May, Lynn - Files

INTRODUCTION

Lynn May received a B.A. degree in history from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1964, and completed course requirements for a PhD in history at UCLA in 1972. From May 1972 to April 1974 he was special assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. In April 1974 he became staff assistant to Geoffrey C. Shepard, Associate Director, General Government, of the Domestic Council. When Shepard left the Domestic Council on March 3, 1975, May became Assistant Director to Richard D. Parsons who succeeded Shepard. In May 1975 areas of responsibility were reformulated and Parsons became Associate Director for Justice, Crime, Civil Rights, and Communications, with May continuing as his assistant. In January of 1976 May was appointed Associate Director for Housing, Community Affairs, and Communications in which position he served until the end of the administration.

As assistant to Domestic Council Associate Director Geoffrey Shepard, May worked in the areas of drugs, privacy, small and minority business programs, the Department of Commerce, and the Justice Department. An important drug topic was the reorganization of the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse and the future direction of the federal drug abuse effort. In the privacy area May took part in the Domestic Council Committee on the Right of Privacy which developed initiatives for safeguarding personal privacy and coordinated the formulation and implementation of the Privacy Act of 1974. His responsibilities for small and minority business included programs of both the Small Business Administration and the Department of Commerce Office of Minority Business Enterprise. Other important Commerce topics were fire safety and maritime shipping. A significant Justice Department program was the National Crime Information Center, a combined state, local and federal law enforcement data network using dedicated computers and message switching.

As assistant to Associate Director Richard Parsons, May was responsible for communications, postal service, regulatory reform, illegal aliens, and continued with privacy, small business, and the law enforcement data network. A significant communications project was the organization of the Office of Telecommunications Policy, which functioned as the President's principal advisor on telecommunications policy, cable television, CB radios, and telephone systems. The organizational background and legislation of the postal service were important topics. Substantive regulatory reform issues included the Robinson‑Patman Act, and the Domestic Council Review Group on Regulatory Reform, in which May took part, but for which Paul Leach had primary responsibility.

After becoming Associate Director, May was responsible for housing and urban development, Olympic Sports, disaster assistance, and continued with communications and postal service. He inherited most of the housing and urban development files from Tod R. Hullin; many contain only copies and printed material. Significant topics include community development, home financing assistance, Detroit, National Growth Report, and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration. Substantive Olympic Sports issues were the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1980 Winter Olympics to be held at Lake Placid, and the President's Commission on Olympic Sports. From August 16, 1976, to January 20, 1977, May was assisted by George T. Kidd, Assistant Director, who was detailed from the Office of Telecommunications Policy. Kidd's areas of responsibility included disaster assistance, communications, postal service, and the General Services Administration. Kidd's chronological file is part of the May papers.

May's functions were primarily the same both as Assistant and Associate Director, including domestic policy formulation and White House liaison for Cabinet Departments, government agencies, and special interest groups. Among his specific duties were the preparation of information, decision, and action memoranda, and Presidential statements and questions and answers. He developed agendas and arranged meetings for the President, government officials, and special interest groups, or met with such groups himself. May wrote issues papers, policy proposals, and draft responses to letters, and occasionally gave speeches to special interest groups.

These papers include files inherited from Tod Hullin (1973‑76), Richard Parsons (1975‑76), and Geoffrey Shepard (1974‑75). Some materials date from the Nixon Administration. Most of the files consist of copies or printed materials and apparently were accumulated by May for reference purposes. Original memoranda and correspondence that do appear are to and from many of the Domestic Council staff, Cabinet and Agency officials, special interest groups, and individuals.

Related Materials (March 1980):

Related materials in the Ford Library include the Domestic Council files of Tod Hullin, Richard Parsons, and Geoffrey Shepard. Materials on housing and community development issues, documenting the service of George Romney as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the first term of the Nixon administration (1969‑72), are available at the Bentley Historical Library of the University of Michigan. Some of May's material on illegal aliens is in WHCF under OA9281.

Series Descriptions

1‑3 Commerce Department Subject File, 1974-75. (1.0 linear feet)

Reports, handbooks, brochures, notes, memoranda, correspondence, talking points, statements, printed materials, and other information on the Department of Commerce and its programs, including fire, safety, minority business, and maritime shipping. Some papers date from 1973; occasional materials are to and from Shepard and Parsons.