversation, 7/28/92 (re Dorothy Gardner Ford)

Ford, Michael - Notes on Conversation, 2/8/91 (re the Ford family)

Nixon, Richard - Correspondence Concerning the 1973 Vice Presidential Nomination, April-June 1991

Box 2 Research Interviews and Notes File

Notes and Excerpts on the 1977 Trevor Armbrister Interviews with President Ford

- Pages 1-200

- Pages 201-400

- Pages 401-500

- Pages 501-600

- Pages 601-700

- Pages 701-800

- Pages 801-900

- Pages 901-1000

- Pages 1001-1100

- Pages 1101-1200

- Pages 1201-1300

- Pages 1301-1400

- Pages 1401-1500

- Pages 1501-1600

- Pages 1601-1700

- Pages 1701-1800

- Pages 1801-1900

- Pages 1901-2000

- Pages 2001-2100

- Pages 2101-2200

- Pages 2201-2300

- Pages 2301-2400

- Pages 2401-2500

- Pages 2501-2600

- Pages 2601-2700

- Pages 2701-2800

- Pages 2801-2900

- Pages 2901-3000

- Pages 3001-3100

- Pages 3101-3200

- Pages 3201-3300

- Pages 3301-3400

- Pages 3401-3500

- Pages 3501-3600

- Pages 3601-3641

- Index - Governing in the White House

- Index - House Experience

Transfers to Diskette Collection

Appendix A

James M. Cannon - Interview Tapes

Only the tapes with an asterisk by the title are currently open for research. The Library staff hopes to begin reviewing, transcribing and opening other tapes as time permits.

Interviewee Date

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 9/1/1989

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/24/1990 (two tapes)

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/25/1990 (two tapes)

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/26/1990 (three tapes)

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/27/1990 (two tapes)

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/29/1990

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/30/1990 (two tapes)

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 11/30/1990

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/22/1992 (two tapes)

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/23/1992 (two tapes)

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/24/1992

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/25/1992

* Ford, Gerald R. - Interview 4/22/1993 (two tapes)

Ford, Gerald R. - Telephone Conversation 2/6/1990

Ford, Gerald R. - Telephone Conversation 7/6/1992

Ford, Gerald R. - Telephone Conversation 5/5/1993

Ford, Gerald R. - Telephone Conversation 6/14/1993

Ford, Richard - Interview 7/2/1990

Ford, James - Interview 7/2/1990

Ford, Susan - Interview 9/7/1991

Ford, Janet - Interview 2/27/1991

Ford, Mike - Interview 2/8/1991

Ford, Tom - Interview 2/27/1991

Ford, Tom - Telephone Conversation 7/28/1992

Albert, Carl - Interview 7/24/1990

Bailey, Doug - Interview 1/30/1992

Baker, Russ - Interview 8/26/1989

Barrett, Robert - Interview 11/8/1990 (two tapes)

Beall, George - Interview 3/12/1990

Becker, Benton - Interview 7/9-10/1991 (two tapes)

Becker, Benton - Telephone Conversation 5/19/1992

Brown, Phyllis - Interview 4/28/1990

Brown, Phyllis - Telephone Conversation 1/9/1992

Buchen, Philip - Interview 2/15/1990

Bull, Steve - Interview 3/5/1991

Burlingame, Ed - Interview 5/221991

Burlingame, Ed - Interview 6/24/1992

Burlingame, Ed - Interview 11/11/1992

Butler, Patrick - Interview 1/14/1990

Callaway, Howard - Interview 8/1/1991

Calkins, Jack - Interview May or June 1992

Cannon, Howard - Interview 8/6/1991

Cannon, James - VP-Clips

Cannon, James - Car Tape December 1991

Cheney, Richard - Interview 11/26/1991

Deaver, Mike - Interview 10/30/1990

Dolan, Eamon - Interview 4/15/1993

Dunn, Mike - Interview 1/17/1991

Fish, Hamilton - Interview 7/10/1991

Friedersdorf, Max - Interview 2/14/1991

Garment, Leonard - Interview 9/12/1990

Garment, Leonard - Interview 9/241990

Garment, Leonard - Interview 3/14/1991

Goldwater, Barry - Interview 5/4/1990

Goodpaster, Andrew - Interview 1/16/1991

Griffin, Robert - Interview 6/28/1990

Haig, Alexander - Interview 12/20/1990

Haig, Alexander - Interview 8/24/1993

Hartmann, Robert - Interview 6/19/1991 (two tapes)

Helms, Richard - Interview 5/26/1992

Hersey, John - Telephone Conversation 12/20/1991

Jones, Jerry - Interview 8/31/1991 (two tapes)

Kennerly, David - Interview 11/8/1990 (two tapes)

Kissinger, Henry - Interview 4/12/1991

Laird, Melvin - Interview 6/15/1991

Leonard, Mildred - Interview 5/15/1992

Levi, Edward - Interview 12/10/1991

McConahey, Stephen - Interview 12/10/1991

Mansfield, Mike - Interview 5/31/1991

Marsh, John O. - Interview 6/28/1991 (two tapes)

Marsh, John O. - Interview 8/19/1993

Marsh, John O. - Telephone Conversation 6/28/1991

Marsh, John O. - Character 1/27/1993

Mathews, David - Interview 9/6/1991

Mikva, Abner - Interview 7/24/1991

Martin, Mathew - Interview 5/7/1993

Moore, Powell - Interview 12/22/1991

O’Neill, Paul - Interview 3/7/1990 (two tapes)

Parsons, Richard - Interview 11/14/1991

Price, Ray - Interview 12/6/1990

Quern, Arthur - Interview 12/9/1991

Rhodes, John - Interview 12/4/1990

Robinson, James D. III - Interview 1/3/1991

Rodino, Peter - Interview 9/28/1990 (two tapes)

Rodman, Peter - Interview 3/27/1991

Rourke, Russell - Interview 1/25/1991

Rumsfeld, Donald - Interview 12/9/1991 (two tapes)

Rumsfeld, Joyce - Interview 12/10/1991

Russell, Walt - Interview 6/29/1992

Scowcroft, Brent - Interview 8/31/1991

Sears, John - Interview 2/8/1990

Seidman, William - Interview 10/3/1989

Spencer, Stuart - Interview 11/7/1990

Thompson, Fred - Interview January 1991

VanderTill, Gordon - Interview 5/19/1992

Whyte, Bill & Peggy - Interview 2/6/1991

Wiggins, Charles - Interview 11/12/1991

Zarb, Frank - Interview 1/7/1991

Ziefman, Jerry - Interview 11/6/1991

Gerald R. Ford Library

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