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Gerald R. Ford Library1000 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2114www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov |
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Gerald R. Ford Library1000 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2114www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov |
Staff Secretary's Office
PRESIDENT'S DAILY DIARY, 1974‑77
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The
Daily Diary is a minute‑by‑minute log of President Ford's official
and social activities, noting attendees at meetings and persons to whom he
spoke by telephone, and where and when these contacts took place. Little on the substance of meetings and calls
appears in the collection, however. The
collection includes multiple copies of the typescript Diary, source materials
used in its compilation, administrative files of the compilers, an electronic
version created by scanning it into a full‑text searchable database, and
a selected name and geographic index.
QUANTITY
46 linear feet
(ca. 92,000 pages)
DONOR
Gerald R. Ford
(accession number 77-103)
ACCESS
Open. Some items are 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
Gerald R. Ford has donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 Barbara White &
David Horrocks, May 1984
Revised by William McNitt, August 1990
[s:\bin\findaid\president's daily diary.doc]
INTRODUCTION
The Daily Diary is a minute‑by‑minute
log of President Ford's official and social activities, noting attendees at
meetings and persons to whom he spoke by telephone, and where and when these
contacts took place. The sections below
describe the Daily Diary, the index compiled by the Ford Library staff, the
electronic version of the Diary, and related materials among the Ford Library's
holdings.
The Daily Diary
During the Ford
administration, personnel attached to the Staff Secretary's Office compiled the
Diary. In order to make it as complete
as possible, the compilers drew upon such sources as:
Telephone
operators' logs
Secret Service
movement logs
White House
Residence Usher's logs
Military Aide's
logs
Air Force One
flight manifests
Logs of the Aide
to the President and the Oval Office reception desk
Daily schedules
Event briefing
memoranda
The Diary staff
pulled the information together into a single log of Presidential activities
for each day and filled in gaps in the sources or resolved conflicts between
them by querying staff members involved in the event. Because of delays in obtaining source
materials and resolving problems, they generally completed each day's Diary
about three to eight weeks after the day itself.
National
Archives personnel, working in the White House complex, had compiled a very
similar Diary during the Nixon administration. These Nixon Diaries proved
instrumental in retrieving White House tapes for the Watergate Special
Prosecutor. Perhaps it was in reaction
to the Nixon experience that the Ford administration closed the National
Archives' White House liaison office early in the administration and stopped
the compilation of the Daily Diary. Even
after the preparation of the Diary resumed several months later, the Ford
administration considered the Diary a very sensitive document and severely
limited access to it.
In January 1975
the White House Staff Secretary's Office hired Susan Yowell,
the former compiler for the National Archives, to resume preparation of the
Diary. Yowell
and her assistant Ellen Jones continued this work throughout the remainder of
the administration and all through the Carter presidency. Yowell and Jones
began the retrospective compilation of the missing 1974 Diaries in November
1975 and completed the project in January 1977.
An exception is November 17‑25, 1974, when President Ford was on
his overseas trip to the Pacific Basin.
The Diary staff was unable to locate the Military Aide's log for this
trip and therefore could not reconstruct the President's activities. They substituted schedules showing planned
activities in place of Diaries for these days.
The Diary form
(see attached sample page) simplified and standardized the recording of
information about a day's activities.
Date and day of the week, as well as the place that the day began,
appear at the top of each page. For each
activity the form provides a space for the beginning and ending time. For telephone calls, a code indicates whether
the President placed ("P") or received ("R") the call. The form provides space for a short
description of the activity, but this is seldom more than a few words long and
only occasionally indicates the subject discussed. The compilers listed attendees at meetings of
small groups in the narrative and attendees at meetings of large groups in
appendices.
Although the
Diary is exhaustive and generally accurate, it cannot be regarded as
authoritative. Certainly, the Diary is
no more accurate than the variety of logs and other sources upon which the the staff based it. Because they completed the 1974 Diaries a year
or two late, some sources were hard to find and it was also difficult to verify
facts with participants. For example, Yowell and Jones missed several telephone logs for August
1974 which may now be found in the collection "President's Telephone
Logs" (Staff Secretary's Office).
In addition to
multiple copies of the Diaries and the source materials used in their
compilation, the collection includes a Subject File containing a small amount
of administrative materials about the Diary office, plus such items of note as
a September 1974 study of presidential time allocation and several payroll
lists for the White House which are useful for studying personnel changes in
the Ford White House.
The Daily Diary
Database
As part of its
testing of optical character scanning technology, the Archival Research and
Evaluation Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration began a
project in 1988 to convert the Ford Daily Diary to a machine‑readable
form. The Ford Library sent the ribbon
copy (original typescript) of the Diary to Washington to help ensure the
accuracy of the scanning process. The National Archives hired the British firm Optiram Automation Limited to do the initial scanning and
optical character recognition work and then spent months checking the
electronic version of the diary for accuracy, reformatting it into a data file
structure suitable for use with the "askSam"
text retrieval software, and designing retrieval formats.
The National Archives
staff who worked on the project feel that they achieved a high degree of
accuracy in the electronic version of the Diary, in spite of the poor quality
of many of the appendices (which are often photocopies rather than originals).
The Daily Diary database
includes only the Diaries and appendices. None of the source material found in
the Ribbon Copy series is included. The
value of the Daily Diary database lies in making available the information
which was not indexed by the Ford Library staff in 1977 (see the description of
the Daily Diary index below). For
instance, one could search for the number of times Henry Kissinger saw the
President or even the total amount of time they spent together in any given time
period. In addition to names, it is possible
to search on words such as "golf" or "Cabinet." Researchers should be aware that the
electronic version of the Diary retains any inconsistencies in spelling or word
usage that were present in the hard copy.
Although the
Ford Library staff will be glad to conduct searches of the Daily Diary database
for researchers, those who choose to do their own searching will be given
instruction in the use of the "askSam"
software. Searching is done on a
microcomputer in free‑ text mode with word truncation and Boolean
connectors available for use.
The Daily Diary
Index
Beginning in
1972, the Diary staff used the White House Central Files computers to index the
Nixon Daily Diaries. The Carter Daily
Diaries had a similar index. Although
the Ford Diary staff made several proposals to implement such indexes, they
were never approved (see Box 1 ‑ "Diary Office Administrative
Memoranda).
In 1977, Ford
Library archivists manually prepared a very selective name and geographic index
as an internal work aid. This index is
available in the research room card catalog.
White index cards contain listings of Presidential meetings, while blue
index cards refer to telephone calls.
The index is
selective. It excludes:
‑ Most of
the event and meeting attendees listed in the appendices
‑ People
encountered during domestic and foreign trips (only Congressmen, Governors, and
Mayors were indexed for domestic trips; nobody was indexed for foreign trips)
‑ Ford
family members
‑ All
White House staff
‑
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
‑ OMB
Director James Lynn
‑ Secret
Service agents
‑ Some
members of the intelligence community
The index does
include:
‑ People
whom Ford met at the White House, Camp David, and vacation residences,
especially Vail, Colorado. They include,
for example: Cabinet members, Vice
President Rockefeller, personal friends, Congressmen, foreign officials,
reporters, agency officials, state and local officials, and representatives of
various organizations and groups. For
EXCEPTIONS, see above.
‑ Each
country visited (but none of the people Ford met)
‑ Each
state and community visited (but only Governors, Mayors, and Congressmen met
during domestic trips)
‑ Cabinet
and National Security Council meetings (but not each attendee)
‑ Special
Events (e.g., Alfred E. Smith Dinner, Army‑Navy football games, Signings‑Bills,
etc.)
‑ Names of
institutions, organizations and groups which Ford addressed, met with or
visited regardless of locale. Many of
the entries are idiosyncratic to the Diary (e.g., Black Republican Leaders, Mid‑Atlantic
Newspaper Editors, Arizona Republican National Convention Delegates, or Italian‑American
Leaders). Other entries are more
standard (e.g., U.S. Chamber of Commerce, International Longshoremen's
Association, or Armed Forces Policy Council).
‑ Names of
all telephone callers and call recipients.
All entries relating to telephone calls appear on blue index cards
rather than white.
Related
Materials (August 1990):
White House
Central Files Subject File category PR 7 and its subdivisions concern the
President's schedule and category TR concerns his trips. The President's Telephone Logs contain lists
of his contacts by telephone. The papers
of Press Secretary Ron Nessen contain much on the
President's schedule, as do scattered folders in a number of other
collections. The files of the Scheduling
and Advance Office currently are unprocessed and not available for research,
but the files of director Jerry Jones may be opened by 1991.
Series
Descriptions
1‑7 Subject File, 1974‑77. (2.8 linear feet)
Press releases,
calendars, logs, memoranda and printed materials collected as background
materials for compiling the Daily Diary and for identifying individuals; and
lists, memoranda and reports produced by the Diary office either in response to
questions regarding the President's work or as summaries of his
activities. One presidential time
allocation study for September 1974 is included, as is a small amount of
administrative office files concerning access and computerization.
Arranged
alphabetically by subject.
8‑10 Name Card File, 1974‑76. (1.2 linear feet)
Card file used
by the Diary office to identify personal, social and some official
acquaintances of the President or individuals associated with the government. Entries often indicate relationships to the
President and his family.
Arranged
alphabetically by name.
11‑22 Daily Diary Work Copy, 1974‑77. (4.8 linear feet)
Photocopies of
the typescript Daily Diary which appears in the Ribbon Copy series (see next
page). Researchers interested in examining just the Diary and not the source
materials used in its compilation should consult this series or the Daily Diary
database. The source material appears
with the File Copy (see below). The Ford Library staff highlighted selected
names on this copy of the Diary in the course of creating a partial index.
Arranged
chronologically.
23‑60 Daily Diary File Copy, 1974‑77. (15.2 linear feet)
Photocopies of
the typescript Daily Diary which appears in the Ribbon Copy (see next page),
plus the source material used for its compilation. The source material includes logs of his
activities compiled by his staff, military aides, the White House
Communications Agency, and the Secret Service; plus telephone logs, lists of
attendees at meeting and social events, White House press releases, and
occasional briefing papers and notes between the Diary staff and other White
House officials attempting to confirm details about a specific event. Researchers who do not need the detail contained
in the source material should consult the Work Copy or the Daily Diary
database. Open by review on request.
Arranged
chronologically.
61‑71 Daily Diary Staff Secretary's Copy,
1974‑77. (4.4 linear feet)
Photocopies of the typescript Daily
Diary which appears in the Ribbon Copy (see below). The information contained here is also
identical to that in the Work Copy.
Arranged
chronologically.
72‑85 Daily Diary Ribbon Copy, 1974‑77. (5.6 linear feet)
Original
typescript of the Daily Diary. The Diary
staff made photocopies of this file to create the Work, File, and Staff
Secretary's Copies. This is the copy
that was used for scanning to create the Daily Diary database.
Arranged
chronologically.
86‑115 Daily Diary Backup, 1974‑77. (12.0 linear feet)
Photocopies of
the source material located in the Daily Diary File Copy (see previous page),
without copies of the Diaries. Open by review on request.
Arranged
chronologically.
Container List
Diary Information
Request Log (1)‑(3)
Diary Office
Administrative Memoranda (1)‑(2)
Diary Office
Background Requests (1)‑(2)
Diary Office
Reports on Presidential Activities (1)‑(3)
Foreign Contacts
Summary Lists (1)‑(2)
Golf Games ‑
Summary Lists
Media Contacts ‑
Summary lists (1)‑(2)
Meetings with
Cabinet Members ‑ Summary Lists (1)‑(3)
Movement Logs ‑
Summary Lists
Office of
Management and Budget Telephone Directory, 9/75
Reference Lists
(1)‑(3)
Republican National
Committee/President Ford Committee Lists (1)‑(5)
State Department
Chiefs of Mission ‑ Lists
State Department
Diplomatic List, 2/76
Time Allocation
Study, 9/74 (1)‑(4)
Travel (summary
lists)
Weekly
Abstracts, 1/75‑11/76
White House
Payroll Office, 8‑11/74 (list)
White House
Payroll Office, 12/74‑8/76
White House
Personnel Changes (1)‑(2)
White House
Press Release ‑ Left to Right (Photo) Identification, 8/74‑11/76
White House
Press Release ‑ President's Schedule, 8/74‑12/75
White House
Usher's Logs, 2/75
Items
transferred to Other Collections
A‑G
H‑Q
10 Name Card File
R‑Z
8/9/74‑10/31/74
11/1/74‑1/31/75
2/1/75‑4/21/75
4/22/75‑6/30/75
7/1/75‑9/17/75
9/18/75‑12/15/75
12/16/75‑2/29/76
3/1/76‑4/30/76
5/1/76‑6/30/76
7/1/76‑9/16/76
9/17/76‑11/30/76
12/1/76‑1/20/77
8/9‑31/74
9/1‑22/74
9/23/74‑10/10/74
10/11‑31/74
11/1‑30/74
12/1‑25/74
12/26/74‑1/31/75
2/1‑28/75
3/1/75‑3/25/75
3/26/75‑4/20/75
4/21/75‑5/15/75
5/16/75‑6/5/75
6/6/75‑7/2/75
7/3/75‑7/25/75
7/26/75‑8/15/75
8/16/75‑9/10/75
9/11/75‑9/30/75
10/1/75‑10/26/75
10/27/75‑11/15/75
11/16/75‑12/12/75
12/13/75‑1/15/76
1/16/76‑2/7/76
2/8/76‑2/27/76
2/28/76‑3/17/76
3/18/76‑4/6/76
4/7/76‑4/27/76
4/28/76‑5/13/76
5/14/76‑5/31/76
6/1/76‑6/20/76
6/21/76‑7/8/76
7/9/76‑7/31/76
8/1/76‑8/29/76
8/30/76‑9/23/76
9/24/76‑10/12/76
10/13/76‑10/28/76
10/29/76‑12/7/76
12/8/76‑1/9/77
1/10/77‑1/20/77
8/9/74‑10/31/74
11/1/74‑1/31/75
2/1/75‑4/18/75
4/19/75‑6/30/75
7/1/75‑9/20/75
9/21/75‑12/16/75
12/17/75‑3/10/76
3/11/76‑5/11/76
5/12/76‑7/12/76
