Appendix — Nixon v. Administrator of General Services
Supreme Court brief1977
Ask Donna
What actually matters in this document.
Text
,
Supicme Court, U. S.
FILED
JAN 17 1977
MICHAEL RODAK, JR., CLERK
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER TERM, 1976
No. 75-1605
RICHARD NIXON,
Appellant,
,
ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES, et ai.,
Appellees,
THE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FoR
FREEDOM OF THE PREss, et al,
JACK ANDERSON, LILLIAN HELLMAN, et ai.,
Intervenor-Appellees.
ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
APPENDIX
[Volume II — Pages 357-714]
FILED MAY 3, 1976
PROBABLE JURISDICTION NOTED NOVEMBER 29, 1976
eed
Washington, O.C. + THIEL PRESS - (202) 638-4621
_ i ———— —_ eT a —
ree ae a te
(1)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i ee ee eke ce be ee ea 6 68
B. Complaint by Plaintiff Nixon ................
C. Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction
SPD 6.666 be Oh. cb. tee C ROH e CCD Cb CCR
(2) Letter from Richard Nixon to Arthur F.
Sampson, September 6, 1974 ............
(3) Appendix to Plaintiff's Memorandum In
Support of Motion for Preliminary In-
DUR c wc ence ec cccceeseresecevecs
(a) Memorandum of the Library of Congress,
Congressional Research Service, “Owner-
ship of Presidential Papers,’’ dated Sep-
Se as 6 cea echoes caceeecsee
(b) Letter from James E. O’Neill, Acting
Archivist of the United States, to J.
William Heckman, Chief Counsel, Senate
Subcommittee on Constitutional Amend-
ee, Ge Oe, De bn 5 6 bh bbe eee
(c) Letter from Herbert Hoover to Franklin
Floete, Administrator of General Services,
i Ne eas
(d) Letter from Harry S. Truman to Jess
Larson, Administrator of General Ser-
vices, January 17, 1953 ..........+..4-.
(e) Letter from Jess Larson to President
Harry S. Truman, January 19, 1953......
(f) Letter from Harry S. Truman to Franklin
Floete, Administrator of General Services,
£8 err rrerTrTerrrTe
(g) Letter from Franklin Floete to Harry S.
Wee, GE es ET caceocceescececs
(h) Letter from Dwight D. Eisenhower to
Franklin Floete, Administrator of Gen-
eral Services, April 13, 1960 ...........
=
) »
(i) Letter from Jacqueline B. Kennedy,
Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M.
Kennedy to Bernard L. Boutin, Admin-
istrator of General Services, February
ES Pee ee 2 le he eee 89
(j) Letter from Jacqueline B. Kennedy,
Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M.
Kennedy to Lawson B. Knott, Jr.,
Acting Administrator of General
DOUUENGR, TEND, BOG. c occ ce teccesececes« 95
(k) Letter from President Lyndon B. John-
son to Lawson B. Knott, Jr., Admin-
istrator of General Services, August
Pe CE 6 Obs oh COURS Eb ns bd OH 086 8s 96
(1) Letter from Lawson B. Knott, Jr., to
President Lyndon B. johnson, August
Sap CUED cones we ean ee et eeec ees iceees 103
(m) Affidavit of James E. Rocap, III, with
attachments showing current document
holdings in Presidential Libraries .......... 104
(n) Agreement Between Richard Nixon and
Arthur F. Sampson for Deposit of
Presidential Materials, dated September
GD, BRPS ccc ccccecesacsserasteteoceee 109
. Answer of Defendants United States and Adminis-
es ae Ss Se « & 6 co ik 60.6 6% eed ieee vs 115
. Order of the Lower Court finding that three-judge
court was properly convened, granting motions
to intervene, and requesting briefs on proced-
ural and evidentiary matters, May 1, 1975 ......... 123
. Complaint by Intervenor-Plaintiff Anderson......... 125
. Answer and Counterclaim by Intervenor-Defen-
Gant Special Prosscmter . ww ccc cc ccceccseceees 130
(1) Agreement between the President, Special
Prosecutor, General Services Administrator
and Secret Service Director, November 9,
POP hab beh bh-08 CREE VO odes cbs ckweus 142
(itt)
H. Answer by Intervenor-Defendants Reporters Com-
mittee for Freedom of the Press, etal. ..........-.
I. Answer by Intervenor-Defendants Lillian
PE GRE ccc ce cece eee SenceSeeerneoesere
J. Memorandum of the Special Prosecutor in
Response to the Court’s Order of May 1,
BOTS ccc dec reciesesseessesoecevibesecoces
K. Plaintiff Nixon’s Evidentiary Submission...........
(1) Affidavit of Richard Nixon...........6.+6:
(2) Affidavit of John S.D. Eisenhower, with
BE cece vec ee cere aeseceesesencos
(cs ree Tee eee ee ee
(4) Affidavit of Raymond G. Larroca ...........
(5) Description of the White House Taping
DUE Bebb dew eee de wecereseseeseeses
(6) Text of a Legal Opinion By The Attorney
General, September 6, 1974 ...........-..4--.
L. Evidentiary Submission of Defendants United
States and Administrator of General Services........
(1) Affidavit of Harry J. Middleton, Director,
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, with
BMD cc reece ss ocecceseoeeseseeene
(2) Affidavit of William R. Emerson, with
Exhibits, July 22, 1975 .....ccccvcccccece
(3) Affidavit of William R. Emerson, Director
of Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, July
FPA Fr a rere ee ER
(4) Affidavit of Jeanne W. Davis............-+-.
(5) Affidavit of John Stewart..........-.-45244-
(6) Affidavit of Daniel J. Reed................
(a) Chattel Deed from Richard M. Nixon
to the United States of America,
i Se eo Ce Cac ee sees
(b)Chattel Deed from Richard M. Nixon
to the United States of America,
rr a ee eee ob ase &'s
155
268
273
(wv)
r
M. Letter from the Comptroller General of the United =.
States to the Honorable Joseph M, Montoya,
September 20, 1974 ....ccescvcces TEPER EEE 276
N, Intervenor-Defendants Reporters Committee for
Freedom of the Press, et al, Evidentiary Sub-
mission and Response to Plaintiff's Request
SOF SEED nc t Code CadecetCocccesécececue 296
(1) Affidavit of Georg E. Reedy .......4454. »++ 302
(2) Affidavit of Paul Henry Nitze .......66. coee 906
(3) Affidavit of Morton H, Halperin .......... .. Sil
(4) Affidavit of James MacGregor Burns ......... $17
(5) Affidavit of Peter Lisagor .. 6... 66 ce ee eee $20
(6) Affidavit of James M. Naughton ....... 06465 $22
(7) Affidavit of Julian P, Boyd... 6... cae cocee OM
(8) Memorandum from William F, Matthews
re: Disposition of Files in Central Files,
Maren 7, UOTE wcccccccccccccccceececee $82
O, Plaintiff Nixon's Supplemental Evidentiary Presen-
| UEP ERECELEEELEREEEELELEEE Ee .» 336
(1) Affidavit of Richard A, Jacobs .. 0... 66 ce eee $39
(a) Letter from Herbert Hoover to Franklin
Floete, December 15, 1960 ...... oseeeee 349
VOL, ll
(b) Letter from Harry S, Truman to Jess
Larson, January 17, 1959... ee ees $57
(c) Letter from Harry 8, Truman to
Franklin G, Floete, February 12,
\ [errr rrrnr ire frie ei a ee re ee ee ee $60
(d)Letter from Dwight D. Eisenhower to
Franklin Floete, April 13, 1960,........ .. 366
(e) Letter from Jacqueline B, Kennedy, et al,
to Bernard lL. Boutin, February 25, 1965 .... 371
(f) Letter from Burke Marshall to Dr, James
B. Rhoads, August 20, 1966......... ores OF
(v)
Page
(g) Letter from Jacqueline B, Kennedy, et al,
to Lawson B, Knott, Jr., May 5, 1965 ...... 583
(h) Letter from Lyndon B, Johnson to
Lawson B, Knott, Jr., August 15, 1965, ..... $84
(i) Letter from Lawson B, Knott, jr. to
President Johnson, August 17, 1965. ....... $91
(j) Letter from Lyndon B, Johnson to
Lawson B, Knott, Jr., December 19,
De cbede Sebo eeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeee $92
(2) Affidavit of Thomas P, Wolf... 6.66 ee eee $95
(3) Affidavit of William F, Matthews, July 7,
Pee eee ee 8 e *eeeeeeeeeeee 598
(4) Affidavit of Gertrude Fry... 6 ee 403
(5) Affidavit of John C, Broderick, .... 6.6644. ~» 407
(6) Affidavit of Jack Alvin Albright... 6.6.6. 66665 415
(7) Affidavit of Mildred Stegall... 6.66 eee 416
(8) Affidavit of John R, Hubbard... ....... oe» 418
P. Plaintiff's Brief in Support of Claim For Perman-
ent Injunctive and Declaratory Relief (Part Ill) ...... 421
Q, Stipulation Between the Parties re: Use in Lith
gation of Letters from Presidential Libraries ........ 442
(1) Letter from Thomas T. Thalken to R.
Stan Mortenson, July 17, 1975 2. 6 ee eee 445
(2) Letter from William R. Emerson to R,
Stan Mortenson, July 25, 1975... 666 wee ee 447
(3) Letter from Benedict K. Zobrist to R.
Stan Mortenson, with enclosures, July
BS, UOTE cccccccccccves TEETER EE 452
(4) Letter from John EB, Wickman to R, Stan
Mortenson, July 18, 1975. ......0eeeeeeees 460
(5) Letter from Dan H, Fenn, Jr. to R, Stan
Mortenson, July 23, 1975... . 0.0 cee ee eens 4635
(6) Letter from Harry J. Middleton to R,
Stan Mortenson, with enclosures, July
14, 1973 woe cccccees eoeeeeee voeeees 466
(vt)
R. Motion of the Special Prosecutor for Leave
to Withdraw Sees @& Cee? 2 ee ea Ss peceeeeeeeeee Ge
S. Order of the Lower Court granting Motion of
the Special Prosecutor for Leave to Withdraw,
September 17, 1975 * ©#=e #e *eeseeeeseeesee#eeernr@*ee#e#eee#ee#es: 487
T. Joint Memorandum of Intervenor-Defendants In
Opposition to Plaintiff's Request for injunctive
and Declaratory Relief (Appendix I)... eee eee . 488
U, Notice of Appeal to the Supreme Court of the
United States .....5006% TEETEREEEEE eccccee
V. Motion of Defendants to Amend the Lower
Court's Order of January 7, 1976
(0) Matlem cccccccceccecccceceseesccecese Ge
(2) Affidavit of James B. Rhoads... 6.6.6 eee es 498
W. Order of the Lower Court granting Motion of
Defendants to Amend January 7, 1976 Order,
April 15, 1976 ...cccceccees TETEEEEEL EEE -» 502
X. Deposition of Richard M, Nixon ....... cccccccce OO
(1) Exhibits to Deposition... 6... 6665 TeYiTrTT: . .
Y. Deposition of Jeanne Davis... 66 ce eee 658
Notes:
The Opinion of the lower court is printed at 408
F, Supp. 321, and is found in Appendix A to Appel-
lant’s Jurisdictional Statement, pp. la-106a,
The Order of the lower court is found in Appendix
B to Appellant's Jurisdictional Statement, pp. 107
108a,
The Presidential Recordings and Materials Preserva-
tion Act, Pub, Law 93-526, 88 Stat, 1695, 44 U.S.C,
§2107 note, 3315-24, is found in Appendix D to
Appellant's Jurisdictional Statement, pp, 107a-123a,
ek —
$57
9. Literary Property Rights:
There are hereby assigned to the United States all of
the literary property rights of Herbert Hoover in all his
papers which may be transferred to the United States in
accordance with the terms and conditions herein ex-
pressed, except that there is reserved to Herbert Hoover
and his heirs (a) the right to make any use of such papers
and (b) all literary property rights in any works that he or
they have written or may hereafter write for publication.
The foregoing reservation includes the right to lic ase any
publisher of such material.
EXHIBIT B
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
January 17, 1953
My dear Mr. Larson:
As | am sure you are aware, it is my earnest desire that
my personal papers be preserved and ultimately made
available for historical research. You are also familiar
with the project to raise funds by private subscription for
the construction of a library at (.randview, Missouri, to
serve as a depository for these and other papers and
documentary materials deemed to be of potential interest
to scholars. It is the intent of the sponsors of the project
to present the library building and grounds to the United
States if the Congress by appropriate legislation will
accept the property and provide for its maintenance and
operation. It would be my wish upon consummation of
such an arrangement that title to my papers deposited in
the library pass to the United States and the papers
themselves become a part of the National Archives.
558
I therefore propose, as a preliminary step toward such
a disposition, to offer my personal papers for deposit in
the National Archives pursuant to the provisions of
section 507(e) of the Federal Records Act of 1950.
Members of my staff have been discussing with
representatives of your Administration certain problems
in connection with the custody, storage, and review of
the papers pending the completion of the library project
and the making of a definitive offer to deposit. I am
advised that the plans outlined herein are in accord with
the conclusions reached at these conferences.
My personal papers consist mainly, of course, of those
accumulated by me during my tenure as President of the
United States, but there are some which I acquired while
Vice President and Senator, and others which relate to
earlier periods in my life.
I propose to retain all of these in my personal
possession when I leave office, and to move them to a
secure place of storage under guard in Kansas City,
Missouri. There I intend to review them and prepare them
for ultimate deposit under section 507(e) of the Records
Acts. I am requesting you to designate two or three
experienced archivists to work with me on this project. I
should expect to be consulted regarding the particular
individuals to be assigned to the work.
It is my understanding that you have the authority to
detail personnel to review or assist in the review of the
papers, preliminary to and in connection with a proposed
offer for deposit under the provisions of section 507(e)
of the Records Act, and that this power is derived from
the provision of section 507(a)(3) of the same Act
authorizing you “to direct and effect the transfer of
materials from private sources authorized to be received
by the Administrator by the provisions of subsection (e)
of this section.”
— cs
359
As has been indicated, this letter is not to be construed
as a definitive offer for deposit within the meaning of
section 507(e) of the Records Act, but only as a
preliminary offer or proposal to deposit. It is my firm
intention, however, to offer the great bulk of my
personal papers for deposit under the cited section or
under whatever similar provision is included in the
acceptance legislation in the event that the proposed
library at Grandview is constructed and is accepted by
the Congress. Alternatively, if the project for construc-
tion of the library shoud be abandoned or fail of
accomplishment within a reasonable time, I intend to
make an offer for deposit under section 507(e), and to
make appropriate provision therefor in my will.
It is not my purpose to pass title to any of my personal
papers at this time by virtue of the proposals outlined
herein nor to make any binding commitment as to just
what papers will be offered for deposit. There will be
some few papers which for sentimental reasons I may
wish to give to relatives or friends. There will undoubt-
edly be in the files many papers having no historical value
either because they are duplicated elsewhere in official
records or because they were of purely transitory
interest. Such items can be eliminated in the course of
the reviews contemplated, so that the material deposited
will not be unnecessarily volumious.
During the interval prior to deposit of the papers, I
expect to be working on them and using them to refresh
my recollection, consequently I wish to keep them
available for my use in connection with ay studies and
any writing I may do.
Furthermore, I contemplate that when my offer for
deposit is made I shall impose restrictions upon the use of
certain of the papers for varying periods as may be
authorized by law. Such restrictions have customarily
360
been imposed by my predecessors or their heirs in making
deposits of Presidential papers.
| I hope that satisfactory arrangements for the preserva-
tion and eventual deposit of my papers in the National
Archives can be worked out along the lines indicated
above.
Sincerely yours,
/s/Harry S. Truman
Honorable Jess Larson,
Administrator
General Services Administration
Washington, D.C.
EXHIBIT D
Harry S. Truman
Federal Reserve Bank Building
Kansas City O, Missouri
February 12, 1957
Honorable Franklin G. Floete
Administrator of General Service
General Services Administration
Washington 25, D.C.
Dear Mr. Floete:
As you know, it has long been my desire to give to the
United States the papers accumulated during my years
in public office and the other historical materials,
mementos, objects of art and other memorabilia acquired
by me as President during my term of office, to the end
that the people may have those things available for study
Oa nents WO SENECA te RNAI, Lye SO Niele, 5 nnd Meee ate a el, n, bil binant.
: has OE Gal Ie
361
and research, and for their enjoyment and education. In
pursuit of this objective, a Library building has been
constructed in the City of Independence, by public
subscription, suitable for housing, preserving and exhibit-
ing these papers and materials. This building is now
nearing completion, and it is the intention of the Harry S.
Truman Library, Inc., the non-profit corporation which
has financed and erected it, to present it as a gift to the
United States on certain conditions, and provided the
United States will maintain, operate and protect it as a
Presidential archival depository as provided in the Federal
Property and Adminstrative Services Act of 1949 as
amended (65 Stat. 695).
At this time, therefore, under the terms of the said
statute, I offer my papers and other historical materials as
hereinafter described to the United States on condition
that they will be preserved and made available pursuant
to restrictions imposed by me, and on condition that
they be accepted by the United States on the terms and
provisions hereinafter set forth.
1. I offer to the United States all my right, title and
interest in my papers now stored in the Memorial
Building on Maple Avenue and Pleasant Street in the City
of Independence, Missouri. These include substantially all
the papers which were in the files of the White House
when I relinquished the office of President. They also
include a number of other files accumulated by me in my
public offices prior to that time, and are estimated to
total several million documents.
2. I offer to the United States all my right, title and
interest in my other papers relating to my public offices
wherever located or stored, with the exception of certain
papers determined by me, or in the event of my death by
my executors or personal representatives, prior to the
transfer therof, to be related in whole or in part to the
362
business or personal affairs of myself or my family
(which term as used in this offer shall include my wife,
mother, daughter, brother, sister, nephews or nieces).
3. I offer to the United States all the other historical
materials collected during my tenure of public office now
belonging to me which are located in Jackson County,
Missouri, or elsewhere, other than in my private residence
in the City of Independence, Missouri, and which shall
not prior to the transfer thereof be marked, labelled or
otherwise designated to show a reservation of title in me,
or which shall not have been received for the business or
personal use of myself or my family. The term “historical
miaterials’’ as used in this offer shall bear the same
meaning as defined in the Federal Property and Adminis-
trative Services Act of 1949 as amended (69 Stat. 695).
4. The offers contained in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3
hereof shall lapse and become ineffective unless within
one year from the date hereof the United States shall
accept the offer of the Harry S. Truman Library and the
land surrounding said building now under construction in
the City of Independence, Missouri, and shall agree to
maintain and operate it at all times thereafter as a
Presidential archival depository for the storage of the
papers and the other historical materials included in such
offers in accordance with the provisions of the Federal
Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 as
amended.
5. Upon the acceptance and agreement mentioned in
the preceding paragraph, the papers described in para-
graph 1 will be transferred to the United States for
storage in said building as soon as possible; and the papers
and historical materials described in paragraphs 2 and 3
hereof shall be transferred from time to time as shall be
agreed upon by the Administrator of the General Services
Administration and me or my executors or representa-
tives.
|
4
;
i
4
;
LI PI SN Nia oe ED SS UGIAED Neha NEEL Maile snk Nici Doi tpl a alae cust
Pre KR 4 onc? 4
363
6. or my executors or personal representatives shall
be the sole judge of (a) which papers relate to my various
public offices and which relate to the personal or business
affairs of myself or my family, and (b) which of my other
historical materials were received for the business or
personal use of myself or my family.
7. All papers and other historical materials which
shall be transferred pursuant to the foregoing to the
United States shall be kept permanently in the said Harry
S. Truman Library, after the United States shall have
accepted and agreed to maintain it as set forth in
paragraph 3, subject to the right of the Archivist of the
United States in his discretion (a) to make temporary
loans thereof to such persons, organizations or institu-
tions as he shall determine, (b) to dispose by sale,
exchange or otherwise of any such papers or historical
materials which he may determine to have no permanent
value or historical interest or to be surplus to the needs of
the Harry S. Truman Library, and (c) to remove from the
said Library any and all of such papers or historical
materials if he shall deem it necessary to preserve them
from threatened destruction.
8. All papers transferred by me or my representatives
to the United States shall be freely accessible at all
reasonable times to me or to persons designated by me in
writing during my life or after my death to the persons
designated by me in my will.
9. It is my purpose to make the papers and other
historical materials referred to herein available for the
purpose of study and research as soon as possible and to
the fullest possible extent. However, since the President
of the United States is the recipient of many confidences
from others, and since the inviolability of such confi-
dence is essential to the functioning of the constitutional
office of the Presidency, it will be necessary to withhold
364
from public scrutiny certain papers and classes of papers
for varying periods of time.
Therefore, for the time being, the following classes of
papers shall be withheld from inspection by, and their
contents shall be kept confidential and shall not be
divulged to, anyone (including public officials) other than
(1) regular employees of the National Archives and
Record Service performing normal archival services on
such papers under the general supervision of the Archivist
of the United States, and (2) myself and persons
authorized by me in my will or otherwise to have access
to such papers on my behalf, pursuant to paragraph 8
hereof:
(a) Papers that are classified as to secrecy and
security pursuant to law until such classification
shall be removed. Such classification shall be
reviewed from time to time; and
(b) Papers containing statements which may in any
manner injure, embarrass or harass any living
person or the living members of the family of any
deceased person, or papers which may in any
manner be prejudicial to the conduct of foreign
relations with any government, or papers contain-
ing statements made by or to me in confidence in
any official capacity.
10. Subject to my approval or the approval of the
persons designated by me in my will or otherwise to act
after my death with respect to these papers and historical
materials, the employees of the National Archives and
Record Service may perform the services necessary to the
classification of the papers in accordance with the
foregoing paragraph, and may place any withheld papers
in special files where they shall be available only to me or
to such persons or employees.
“ee
oy
ea te nb ae tothe Rg one en He
‘
365
11. All papers withheld in accordance with the
foregoing provisions shall be reexamined from time to
time by employees of the National Archives and Records
Service under the direction of the Archivist of the United
States and, subject to approval by me or by persons
designated by me in my will or otherwise to act after my
death with respect to those papers and _ historical
materials, shall be opened to general use as soon as the
passage of this or other circumstances have removed the
conditions that justify their being temporarily withheld.
12. All competent private persons interested in using
the papers for purposes of serious scholarly research shall
be granted equal access to the papers that are not
withheld in accordance with the foregoing.
13. I hereby assign to the United States all my
literary property rights in all papers which may be
transferred to the United States in accordance with the
terms and conditions herein expressed, except that J
reserve to myself and my heirs (a) the right to make any
use of such papers and (b) all literary property rights in
any works that I have written or may hereafter write for
publication. The foregoing reservation includes the right
to license any publisher of such material.
Sincerely yours,
/s/Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
366
EXHIBIT F
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
April 13, 1960
Dear Mr. Floete:
The papers of a President, which from the time of George
Washington have been regarded as the personal property
of the President, have, inescapably, a direct and
important association with the history of our country.
Believing that they should be permanently and generally
available for study, I desire that my papers should be
made so available and believe that this can best be done
through a Presidential archival depository, as provided by
the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of
1949, as amended.
The Eisenhower Presidential Library Commission, an
agency of the State of Kansas, now has under construc-
tion in the City of Abilene a library building, financed by
public subscription, where it is proposed to house my
Presidential and other papers. This building is appro-
priately situated on land adjacent to my boyhood home
and to a museum, both of which are maintained by the
Eisenhower Foundation, a non-profit corporation orga-
nized under the laws of Kansas.
When the Library building has been completed, the
Commission intends to present it, together with equip-
ment and grounds, as a gift to the United States, on
condition that the United States will maintain and
operate this Library as a Presidential archival depository
under the provisions of the above cited Act.
Therefore, in furtherance of this plan and in accordance
with the provisions of that Act, I now offer as a gift to
367
the United States such of my papers and other
documentary materials as are hereinafter described, on
condition that these papers and materials will be
accepted, preserved, and made available by the United
States under the following terms:
1. Upon the close of my term in office, I shall cause to
be transferred to the United States for deposit in the
Library at Abilene the bulk of my papers in the White
House office, estimated to include several million
documents.
2. Other documents, stil] in my possession, including the
remainder of my Presidential papers, the papers
accumulated by me before my inauguration as
President, and other documentary materials, includ-
ing books, still pictures, motion pictures, and sound
recordings, shall be transferred to the United States
for deposit in said Library from time to time as shall
be agreed upon by the Administrator of General
Services or his representative and me or my represen-
tative, except those papers and other documentary
materials which shall, before or after my leaving the
Office of President, be determined by me or my
representative to be excluded from this offer by
reason of private or personal ii est in such papers
or materials on my part or on the part of a member
of my family.
3. The offer of the papers and other materials described
in paragraphs 1 and 2 hereof is conditioned upon
acceptance by the United States of the offer of the
land and buildings comprising the Eisenhower Library
at Abilene, Kansas, and upon its agreement to
maintain and operate the Library at all times
thereafter as a Presidential archival depository for the
storage of such papers and other materials, in
accordance with the provisions of the Federal
368
' Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as
amended, such acceptance and agreement to be
effected within 90 days after the end of the period
described in the second proviso to section 507(f) (1)
of said Act.
All papers and other documentary materials which
shall be transferred to the United States pursuant to
the foregoing shall be kept in the Library perma-
nently, subject to the right of the Administrator of
General Services in his discretion (a) to make
temporary loans thereof to such persons, organiza-
tions, or institutions as he shall determine, (b) to
dispose by sale, exchange, or otherwise of any such
papers or documentary materials which the Archivist
of the United States may determine to have no
permanent or historical interest or to be surplus to
the needs of said Library, and (c) to remove from said
Library any or all such Papers or documentary
materials if he deems it necessary to preserve them
from threatened destruction.
All papers and other documentary materials trans-
ferred to the United States pursuant to the foregoing
shall be accessible at all reasonable times to me, my
son, my representative, or to other persons author-
ized in writing by me or my son to have access to
such papers.
6. It is my purpose to make the papers and other
documentary materials donated to the United States
by the terms of this instrument available for purposes
of serious research as soon as possible and to the
fullest extent possible. However, since the President
of the United States is the recipient of many
confidences from others, and since the inviolability of
such confidences is essential to the functioning of the
office of the Presidency, it will be necessary to
369
withhold from public scrutiny certain papers and
classes of papers for varying periods of time. In
pursuance of this objective and in accordance with
the provisions of Section 507(f) (3) of the Federal
Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as
amended, conditions are imposed on the use of my
papers as provided in paragraphs 7 through 10
immediately following.
Subsequent to the execution of this instrument, the
Administrator of General Services shall have the
papers that are transferred to the United States
reviewed and shall place under seal the following
classes of materials:
a. Papers that are security-classified pursuant to law
or Executive Order, until such classification shall
be removed.
b. Papers the use of which may be prejudicial to the
maintenance of good relations with foreign
nations.
c. Papers containing statements made by or to me in
confidence.
d. Papers relating to my family or private business
affairs, and papers relating to the families or
private business affairs of persons who have had
correspondence with me.
e. Papers containing statements about individuals
which might be used to injure or harass them or
members of their families.
f. Such other individual files as I, or my representa-
tive, or the Administrator of General Services
may specify.
Papers placed under seal shall not be made available
to anyone or their contents divulged to anyone
10.
ll.
12.
370
(including public officials) except (a) persons author-
ized under the terms of paragraph 5 above, and (b)
officials and employees of the National Archives and
Records Service when performing essential archival
work processes on such papers under the supervision
of the Administrator of General Services.
All papers placed under seal in accordance with the
foregoing provisions shall be reexamined from time to
time by officials and employees of the National
Archives and Records Service under the direction of
the Administrator of General Services and, subject to
approval by me or my representative, shall be opened
to research use as soon as the passage of time or other
circumstances have removed the conditions that
required that they be put under seal.
All competent private persons interested in using my
papers for serious scholarly research shall be granted
equal access to those that are not withheld from use
according to the foregoing, subject to the regulations
issued by the Administrator of General Services
governing the use of papers and other documentary
materials in the Library.
Title to my papers and other documentary materials
and the literary property rights in my papers, shall
pass to the United States as such papers and materials
are transferred to the United States under the terms
and conditions herein expressed, except that I reserve
to myself and to my heirs (a) a right to make any use
of any of these papers in writing for publication, and
(b) literary property rights in any works that I have
written or may hereafter write for publication. These
reservations include the right to license any publisher
of any such work.
My representative for purposes of paragraphs 2, 5, 7,
8 and 9 shall be such person or persons as I may
ee Me Mee, ee ee ee
ins ted. Saesia ah iok esis ae nats tea 5
371
designate in a letter filed with the Administrator of
General Services. In the event that at any time after
my death there should be no representative so
designated, my representative shall be my son John
Eisenhower, or such person or persons as he may
designate in the same manner.
The detailed conditions described in this letter have been
drawn up in accordance with known precedents and with
the cooperation of officials of your office and of the
National Archives. Permit me to express my deep
appreciation of the help that all these individuals have
given me.
With personal regard,
Sincerely,
/s/Dwight D. Eisenhower
The Honorable Franklin Floete
Administrator of General Services
Washington, D.C.
EXHIBIT G
Honorable Bernard L. Boutin
Administrator of General Services
Washington, D.C. 20405
Dear Mr. Boutin:
FIRST: The late John Fitzgerald Kennedy had said many
times both publicly and privately that it was his intention
to place certain of his papers and other historical
materials in a Presidential archival depository in Massa-
chuseits, in the form of a Library bearing his name, and
372
had encouraged, and participated in, and arranged for the
planning of such an institution.
SECOND: Accordingly, in fulfillment of such stated
intention and arrangement, it is our desire to give and
deliver to the United States of America for the purpose
of ultimate deposit in the said Presidential archival
depository in Massachusetts, the papers, documents,
historical materials, mementos, objects of art, and other
memorabilia, including books, motion pictures, still
pictures and sound recordings, hereinafter called ‘Mate-
rials,’ formerly belonging to and relating to the life and
work of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and which he intended
should be so deposited.
THIRD: Therefore, we, the undersigned Jacqueline
Bouvier Kennedy and the Executers and Trustees of the
estate of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, deceased, hereinafter
called the “Donors,” hereby convey, assign, give, and
donate to the United States of America, hereinafter
called the ‘““Donee,” effective as of November 22, 1963,
and subject to the conditions and restrictions hereinafter
set forth, all of our right, title, and interest to the
Materials above described, hereinafter called “Materials,”
as our right, title, and interest may appear, including but
not limited to those Materials now stored at the White
House, the Executive Office Building, The National
Archives Building, or at such other place or places where
such Materials may be found, subject, however, to the
specific understanding and agreement that:
(i) This gift and transfer shall not and is not intended
to apply to or embrace such items as John Fitzgerald
Kennedy had not intended to be deposited in said
Presid-ntial archival depository, or which are deter-
mined by the Donors to be of special or private
interest to the personal, family and business affairs of
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, his wife and children,
parents, brothers and sisters.
373
(ii) The Donors shall have and specifically reserve the
right to retain title and possession and to regain
possession of any items that the Donors in their sole
discretion may determine in accordance with this
paragraph the Third arc excluded from the purview of
this gift, irrespective of the fact that such items may
have been theretofore delivered to the Donee.
(iii) For the purposes of effectuating the provisions of
subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph the Third,
the Donors shall have and specifically reserve the right
to examine, at any time or from time to time prior to
January 1, 1967, either themselves or through author-
ized representatives, any Materials from time to time in
the possession or custody or under the control of the
Donee, and wheresoever the same may be situated, for
the purpose of determining and designating any such
Materials as being excluded from the purview of this
gift, provided, however, that examination of security-
classified information shall be in accordance with
applicable law or Executive Order relating to security-
classified defense information.
(iv) The Donee shall, as soon as is reasonably possible,
and upon written notice from the Donors of such
designation, deliver to the Donors any items so
designated by the Donors pursuant to subparagraph
(iii) of this paragraph the Third as excluded from the
purview of this gift.
(v) Mrs. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy shall have and
specifically reserves the right to borrow from the
Donee without formality such materials to which this
transfer applies as she may wish for her personal use,
examination, or display either by herself or by anyone
she may select or approve, and any Material so
borrowed shall be returned to the Donee within a
reasonable period of time.
374
FOURTH: All Materials to which this transfer is
applicable shall be maintained by the United States and
stored at such place or places as may be designated by the
Administrator of General Services until the completion
and acceptance by the United States, pursuant to section
507(f) of ‘the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949, as amended, of the proposed John
F. Kennedy Library, at which time the Materials shall be
deposited in that Library and administered in accordance
with the pertinent provisions of that Act.
FIFTH: It is the Donors’ wish that all Materials donated
to the Donee hereunder be made available for research
use as soon as possible and to the fullest extent possible.
The Donors, however, desire to guard against the
possibility of the Materials being used to injure,
embarrass, or harass any person and otherwise properly
to safeguard the interests of the United States. Therefore,
all Materials to which this transfer applies are accepted
and shall be held by the Donee subject to the following
restrictions and conditions:
(i) The Donors shall have and hereby reserve the right
to restrict the time and availability of any Materials to
which this transfer applies, and irrespective of the time
when such Materials may have been, or may be
delivered to the Donee, for such time or times as the
Donors in their sole discretion may from time to time
or at any time specify, and such restrictions shall be
adhered to and observed in all respects for as long a
period as the Donors shall have specified or until such
restrictions are revoked or terminated by the Donors
or by persons legally qualified to act on their behalf
with respect thereto. Any Materials so designated in
writing by the Donors as restricted shall be known and
are hereinafter referred to as “Donors’ Restricted
Material,” and shall be placed under seal, it being
sh LA inl do oad
Cha RSPAS tint Wg I dag tes
375
understood, of course, that Donor Restricted Materials
shall be accessible to the Archivist of the United States
or designated members of his staff for the performance
of such archival work processes as may be requested by
the Donors, but not otherwise.
(ii) The Archivist of the United States or designated
members of his staff shall review the Materials to
which this transfer is applicable, except Donors
Restricted Material, for the purpose of classifying such
Materials. Any Materials which fail within the follow-
ing categories shall be designated by the Archivist and
are hereinafter referred to as “Archivist Restricted
Material,” and shall be placed under seal:
(a) Materials containing statements which may in
any manner be used to injure, embarrass, or harass
any person, or Materials which may in any manner
be prejudicial to the conduct of foreign relations of
the United States of America, or materials contain-
ing statements made by or to John Fitzgerald
Kennedy in confidence.
(b) Defense information that has been security-
classified pursuant to law or Executive Order:
Provided that such information may be declassified
or otherwise made available in accordance with the
procedures established by law or Executive Order
governing availability of security-classified informa-
tion.
(c) Materials that relate to the personal, family, and
business affairs of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his
family, including such affairs of Mrs. Jacqueline
Bouvier Kennedy, and the mother, father, sisters,
and brothers of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
(iii) The review and classification of the Materials
hereinabove provided for shall be performed by and in
376
collaboration between the Donors or their designated
representatives and the Administrator of General
Services or his designatees and shall be completed
within the shortest reasonable period of time after the
Materials have been deposited in the John Fitzgerald
Kennedy Library in Massachusetts.
(iv) Until such time as the review and classification of
the Materials, as hereinabove provided for, has been
completed, no person shall be permitted access thereto
except the donors, persons given written authorization
by the donors, and employees of the General Services
Administration performing archival work processes on
such Materials, provided, however, that access to
Materials which are security-classified shall be in
accordance with applicable law and Executive Order
relating to security-classified defense information.
SIXTH: Except as otherwise provided herein, all Archi-
vist Restricted Materials shall be available only to
employees of the General Services Administration per-
forming archival work processes on such Materials and to
the Donors or other persons given written authorization
by any of the Donors, provided, however, that access to
Archivist Restricted Materials which are security-classi-
fied shall be in accordance with applicable law or
Executive Order relating to security-classified defense
information.
SEVENTH: The Archivist of the United States or his
designated representative shall review from time to time
Archivist Restricted Materials, and shall remove the
restriction from such materials and make them available
for research use as soon as the passage of time or other
circumstances no longer require their being kept under
restriction, provided, however, that notwithstanding
anything otherwise or to the contrary in this instrument
contained, no restrictions shall be removed in respect of
377
the materials described in Article Fifth ii(c) without the
prior written consent of the donors.
EIGHTH: The Donors hereby assign to the United States
of America all of their library property rights in all
Materials, excluding Donors’ Restricted Material during
the period of restriction, except that the donors reserve
to themselves (a) the right to make any use of such
Materials and (b) all literary property rights in any
manuscript or other writings that John Fitzgerald
Kennedy wrote for publication, including the right to
license the publication of such material.
NINTH: All competent persons interested in using the
materials for purposes of serious research shall be granted
equal access to unrestricted materials.
TENTH: As used herein, the word ‘‘Donors”’ shall mean
Mrs. Jacqueline B. Kennedy, and the Executors of and
the Trustees under the Last Will and Testament of John
Fitzgerald Kennedy from time to time qualified and
serving. )
/s/Jacqueline B. Kennedy
Donor
/s/Jacqueline B. Kennedy
/s/Bob Kennedy
/s/Edward M. Kennedy
Donors
By virtue of section 507(e) of the Federal Property and
Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (44
U.S.C. 397(e)), the foregoing gift of the papers and other
historical materials of the late President John Fitzgerald
Kennedy is accepted.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Acting by and Through
378
Acting /s/Lawson B. Knott, Jr.
Administrator of General Services
Date: February 25, 1965
Burke Marshall
Old Orchard Road, Armonk, New York 16501
August 20, 1966
Dr. James B. Rhoads
Archivist of the United States
Eighth Street & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.
Dear Dr. Rhoads:
In accordance with our telephone conversation this
morning, I am enclosing four copies of the Memorandum
of Agreement concerning the procedures to be followed
in classifying the papers of President Kennedy under
Paragraph Fifth of the Deed of Gift of February 25
1965. They have been signed by the Donors, and ase
ready for signature by the Administrator on behalf of the
United States.
I would appreciate it if you would have three executed
copies returned to me so that Mrs. John F. Kennedy
Senator Edward Kennedy and I can each have a fully
executed copy for our files.
; While I recognize that this Memorandum of Agreement
is probably a public document under the appropriate
statute, available for inspection upon request, I do not
see arty reason for a press release or other statement at
this time or, for that matter, at any time prior to the
opening of some papers for research, or at least the
Beto tyncs Bide
379
opening of the Library. The substantive work all remains
to be done. I am sure that you will agree.
We are all grateful for your cooperation and assistance
in this matter.
Sincerely,
/s/ Burke Marshall
cc: Mrs. John F. Kennedy
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Memorandum of Agreement
Paragraph Fifth of the deed of February 25, 1965,
effecting the gift to the United States for deposit in the
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library of historical materials
formerly belonging to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, provides
that the Donors have the right to restrict the use and
availability of any of the materials covered by the deed
“for such time or times as the Donors in their sole
discretion may from time to time or at any time specify”.
The same paragraph also enables the Archivist of the
United States to classify certain types of materials as
restricted, and to be placed under seal.
The work of classifying what materials should be
restricted for what amount of time, and what materials
should be made available for research use, is to be done in
accordance with the following provisions:
“The review and classification of the Materials
hereinabove provided for shall be performed by and
in collaboration between the Donors or their
designated representatives and the Administrator of
General Services or his delegatees and shall be
completed within the shortest reasonable period of
time after the Materials have been deposited in the
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library in Massachusetts.”
380
It is agreed by the Donors and the Administrator of
General Services that in view of the delay in the
construction of the Library, it is desirable to establish
procedures now to begin the “‘review and classification”
prescribed by the deed so that suitable materials may be
promptly made available for research use when the John
Fitzgerald Kennedy Library has been completed.
As an appropriate means of implementing the collabo-
ration between the Donors and the Donee required by
the deed it is agreed that the Donors shall act through a
Committee consisting of three persons, as follows:
Burke Marshall, Chairman
Justice Byron R. White
Dr. Herman Kahn
Successor representatives to these Committee members
may be designated in writing to the Administrator from
time to time by Mrs. John F. Kennedy and Senator
Edward M. Kennedy, or the survivor of the two of them.
In the event of the death or disability of both Mrs. John
F. Kennedy and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, any such
designation shall be made by the adult children of the
late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, or in the absense
of any such children, by the late President’s sisters, with
the advice of other members of the family. Any
Committee member designated hereunder will serve until
a successor is designated.
The delegatees of the Administrator of General
Services for this purpose shall be the Archivist of the
United States, an Assistant Archivist, the Director of the
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, when a Director shall
have been appointed, and such other officials of the
National Archives and Records Services Administration as
shall be designated by the Administrator for this purpose
from time to time in the future.
381
The procedure for effecting the processing of the
papers shall be a continuing process, as follows: The
delegatees of the Administrator of General Services will
submit to the Donors’ Committee for its review and
concurrence a list of those segments, units, subdivisions
or series of the papers of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, which
it is proposed to review and classify during the period
ending December 31, 1972. Committee and the Adminis-
trator’s delegatees will arrive at an agreement on the
order of priority which is to be followed in processing
each of the units of paper proposed for “review and
classification.”” The Committee and delegatees will aiso
confer and arrive at an agreement as to the type and
character of materials that the Committee wishes at this
time to specify as “‘Donors’ Restricted Materials” in
accordance with the terms of the Instrument of Gift.
(Paragraph the Fifth, Section i). The Donors’ Committee
and Administrator’s delegates will also discuss and arrive
at an agreement on the nature and character of the
materials that will be placed under seal as “‘Archivist’s
Restricted Materials” in compliance with the definitions
of that class of materials set forth in the Instrument of
Gift (Paragraph the Fifth, Section ii).
The Administrator’s delegatees will then undertake the
review of the agreed-upon segments of President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy’s papers, in the order of priority
agreed to. From time to time as this review proceeds, the
Donors’ Committee will inspect the results, examining or
sampling both the papers that it is proposed to open for
research in the segments examined by the delegatees, and
the papers that it is proposed to place under seal. This
review by the Committee will cover both the Donors’
Restricted Material (if any) and, subject to paragraph
Sixth of the aforementioned deed of February 25, 1965,
the Archivist’s Restricted Material. The purpose of this
inspection will be to satisfy the Donors’ Committee that
382
the work is being carried out to the satisfaction of the
Committee. Results of the work will continue to be
inspected by the Committee to whatever extent it wishes,
in order to make certain that the work is being done in
accordance with the terms of the aforementioned deed of
Febryary 25, 1965, and the agreements reached between
the Donors’ Committee and the Administrator’s dele-
gatees.
All materials selected to be placed under seal will be
physically removed from the boxes in which they were
contained, placed in clearly marked containers of a color
different from that used for the “‘open” material, and
deposited in a specially secured portion of the stack areas
of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library or of any
Federal Records Center where the materials may be
temporarily located.
When a significant quality of the materials has been
reviewed and processed in this manner (but in no case
prior to the formal opening of the Library), there will be
a public announcement by the General Services Adminis-
tration of the opening for research of certain designated
portions of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s papers.
After the completion of this process for the segments
of materials that had been designated to be reviewed by
December 31, 1972, the same procedure will be followed
in scheduling “‘review and classification” of the remaining
segments of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s papers
until the screening of the entire collection has been
completed.
The Donor’s Restricted Materials and the materials
described in paragraph Fifth ii(c) of the aforementioned
deed of February 25, 1965, under seal will be periodi-
cally reviewed by the Administrator’s delegatees. If for
any reason it should appear that the passage of time has
cured the factor that had been the original cause of
Se
—_--
ee
383
placing the papers under seal, it will be proposed to the
Donors’ Committee for their review and concurrence that
these materials be placed in the “open” portion of the
files and made available for research.
signed signed
/s/Jacqueline Kennedy
Donor - date
/d/July 23, 1
Edward A. Kennedy
2 August
Administrator of General
Services - date
Donors - date
EXHIBIT H
May 5th, 1965.
Honorable Lawson B. Knott, Jr.
Acting Administrator
General Services Administration
Washington, D.C. 20405
Dear Mr. Knott:
Reference is made to the Agreement between the United
States of America and Mrs. Jacqueline B. Kennedy and
the Executors of the Estate of John F. Kennedy dated
February 25, 1965, concerning the transfer of materials
formerly belonging to and relating to the life and work of
John Fitzgerald Kennedy to the United States of
America.
Notwithstanding any of the restrictions imposed on
access to the materials in the referenced February 25,
1965 Agreement, except the materials specified in
384
Article Fifth ii(c) thereof, the Archivist of the United
States is authorized to make available to President
Lyndon B. Johnson, while in office, any materials or
information with respect thereto, relating to or required
in connection with the transition of the Office of
President from the late President John F. Kennedy to
President Johnson, or otherwise requested by President
Johnson in connection with performance of the duties of
the Office of President.
/s/Jacqueline B. Kennedy
Donor
/s/Jacqueline B. Kennedy
/s/Robert Kennedy
/s/Edward Kennedy
Donors
EXHIBIT I
The White House
Washington
August 13, 1965
Dear Mr. Knott:
It has long been my belief that the papers and other
historical materials of a President constitute a vital part
of our Nation’s historical heritage and that such papers
and materials should be permanently preserved and made
available for scholarly research and study.
a
ee
ES ES PE ee
385
You are aware that it also has iong been my intention to
donate my papers and other historical materials to the
United States for ultimate deposit in a Presidential
Archival Depository as provided by Section 507 (f) of the
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of
1949, ad amended (44 U.S.C. 397(f)).
You are also aware that the University of Texas has
advised me of its intent, consistent with its educational
purposes and objectives, to provide, at its expense, an
appropriate site within the principal academic environs of
the University of Texas, and to construcé thereon a
suitable Presidential Archival Depository to be known as
the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and to turn over,
dedicate, and make available the space and facilities so to
be constructed, furnished, and equipped by it, to the
United States for its use in perpetuity pursuant to the
aforesaid authority, as a Presidential Archival Depository
for the housing, preservation, display, and appropriate
use of my Presidential papers and other historical
materials.
I have indicated to the University of Texas and publicly
announced my approval of its proposal.
Accordingly, and in furtherance of the public purposes
which will thus be served, I hereby offer as a gift to the
United States for the purpose of ultimate deposit in the
said Presidential Library my Presidential and other
papers, documents, historical materials, mementos, ob-
jects of art, and other memorabilia, including books,
motion pictures, still pictures, and sound recordings, all
hereinafter called “Materials” belonging to me or in my
possession which relate to my life and work, subject to
the condition that these Materials be accepted, preserved,
and made available by the United States under the
following conditions:
1.
386
As an initial step, the Materials shall be accepted
bythe United States for deposit in the National
Archives pursuant to Section 507(e) of the Act,
supra, until the completion and acceptance by the
United States of the above-described Lyndon
Baines Johnson Library at which time the Mate-
rials shall be deposited in that Library and
administered in accordance with the pertinent
provisions of the Act, supra.
It is my purpose to make the papers and other
historical materials referred to herein available for
the purpose of study and research as soon as
possible extent. However, since the President of
the United States is the recipient of many
confidences from others, and since the inviola-
bility of such confidence is essential to the
functioning of the constitutional office of the
Presidency, it will be necessary to withhold from
public scrutiny certain papers and classes of papers
for varying periods of time. Therefore:
(a) I hereby reserve the right to restrict the use
and availability of any Materials to which this
agreement applies, irrespective of the time
when such Materials may have been, or may
be delivered to the United States, for such
time as I, in my sole discretion, may from
time to time specity, and such restrictions
shall be adhered to and observed in all respects
for as long a period of time as may be
specified or until such restrictions are revoked
or terminated by me or persons authorized to
act on my behalf with respect thereto, or as
otherwise provided in this agreement.
(b) During my tenure as President of the United
States any Materials accepted and deposited
—wT ll —_——-— —-— —s
387
pursuant to paragraph 1, above, shall be made
available by display or otherwise for public
inspection, research or other use subject to
restrictions (1) imposed at time of delivery of
possession thereof to the United States; (2) as
otherwise provided for in this agreement; and
(3) as may be imposed by me or by persons
authorized to act for me with regard thereto.
Archival personnel of the United States
designated by the Administrator of General
Services shall review the Materials to which
this agreement applies and any Materials in the
following categories shall be placed under seal
of restriction:
(i) Materials containing statements which
may in any manner be used to injure,
embarrass, or harass any person, or Mate-
rials which may in any manner be
prejudicial to the conduct of foreign
relations of the United States of America,
or Materials containing statements made
by or to me in confidence.
(ii) Defense information that has been secur-
ity classified pursuant to law or Executive
order: Provided that such information
may be declassified or otherwise made
available in accordance with the proce-
dures established by law or Executive
order governing availability of security-
classified information.
(iii) Papers relating to my family or private
affairs, and papers relating to the families
or private affairs of persons who have had
correspondence with me.
388
(d) All Material restricted pursuant to this agree-
ment shall be reviewed from time to time by
Archival personne! designated by the Adminis-
trator of General Services, the restrictions
removed therefrom, and the Materials made
available for public display and research use as
soon as the passage of time or other circum-
stances no longer require such Materials being
kept under restriction: Provided that restric-
tions imposed on Materials by paragraph 2(b),
above, shall not be removed during my tenure
as President without my personal approval or
the approval of persons authorized to act for
me with respect thereto.
(e) Materials placed under restriction pursuant to
this agreement shall not be made available to
anyone or their contents divulged to anyone
(including public officials) except (1) persons
authorized under the terms of paragraph 5
below and (2) Archival personnel designated
by the Administrator of General Services
when performing essential archival work pro-
cesses on such papers under the supervision of
the Administrator of General Services: Pro-
vided that access to security-classified mate-
rials shall be made available in accordance
with the procedures established by law or
Executive orders.
All unrestricted materials shall upon (a) deposit in
the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and (b)
expiration of my tenure as President, he made
available for public display and inspection, and
made equally accessible to all competent private
persons interested in using the materials for study
and scholarly research purposes subject to regula-
A Rt
nO
389
tions issued by the Administrator of General
Services governing the use of materials in the
Library: Provided that such materials may be
made available for display, inspection and research
purposes prior to the expiration of my tenure as
President with my personal approval.
This offer shall not and is not intended to apply to
or embrace such items which I determine to be of
special or private interest to the personal and
family affairs of myself, my wife and children, and
I specifically reserve the right to retain title and
possession and to regain possession of any such
items that I, in my sole discretion, may determine
tobe excluded from the purview of this gift,
irrespective of the fact that such items may have
been theretofore delivered to the United States.
All Materials transferred to the United States
pursuant to this agreement shall be freely accessi-
ble to me or my wife or to persons designated by
me in writing, subject to the provisions of
applicable law and Executive orders governing
availability of security-classified information.
Subject to restrictions imposed by or pursuant to
this agreement, all Materials transferred to the
United States pursuant to this agreement shall be
subject to the right of the Administrator in his
discretion (a) to make temporary loans thereof to
such persons, organizations or institutions as he
shall determine; (b) to dispose by sale, exchange or
otherwise of any such papers or historical mate-
rials which he may determine to have no perma-
nent value or historical interest or to be surplus to
the needs of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library;
and (c) to remove from the said Library any and
all of such papers or historical materials if he shall
390
deem it necessary to preserve them from threat-
ened destruction.
I hereby assign to the United States all my literary
property rights in all papers transferred to the
United States in accordance with the terms and
conditions of this agreement, except that I reserve
to myself and my heirs (a) the right to make any
use of such papers and (b) all literary property
rights in any works that I have written or may
hereafter write for publication, including the right
to license the publication of such material.
The offer of the Materials to which this agreement
is applicable is conditioned upon the United
States, acting by and through the Administrator of
General Services, entering into an agreement with
the University of Texas to utilize as a Presidential
Archival Depository the space and facilities to be
constructed, furnished, equipped and made availa-
ble by it for such use without transfer of title, and
upon agreement by the United States to maintain
and operate the Library at all times thereafter as a
Presidential Archival Depository for the preserva-
tion of such Materials, in accordance with the
provisions of Section 507(f)(1) (44 U.S.C.
397(f)(1)) of the Federal Property and Adminis-
trative Services Act of 1949, as amended.
Sincerely,
/s/Lyndon B. Johnson
a
391
[SEAL] EXHIBIT J
General Services Administration
Washington 20405
Office of the Administrator
August 17, 1965
The President
The White House
Dear Mr. President:
It is an honor and pleasure on behalf of the United
States to accept, in accordance with the powers vested
in me by the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949, as amended, your generous offer of
certain papers and other historical materials contained in
your letter of August 13, 1965, under the conditions and
restrictions which you have prescribed therein.
This priceless gift to the nation and scholars of this
generation and those that follow will forever enrich our
history and culture. I know that the memory of your
selfless gesture will live eternally in the hearts of a
grateful people.
Respectfully yours,
/s/Lawson B. Knott, Jr.
Lawson B. Knott, Jr.
Administrator
Honorable Lawson B. Knott, Jr.
Administrator of General Services
Washington, D.C.
——- 2
392
EXHIBIT K
The White House
Washington
December 19, 1968
Dear Mr. Knott:
In my letter to you of August 13, 1965, I offered my
Presidential and other papers and historical materials
(therein defined as Materials) as a gift to the United
States for the purpose of ultimate deposit in the Lyndon
Baines Johnson Library. My offer further expressed this
objective: to make the Materials available for the purpose
of study and research—as soon as possible and to the
fullest extent possible.
That offer was accepted by you on August 17, 1965.
The President is the recipient of many confidences of
others. The inviolability of these confidences is essential
to the proper conduct of the Office of the Presidency. It
becomes necessary, therefore, to withhold from public
scrutiny certain papers and certain classes of papers for
varying periods of time. Accordingly, my offer contained
the following provision in paragraph 2(a):
“IT hereby reserve the right to restrict the use and
availability of any Materials to which this agreement
applies, irrespective of the time when such Materials
may have been, or may be delivered to the United
States, for such time as I, in my sole discretion, may
from time to time specify, and such restrictions shall
be adhered to and observed in all respects for as long
a period of time as may be specified or until such
restrictions are revoked or terminated by me or
persons authorized to act on my behalf with respect
thereto, or as otherwise provided in this agreement.”
393
The volume of manuscript papers included in the
Materials available for deposit under the terms of our
agreement now exceeds 22 million pages. A significant
future growth in volume is anticipated, perhaps to a total
in excess of 30 million different pages.
These Materials must be reviewed to determine which of
them must be restricted and the nature of the restriction.
This review will require a meticulously careful, thorough
and time-consuming analysis. There ae certain papers I
will be obliged to restrict personally from access to
others.
To fulfill my stated objective of making the Materials
available for study and research as early and as fully as
possible—and to avoid any extensive delay inconsistent
with that objective—a staff should be assembled to
perform this review promptly under guidelines and
instructions I will provide. A sufficient number of
qualified personnel should be assigned to review as much
of this material as possible during the next five years
when I can devote a large part of my time to supervising
this review.
I am advised that within the Executive Departments and
Agencies—from which significant portions of these
Materials were developed—there are personnel familiar
with the Materials and the process of conducting the
official business of government. Because of such familiar-
ity, these persons would be far better qualified than
persons less acquainted with the Materials to undertake
the necessary review and analysis in order to protect our
Nation’s best interests.
I am advised that Section 208(c) of the Federal Property
and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended,
authorizes the Administrator of General Services, in
carrying out the responsibilities imposed upon him by
that Act:
394
“to utilize in his agency the services of officials,
officers, and other personnel in other executive
agencies, including personnel of the armed services,
with the consent of the head of the agency
concerned.”
It is my understanding that you can complete arrange-
ments with the Heads of the Departments and Agencies
concerned to utilize the services of responsible and
knowledgeable officials, officers and other government
personnel to perform the review and analysis of the
Materials, in keeping with paragraph 2(a) of my offer of
gift.
Accordingly, when, pursuant to the provisions of law cited
above, such government career and service personnel,
acceptable to me, are assigned to review under my
direction the classified and technical Materials involved, I
will turn over to the General Services Administration
from time to time the Materials within the scope of my
offer of gift.
In addition to the review of the Materials required by
paragraph 2(a) of my offer of gift, another review is
required by paragraph 2(c). That review contemplates an
analysis of the Material by archival personnel. Any of the
Materials falling in the three categories specified in
paragraph 2(c) must be placed under seal of restriction.
The arrangements I have proposed in this letter for the
purposes of the paragraph 2(a) review should enhance,
complement, and expedite the review required by
paragraph 2(c). These new arrangements should hasten
the time in which the Materials can be made available for
research and study in conformity with my fundamental
objective, as stated in my offer of gift.
I should appreciate your advice whether you accept this
letter as an amendment of my offer of gift dated August
13, 1965, accepted by you on August 17, 1965.
395
Sincerely,
/s/Lyndon B. Johnson
Honorable Lawson B. Knott, Jr.
Administrator
General Services Administration
Washington, D.C.
[Caption Omitted in Printing]
AFFIDAVIT OF THOMAS P. WOLF
Thomas P. Wolf, being duly sworn under oath, hereby
deposes and says:
1. Since December 26, 1973, I have served as a
Special Assistant to the Administrator of the General
Services Administration. I am currently Special Assistant
to the Administrator for Presidential Materials and Acting
Director, Office of Presidential Materials. In that capacity
it has been one of my responsibilities to provide access
to the Nixon Presidential Materials that are under the
Administrator’s control when such access, in each
instance, complies with the provisions set forth in
outstanding court orders in Nixon v. Sampson, et al.
2. In February of this year I was informed by
Counsel to President Ford that representatives of the
Special Prosecutor’s office and attorneys for Richard
Nixon had reached an understanding whereby Mr. Nixon
agreed to make available to the Special Prosecutor items
from among the Nixon Presidential Materials that were
relevent to the Special Prosecutor’s investigations. I was
authorized by the Administrator to serve directly as agent
for Counsel to the President in implementing this
understanding. The understanding called for the assist-
396
ance of professional archivists, under my administrative
supervision, to review portions of the Presidential
materials and to make initial determinations concerning
the relevancy of the items reviewed, based upon a list of
current investigations supplied to the archivists by the
Special Prosecutor. Copies of items deemed relevant were
then to be delivered to Mr. Nixon’s attorneys. Thereafter,
upon receipt of appropriate authorizations from Mr.
Nixon’s attorneys, the items or portions so authorized
were to be delivered to Mr. Philip W. Buchen, or his
agent, who would review them prior to providing them to
the Special Prosecutor.
3. The Special Prosecutor had previously been
provided an index of file folder titles covering the files of
certain staff members and staff offices. These file titles
encompassed approximately 618 linear feet of documen-
tary materials (or on an archival estimated basis, more
than 1.5 million documents). From these indexes the
Special Prosecutor selected 1,403 folders which, based
upon their titles, he indicated he believed might contain
items related to the list of current investigations supplied
to the archivists.
4. A staff of approximately ten archivists, working at
different periods, initially reviewed 1,269 of the 1,403
files selected by the Special Prosecutor. Attorneys for Mr.
Nixon requested and, with the approval of the Special
Prosecutor, were permitted to review initially the
remaining 134 files. Some but not all of these 134 files
were subsequently reviewed by the archivists. At the
outset each file reviewed by the archivists was examined
to determine whether it contained items related to any of
the investigations listed by the Special Prosecutor, even
though the Special Prosecutor’s original designation of
the reason for examination of that file may have
pertained to only one or two investigations. On the last
397
383 folders this examination was limited to those
investigations specifically designated by the Special
Prosecutor for that specific folder.
5. Of the 1,269 files reviewed, 357 contained
materials which the archivists deemed related to one or
more of the investigations on the list provided by the
Special Prosecutor. Of these, 270 contained items which
the archivists deemed actually related to the investiga-
tion(s) specified for that folder by the Special Prosecutor.
6. The archivists involvment in the review of the
1,403 files required a total of over 2,800 staff hours.
7. Based upon the experience gained from this
project, it is my opinion that because of the differing
filing procedures utilized be certain key staff members of
the Nixon Administration, this review of the Nixon
Presidential Materials for the purpose of locating for the
Special Prosecutor items relevant to specific topics or
designated matters could not have been made without in
many instances reviewing substantial quantities of items
unrelated to those topics or matters for which we had
been asked to search, including personal and political
items, and in some instances materials classified higher
than the security clearance (Top Secret) normally held by
professional archivists.
/s[Thomas P. Wolf
Subscribed and sworn to THOMAS P. WOLF
before me this 7th day
of July, 1975.
/s/William Hanbine
Notary Public
My Commission Expires:
August 14, 1976
398
[Caption Omitted in Printing]
AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAM F. MATTHEWS
City of Washington )
District of Columbia _) os
WILLIAM F. MATTHEWS, being duly sworn upon
oath, deposes and says as follows:
1. Iam Chief of the White House Central Files Unit
in the White House. I have been employed in the Central
Files Unit, originally known as the White House File
Room, since 1947, and have held my current position
since February 15, 1963. My duties include supervision
of the more than 40 employees of Central Files who
receive, classify, file, maintain and retrieve upon request
the documents generated or received by the White House.
2. Material in Central Files consists of incoming
correspondence processed by the White House mail
rooms; copies of outgoing correspondence, reports
memoranda, etc., generated or received by the Office of
the President and the various White House staff offices.
Most of the incoming correspondence consists of letters
to the President from private citizens, but it also includes
letters from state and federal officials, including Members
of Congress; letters from officials of foreign countries;
and letters addresses to officials of the White House other
than the President. Drafts of memoranda, speeches,
correspondence, etc., which are prepared by officials
other than the President are generally filed with Central
Files. Drafts of such documents which are hand written
by the President generally are not retained in Central
Files.
3. Correspondence and records of the Domestic
Council and the Council on International Economic
Policy are filed in the Central files. I have no personal
399
knowledge of what other files may be retained by these
two Councils. All other bodies in the Executive Office of
the President (e.g., National Security Council, Office of
Management and Budget, Council of Economic Advisors,
Council on Environmental Quality, Office of Telecommu-
nications Policy), however, maintain their own separate
filing systems, and, as to them, Central Files receives only
their correspondence or transmissions into the President’s
office and copies of the correspondence or transmissions
from the President’s office to these bodies. As to the
Office of the President and the various staff offices, each
maintains certain papers in its own filing area during the
course of the administration. In addition, most officials
in the White House keep a engen file of the
documents prepared by them.
4. Central Files also keeps a file of documents called
the “permanent file’. This permanent file includes copies
of documents which are precedential in nature and which
will, in the opinion of White House staff, be useful to
later officials in dealing with various internal White House
situations by succeeding administrations.
5. The volume of materials maintained in Central
Files has increased four or five-fold during the time I have
been employed in the unit, that is, since the Truman
Administration. This increase is generally attributable to
the increase in size and work produce of the White House
in general; the nature and scope of materials contained in
the materials in Central Files has remained essentially
unchanged. The only significant change in content of the
Central Files during the Nixon Administration was the
creation, in 197i, of the “Special Files Unit” under the
direction of Gertrude Fry. That unit, when created, took
possession from Central Files of certain materials relating
to the Office of the President and selected staff offices
and, since 1971, has reviewed and culled materials from
400
those offices prior to their transmission to Central Files.
Access to materials maintained in Special Files was more
restricted than was access to the Central Files. I have no
personal knowledge of the contents of the materials
maintained by the Special Files Unit, although we do
receive a cross-referencing card indicating the existence of
and ideatifying such materials.
6. A general description of the operation of Central
Files is included in Exhibit A to this Affidavit which is a
ttue copy of an eight-page pamphlet which is entitled
“The Role of Central Files in the White House Office,”
and a revision of this pamphlet in 1971, a true copy of
which is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
7. At the close of the administrations of Presidents
Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, the files
in the custody of Central Files, except for the permanent
file, were collected, boxed, and disposed of in accordance
with the wishes of the outgoing President. I have personal
knowledge of the disposition of Central Files at the close
of the administrations of Presidents Truman, Eisenhower,
Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.
8. In January of 1953, the files in the custody of
Central Files, except for the permanent file, were boxed
and shipped, in accordance with Mr. Truman’s instruc-
tions, to a building in Jackson County, Missouri. Except
for the permanent file, not a single file in the custody of
Central Files received during the Truman Administration
remained in the White House Central Files when
President Eisenhower assumed office. However, there
were other files in the Records Office and the Adminis-
trative Office which dealt with various White House
functions which remained. I have no knowledge of any
attempt to retain or make copies of documents that
might be useful to the incoming administration for
reference and carrying on the continuing business of
government. |
401
9. At the close of the Eisenhower Administration in
1961, the files in the custody of Central Files, except for
ine permanent file, were boxed and shipped out of the
Wh.te House prior to January 20, 1961, leaving, to my
knowledge, no files in Central Files whatsoever for use or
reference by the incoming administration. Some of the
materials were shipped to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,
while others were shipped to Albilene, Kansas. To my
knowledge, no documents except for the permanent file
and files in other White House offices such as the Records
Office or the Administrative Office were retained.
10. After President Kennedy’s death in November of
1963, all files in the custody of Central Files, except for
the permanent file, were segregated from the materials
generated thereafter relating to the Johnson Administra-
tion. A memorandum from William Hopkins, Senior
Executive Clerk at the, time and my immediate superior,
was sent to all White House staff members describing
what should be done with the files relating to the
Kennedy Administration. A true copy of that memoran-
dum is attached hereto as Exhibit C. As materials were
received after November 22, 1963, relating to the period
prior to that date, they were placed in the Kennedy
Administration files and kept strictly separate from the
files of the Johnson Administration. Mr. Hopkins gave
specific instructions that materials from the Kennedy
Administration were not to be provided to anyone in the
new administration, and in fact no files from the Central
Files, except for the permanent file, were provided.
However, no attempt was made to get personal or
chronological files from the various White House officials.
A few months after November 22, 1963, the Kennedy
Administration files from the Central files were boxed
and sent to a storage area at National Archives to await
shipment to Massachusetts upon completion of arrange-
ments for the Kennedy Library.
402
11. In January 1969, all files of the Johnson
Administration in the custody of Central Files, except for
the permanent file, were collected, boxed, and shipped to
Austin, Texas, for storage until completion of the
Johnson Library. No files of any kind in the custody of
Central Files were kept or copied for use by the Nixon
Administration.
12. At the time of President Nixon’s resignation on
August 9, 1974, instructions were sent to the staff
regarding the disposition of records in their possession. A
true copy of the memorandum signed by Jerry Jones,
Staff Secretary, setting forth these instructions is
attached to this Affidavit as Exhibit D.
13. Over an approximate four day period, beginningg
August 9, 1974, all files which had at that date been in
the custody of Central Files, except for the permanent
file, were boxed and turned over to the Office of
Persidential Papers. Files outstanding on August 9, 1974,
which were later received from staff offices, were also
sent to the Office of Presidential Papers. Such files are
still occasionally found among staff office files and when
received by Central Files, are then sent to the Office of
Presidential Materials. Requests to provide Nixon Admin-
istration files to the incoming administration after August
9, 1974, were not honored because all files had been
boxed and turned over to the Office of Presidential
Papers, later the Office of Presidential Materials.
14. Any calls from officials of the incoming Ford
Administration regarding immediate boxing and removal
of materials of the Nixon Administration or requests for
access thereto, were referred to the Office of Presidential
Papers since this is where they had been sent by Central
Files.
/s/William F. Matthews
WILLIAM F. MATTHEWS
403
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of July,
1975.
/s/William Hinbine
Notary Public
My Commission expires:
August 14, 1976
[Caption Omitted in Printing]
AFFIDAVIT OF GERTRUDE FRY
City of Washington _)
District of Columbia _) 4
GERTRUDE FRY, being duly sworn under oath,
deposes and says as follows:
1. I am presently employed in the White House
Office as Staff Assistant in the Staff Secretary’s Office. I
was first employed by the White House on January 21,
1969 as Secretarial Assistant to Egil Krogh in charge of
security. I then became Staff Assistant for Security until
September, 1972, when I was appointed to the position
of Supervisor of the Special Files Unit. I held that
position until June 23, 1975.
2. The Special Files Unit was created in September,
1972 and continued until June, 1975. At present, it is
being phased out by the Ford Administration. It is my
understanding that Special Files was created in order to
provide a central storage location for sensitive material.
Previous to September, 1972, much of this material had
not been sent to Central Files, but had been dispersed
throughout the White House and held by the individual
members of the President’s staff in their own offices. Our
instructions from President Nixon’s then legal counsel,
404
John Dean, were that such sensitive files should be
centrally located and further, that they should be
indexed and filed in the same manner as are the files in
Central Files. In the absence of such a centrally located
and properly categorized file, there was no way of
knowing the location of any of these files. Also, the
review and categorization of the presidential materials
which occurs after the President has left office could
proceed more quickly if these sensitive files, prior to the
President’s leaving, had been centrally filed and properly
categorized.
3. In establishing and maintaining the Special Files,
we utilized and followed the Central Files Manual, wiiich
directs the manner of filing and categorization of all
White House documents. As to most files placed in
Special Files, a blue cross-reference card was sent to
Central Files so that Central Files would have a record of
where these files were located.
4. Special Files initially conducted a review of the
files in the “Confidential File Section” located in Central
Files. Criteria were given to Special Files to determine
which documents should be culled from the Confidential
File Section and placed in Special Files. The criteria
were:
(1) Investigative reports on individuals.
(2) Applications and recommendations for posi-
tions.
(3) Documents containing derogatory remarks con-
cerning the character, loyalty, integrity, or
ability of individuals.
(4) Documents concerning personal, family or
financial affairs of individuals.
(5) Documents containing information § which
could be used to harass living persons or
relatives of recently deceased persons.
405
(6) Information prejudicial to the national secur-
ity.
(7) Information prejudicial to foreign relations.
(8) Communications addressed to the President in
confidence, the immediate publication of
which would result in discouraging confidential
communications to a President in the future.
(9) Documents pertaining to the President’s per-
sonal, family, business, and financial affairs.
(10) Security-classified information.
(11) Documents specifically restricted by the Presi-
dent.
(12) Politically sensitive information or documents.
In addition to documents meeting the above criteria,
Special Files also held documents in the President’s
handwriting, and all the files from the Staff Secretary’s
Office. During my tenure in the White House, Presidential
handwriting documents had never been held in Central
Files to my knowledge. Rather, a special file for such
documents had been maintained in the Staff Secretary’s
Office.
5. After initial establishment of Special Files, the
plan was that each individual member of of the
President’s senior staff would send to Special Files
sensitive material to be stored for his exclusive retrieval.
In practice, however, Special Files did not receive
sensitive material from many top staff members. In
addition, Special Files did receive the files of all staff
members when they resigned during President Nixon’s
term. We would then review all of these files, and any
boxes containing documents meeting the criteria outlined
above were retained under Special Files control. The
remaining boxes were sent to Central Files. Special Files
406
now numbers approximately 400 filing boxes roughly
one cubic foot in size, approximately sixteen of which
contain Presidential handwriting documents. It is also a
fact that some materials stored in Special Files were never
processed by the Special Files staff. These files were
placed in the Special Files Unit after May 1, 1973 when
some senior White House staff members resigned. They
were placed in the Special Files Unit in order to provide
them the tightest security possible.
6. When Special Files was created, access to docu-
ments stored there was restricted to the person with
whom the file originated or to persons we in Special Files
determined had a genuine need to see the document or
file. Where questions arose as to a particular request, we
cleared the matter with the Staff Secretary.
7. Now that Special Files is being terminated, files of
the Ford Administration in our custody will be placed in
the Confidential File Section in Central Files. Access will
require approval of Mr. Matthews, but only if one of the
two criteria formerly used by Special Files and described
above is met.
8. As part of my job in Special Files, I have visited
some of the Presidential Libraries in the National
Archives System. One of my purposes in doing so was to
gain knowledge on organizing and arranging Special Files.
/s/Gertrude Fry
GERTRUDE FRY
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of July,
1975.
/s/ Thomas J. English
Notary Public
My Commission expires: June 30, 1976
407
[Caption Omitted in Printing]
AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN C. BRODERICK
John C. Broderick, being duly sworn under oath,
deposes and says:
(1) I am Chief of the Manuscript Division of the
Library of Congress, and have been employed in that
position since January 6, 1975. Previous to my appoint-
ment as Chief of the Manuscript Division, I was employed
by the Library of Congress in various positions beginning
in 1964. As a result of my employment with the Library
of Congress, and my experience as a student of the papers
of constitutional officeholders, I have acquired know]-
edge of the history and ultimate disposition of certain of
those papers. The substance of this Affidavit is derived
from that knowledge and represents an accurate summary
of these particular .instances, to the best of my
knowledge, information, and belief.
(2) The Library of Congress maintains the papers, in
whole or in part, of twenty-three presidents. The papers
of other presidents are located elsewhere. For example,
the papers of Presidents John and John Quincy Adams
are in the Massachusetts Historical Society; those of
James Buchanan in the Historical Society of Pennsyl-
vania; Millard Fillmore’s papers are in the Buffalo and
Erie County Historical Society; the papers of Rutherford
B. Hayes are in the Hayes Library, Fremont. Ohio; and
the Warren G. Harding papers are in the Ohio Historical
Society. All of these are non-federal repositories. A copy
of a chart prepared by my office illustrating the
disposition of all of the papers of presidents is attached
to this Affidavit as Exhibit A.
(3) Between 1967 and 1974, Justice William J.
Brennan donated to the Library of Congress 55,000
documents covering his term in the Supreme Court from
408
1956 to 1970. The collection includes Memoranda for
Conference, Bench Memos, and case files by case name.
The case files include memoranda written to other
Justices, personal notes on the case, briefs, memoranda
from law clerks, and other material which the Justice has
accumulated with regard to cases.
(4) Attached hereto as Exhibit B is a true and correct
copy of the “Instrument of Gift” executed by Justice
Brennan providing the terms on reservation of literary
rights and access to legal files and correspondence.
(5) Justice William O. Douglas has donated to the
Library of Congress correspondence and other papers
pertaining to his work in the Supreme Court and
elsewhere covering 1925 to 1952. The content of Justice
Douglas’ papers is similar to that of Justice Brennan.
Attached hereto as Exhibit C are two of the “Instruments
of Gift” executed by Justice Douglas providing for
disposition and access to these materials.
(6) Between 1972 and 1974, the Hugo Black family
donated to the Library of Congress papers from Justice
Black’s entire career, 1898-1971, including his Supreme
Court papers. These later papers include correspondence,
assignment and conference lists, opinions in manuscript,
near-print and printed form, memoranda, research mate-
rials, printed matter, vouchers, financial materials, and
clippings. Also included in the collection are dictaphone
recordings, phonodiscs, magnetic tapes, and motion
pictures. Justice Black directed his family to destroy his
conference notes, which was done.
(7) Attached hereto as Exhibit D is a true and
correct copy of the “Instrument of Gift” from the Black
family to the Library of Congress containing the terms
governing literary rights and access to the materials.
409
(8) The papers of Justice Harold H. Burton number
120,000, span his career from 1896 to 1964, and include
legal files, diaries, speech files, articles files, briefs
prepared by law clerks for study, conference sheets,
studies on individual cases, drafts of opinions, and
comments on opinions from other Justices. The majority
of the papers were donated to the Library of Congress in
two installments: Justice Burton gave a substantial
collection in October, 1959; and his son made a second
major installment in January, 1965. Attached hereto as
Exhibit E are true and correct copies of the “Instruments
of Gift” covering the Burton papers governing any
restrictions on access, and literary rights.
(9) Mrs. Charles Evans Hughes in 1952 donated to
the Library of Congress a large body of correspondence
of Chief Justice Hughes. This donation includes cor-
respondence relating to both Hughes’ Supreme Court
career and personal life. No case files are included such as
are in the donations of other Supreme Court Justice. As
provided in Exhibit F attached hereto, which is a true
and correct copy of the Instrument of Gift executed by
Marjory Stuart Hughes, originally access to the collection
was prohibited except upon permission of Chief Justice
Hughes’ daughter. As of January 1, 1975, no restrictions
remain. Literary rights are reserved to Chief Justice
Hughes’ daughter.
(10) The Library of Congress also holds the papers of
several Congressmen, although most congressional collec-
tions are privately held. For example, the papers os Sam
Rayburn are located in the Sam Rayburn Library at
Bonham, Texas and the papers of Estes Kefauver are in
the University of Tennessee Library at Knoxville,
Tennessee. Among the congressional holdings of the
Library of Congress are the papers of Emanuel Celler and
the papers of Robert A. Taft. Exhibits G and H, attached
410
hereto, are true and correct copies of Instruments of Gift
to the Library. They provide the terms for access to
collections and right to review quotations from the
4il
APPENDIX I
ma teri als. DEPOSITORIES AND PURCHASES OF PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS
/s/John C. Broderick
JOHN C. BRODERICK
Prosijent Depositories ! Purchases?
Gesrge Washirgton The Library of Congress bas some 800 volurres cf Kctters, Cisries, Th j
a 132- 93). President official fs, 629 Other manuscripts. Tne Henry E. Huntington BAA.
1789-S7. Library Sin Marino, 2/4.) has 450 letters. The Cornecticut purchases totaling $45,059
State Library has the eccersive Trumbuli correspor-erce. in 1834 and 1849
Other colize’icas are i- =n Caisags Histories! Seciety (150
eae tre US. Sieve: Acectemy (15 pieces), Mar,tanc His-
rical S< ciety (62 pistes). Bostor Public Lisrary (5 vrts.),
Hr.ard College Litre. (22 prece:), william L. Clerer's
Libriry (Ana ‘Arbor aA 147 ems, De'rcit Pudlic Liorary
per: of the Ciary), W:--z:2%a Historical Society (123 pieces),
Pri-ceton University L xray. ew Jersey State Library (3.
items), Long Island &.::o:.<21 Soc'ety (123 pieces), Cornell
Universi pecs (89 < 2¢¢5), “orristown National Historical
Subscribed and sworn to before me
this 28th day of July, 1975.
/s/Signature
Notary Public
District of Columbia
My Commission Expires: September 30, 1979
Park (95 pieces), Col.-iva University Litrery (57 preces,
inclucing parts of the c :r,). ew York Historical Society (215
pieces), New York Pu: < tisarry, Pierpont Morgen Libra
(New York, 1.Y.) (il+ rems). Duke University Lioraries (5
pieces), Historical Soce::, of Pernsylvama, Virginia Historical
25 pieces). W.rgiva Stete Library, and Willem &
John & Zane (1735-
1825), President
1797-1801.
Thomas Je#erron
(1723-1226),
Presiser: 1291-09.
James Madison
(1751-1336), Presi-
Gent iSC3-17.
James Vorrce
(1738 ne. Presi-
Gert 1817-25.
tety so
Mary College (255 pisces) Tre Wastioz*on home, Mount
Vernon, has fariuly ¢2;2°3 2-4 ciaries of the lzter yetts.
The Adams papers ere t:"ze!,.n the "Aassachutatts H storical
Society, which has tne = ::4s. the 2_todisgrachy, ana «2rious
manuscripts. There are < cones of ¢:pers dated from 1776 to
1213. The Boston ub: L <rary ha: sore parers and some
books with arnotat,-as 2. A-ams. Tne post-cresidential papers
im the Hatvart Co 2g2 _ <rery are criafly retrospectiee Com
ments cn the Re.-tu:.:-. There ar2 sc2tteres p2-2rs in the
Columbia University ic-aty. the Duke Un sersiz, Hospital
Litrary, Prizcetoy U- .2°.ty Lidvary. the Prergoat “organ
Library, a Histzrizei S---27, cf Pears; tvania.
The Library of Congress n>: 236 solumes cf the cerrespe- cence,
and the Massachusetts + storca! Scciety has 77 vate es of
pers and some of Mis “22-10 Cocss. The University cf ¥.rgiria
38 2,500 iter 3, Colori2’ a':amsburg 600 cretes, aed Wiluam
& ‘tary Coliese 255 gicte:. The Virgiria Histcrizal Societs has
109 items, ard there e-: si 7 assorted pacers in the Virginia
State Lidrary. Other ccsect.crs are tne Henry E. Kurtirgton
Litrary (800 s.eces), t-e hh storcal Sczvety cf Deieznr-e 14
items), the Wiuam L. Ce rents Library (9! pieces). the Morsousi
Historical Society (126 items), Princeton University Library,
Columbia University L:cr2r, (21 items), New York His:orical
Society (139 ites), Men fork Putlic Litrary, Prerpont Morgan
Library (255 pieces). Ui-2 University Libraries (23 jieces),
Arerican Paicsophi: So-rety (Prilacelama), Historical Society
of Pennsylvania, and t-2 Uriversity of Texas (68 1ems).
There are 114 boxes and 19 volumes of papers in the Library of
Congress. The Univers:ty cf Virginia has 155 items, the New
York Historica! Society 155 cieces, and the Henry E. Huntington
Library 104 pieces. There are smalier collections at the Virginia
State ary, William & “Wary Colieze, the Virginia Historical
Seciety, the Historical Scz.ety of Penrsy.vama, the Pierront
Morgan Library, William L. Ciements Liorary, and Princeton
pep Library. The "sew Yor Public Library has a collection
Chief repositeries are the Library of Congress with 40 volumes and
5 boxes, New York Purisz Library with 1,300 items, and the
James Monrce Memcriat Foundatcn (Frecerichsburg, Va.)
with an extensive ard varved ccliection. There are also mate
tials at Wiitiam & Maz, College (ill pieces). the Universit
of Virginia (120 pieces). the New York Historical Society ¢
items), the Pierpont “organ Library (30 items). University of
Pennsylvania Lidrary (33 stems), the Virginia Historical Society
(35 items), 2nd the Vicgiria State Lidrary.
See footnotes at end of table.
Many of the 23,600 items
held by the Library cf
Congress were purchased
in 1248 for $20,000 from
Thomas Jefierson Ren-
dotph, executcr of the
Jeterson estate. Fuily
half of the collection
purchased at that time
was returned, however, as
being of too “personal ' a
nature for government
acquisition. This returned
Giomtely dered"
f y
the ' to friends,
telatives, and collectors.
Of the approximately 10,000
items in the Madison ccl-
lection held by the
Library of Congress, most
were acquired through 2
putchases from fars. M2 4-
Betas hate
e istorica
Society. The cost of the 3
transactions amoict to
The Li of Congress
holds 4 iterrs which
were acquired from tne
pang heirs in 1849 for
412
DEPOSITORIES AND PURCHASES OF PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS—Continued
President
Depositories !
Purchases?
John Grins Adams
(1767-1848), Presi-
dent 1825-29.
Andrew Jackson
(1767-1845), Presi-
dent 1829-37.
Martin Van Buren
(1782-1862)
President 1837-41.
William Henry
Harrison (1773-
1841), President
1841.
John Tyler (1790-
1862), President
1841-45.
James K. Polk (1795-
1849), President
1845-49.
2 T 1784-
*TaS0), President
1848-50.
“ate
, Fresi-
Gent 1480-53.
Franklin Pierce (1804-
President
1853-57.
James Buchanan
(1791-1868),
President 1857-61.
Most are in the Massachusetts Historical Societ Gene 15,000
diary pages ard 6,300 letters). The Library ot gress has
several boxes, and scattered items are in the New York Histori-
cal Society. the New York Public Library, and the Pierpont
Morgan Library.
The Library of Co-gress has a collection of over 340 volumes and Of
boxes. Tennessee State Library hes 1,500 items, and the
Tennessee Historical Society and the Jackson heme, the Hermi-
tage, have ad¢;*;onal materials. Other collections are the Chi
Historical Society (+50 items), New York Public Library (2
items), Pierpont Morgan Library (72 pieces), Duke University
Libraries (50 stems), Missouri Mistorical Society (40 items),
Princeton Universi*y Library, and New York Hi torical Society.
_— collections in the Columbia County Historical Society
ndethook, NY.) the Prerpont Morgan Library and the
Massachusetts Historica! Society.
peagrngenuze
Tyeaue
ty = safe
bail
Most are in the Library of Congress and Indiora State Library, but A number of Harrison's
Significant presidentia! writings are limited to his inaugural
dress.
records are thought to
have been destr when
ee
There are 8 volumes in the Library of Congress, end a smaller col- While a large part of the
lection in the Duke Univercity Libraries The University of .Vir-
io Library, Wiliam & Mary. ae. and the Pierpont Morgan
iDrary have collecticas ranging up to 130 pieces
i volume and 2 boxes are in the Library of Congress. The Kentucky
Historical Society (Franktort), the University cf Kentucky Library
and the University of North Carolina Library have assorted
papers, mostly pre- Presidential.
The Buffalo Historical Society has all but a few that are in the
Library of Congress.
The largest collection, 1,5C0 items is in the New Hampshire His-
torical Society. The | eo has a few additional
ing
oy But the papers re! the period of the presidency
for the most part, disappeared.
The Library of 4 ~ has 11 volumes and boxes, and the His-
torical Society of Pennsylvania has 25,000 items. There is a
considerable collection in the Lancaster (Pa.) Historical
Society. Smailer collections are in Franklin & Marshall College
Library, Dickinson Coliege Library, the Rutherford B.
ee Ohic), the a Mcrzan Librery, the
York Historical Society, and the Princeton University Library.
See fvotnotes at end of table.
Tyler cache was burned in
pao hy = Richmond was
raty of Congress =.
chased fom
413
DEPOSITORIES AMD PURCHASES OF PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS—Continued
President
Depositories '
Purchases?
L95raham Lincola
mee om 5
esident 1661-
65.
Ladrea Johnson
(i£%3-75),
Presizent 1865-€3.
Ulysses S Grant
1222 85).
tesizent 1289-77.
Rutherford B. Hayes
(1222-93), Presi-
cent 1877-81
James A. Garfield
(1931-81).
President 134!.
Chester A. Arthur
(1230-85).
President 1881-85.
Grover Clevaiand
(1837-1908)
Benjamin Ha.1ison
(1833-1901) Presi-
dent 1889-93.
Witham McMiniey
(1843-1991), Presi-
dent 1897-190).
Theddore Roosevelt
(1858-1319). Presi-
Cent 1901-09.
The major collection, ower 250 wcities and boxes, isin the Library
of Congress. The Miivors H.s:srcal Society has cver 6.°C0 items.
and the Brow Unieetsets Liirary 1.673 pieces. There are ¢
boxes cf material a: ine Us.versrcy cf Cnicago. Other ccitecuons
are at the Chicago Histcr.ca: Sx ety (SG items), Indiara Uriver-
sity Lideary (215 ems), Zcs2c° vr saree Lidraries (60 items),
Harvard Cologe Library (4) -e~ 7"), New Yors Pistorca: Sx.ety
(4 wilumes and DOtEs). Sea Yoru Pubtic Lirary (4 tzxes),
Winnasota Hastcrcal Sc ety (il stems), Misscuri Hist=rical
Sxiety (41 tems). the P.27co-t Weorgan Litracy (25 items). the
Rutherforc 6. Hayes Lcsary (Frement, Orc), ant Lincela
Mem-nial Uniearsity ‘rlatr:gace, Te77.).
The Litrary ot Co-gress Fas 275 clones and t:aes, Tre Outer.
ford B. Mayes Licrary has 252 seus, ane the Duke Urvesrinty
Libraries have +2 tems.
The Litvary cf cargrets “ss c.e* 190 volurres and tcues. The
Henry E. Wuntagts> urtsare mes 325 tems, anc the RuSser*sr 2 B.
Mayes Library 255 stems Soma. er cclections are at tre Cr.cags
Historical Saciet, (ict 2 acet). Huvois State Historica! Letrary
wad pieces), C-:cago OWS. Lesrary (10 pieces), Mirno.3 Mestcrical
ciety (27 setters). toe ‘vee Yora Historical Socrety (35 ste75),
and tre Pierpont Morga~ wrrary (11 pieces). e
Some 309 volumes 2-4 75,°C5 items are in the Putrerford B.
Hayes Lidrat, in Fremcrt Goro, Mayes’s home Wester> Re-
serve University Littary 25 2 Downes, and the Litrary of Co- gress
has 5 boxes,
There are 343 sciume: 2-7 teses, most ore-Presidertial. i- tre
Lidrary cf Congress The © + > Historical Socvety nas 1] boa. ard
tre Rutnetord B. ha.es Letcery has 30 iter.s.
The Lidrar, of Comg-ess “as § teoxes; the “sew Yors Hittciical
Society 8 vo'urer =f letters and a box of otter papess The
Rutrerfors 8. Hayes Lit’a*y ras 16 items.
The maict collections ate at the Library cf Congress #.th £97
volumes ars 109 tcret 3-3 tha Detroit Pudi Libra, with
1,250 items large!s re'z*i-z 2 the second administrate. Tne
Butfaio Hestorcal Socety “38 75 items, “ew York Hoctorical
Society So items a-2 Piergoct Morgan Library if pisces.
Princetor Univers.ty Liz’aty asa Nas a varied collection
The Lidrar, of Congrest “2s 290 welumes and 193 boxes. Indiana
pea has a dcaciparers, and the Rutherfzr¢ B. Hayes Lit:ary
items.
There is a collection of £17 wx umes and boxes in the Lidrary of
Congress. and cther sicaie ccliectrons are at the Western Re-
serve Historical Society and the Western Reseree U-iversity
Library (2 volumes of 'e*ters). A few papers are at the Rut*erfors
B. Hayes Lidvary
The Library of Congress
accuired its collection cf
Johnson cepers through
two curchase: from family
heirs for $7,500.
Though not 2 prolific letter
writer, Grent ts reported to
have returned certain
letters he received as
Presitentjto the originator
of the correspondence.
The frst actual Presidential
library, the Hayes Me-
morial Library is main-
tained by the State of
Omo and the Rutherford
B. Hayes-Lucy Webb
Hayes Foundation.
The Library of Congress
was mace a gil its
Gari.eld coliection in 1930-
31 by the former Presi-
Gent's children.
The Cleveland collection of
the Library of Congress
was presented asa # by
Mrs. Preston, the former
President's widow
The Harrison papers were
presented tc the Library
of Congress members
of the former President's
family.
Apprcximately 122,000
stems were presented
to the Lidrary of Congress
in 1935 by George 8B.
Cortelyou. the President's
personal secretary and
executor.
The Library cf Congress Sat well over 1,000 «<lumes and boxes. The T. R. collection held by
There 1s avcther large c wiection at the Marva’d College Lidrary.
The Pierpont Mtovgea Lin-ary has the martuscript of hes 2cto-
biography ard some “esters. Willan L. Clements Litrar. has 299
items, the Universit) cf Southern California Licrary 60 items.
Bowdoin ——— Liwary 15 items, Duke University Lidraries 43
pieces, and Vale Unisesity Library assorted letters.
Wilham H. Taft (1856- There are 1,2CO boxes at the Library of Congress. Other cotlections
1924), President
1909-13.
are at the Yale Univers:ty Lidrary, Princeton University Library,
bag Peseree U-s-2'sity Liprary, ard the Ohio Historical
See footnotes at end of table.
the Library of Congress
was donated by the
—_ President him-
DEPOSITORIES AND PURCHASES OF PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS—Continued
414
President Depositories !
Woodrow Wilson The Library of Cergress has 1,375 b-xes. Yale University Library The Library
(1856-1924), Presi- has the Wilson-House corsesoo". 2. Harvard Ccllege Library holds the
deat 1913-21. has the letters to Walter Fin. * .. There are major materizis dent's collection
Warren G. Harding
(1855-1923). Presi-
dent 1921-23.
Catvin Ccoli¢ge
(1872-1933). Presi-
dent 1923-29,
Herbert C. Hoover
(1874-1954), Presi-
dent 1929-33.
Franviin D. Roosevelt
(1882-1945).
President 1933-45,
Harry S. Truman
1884-1972),
esident 1945-53.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
(1890-1969).
President 1953 61.
Joho F. Ker
(1$17-63),
President 1961-63.
Ly ndoo B. Johnson
(i903-73),
President 1963-€9,
Richard MM. Nixon
(1913-
1913- ),
President 1969-74.
at Princeton Univers** 'il 42 «1,150 items at Columbia
University Library. © «> —« f Virginia Library has 248
tend Historical Sozic7
oundation has some mau ¢
There are 4 boxes in the Library of © . 2 boxes in >. ~hio
Historical Seceety and an undi amount in the rn ong
Memorial Association, Marisa, Ob*.
The Library of Congress h2s 357 boxes, and the Forbes Library,
Northampton, “2ss . 79 volumes ard boxes. Smaller cctlections
are at Amherst College Litrary, the State Library cf fAassa-
chusetts, and Tul2r2 Uriversity Lidrary.
The chief reposito-ies ere the “cover Institution on War, Revolu-
tien, and Peece at Stia‘:r¢ University, and the Hoover Library
at Vest Branch, Io.v2. There 2re smail ccilecticns at the Uni-
versity of Southern Ca':f>-miz. Yale University Library, Harvard
Coliege Library, end Pri-zetur University Library.
There is a — and 94 + collection in the Bganklin DO.
Roosevelt Liorary at bh. -¢ Park, WY. The Library of Congress
had ] volume and 2 boxes, and the Duke University Lidraries
have 26 items.
The central collection is 2* the Truman Library. Independence, Mo.
There are a few pzper: 17 the Library of Congress.
The papers are housed a: 12 cisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kans.
The papers of Kenned,, 2: well 2s others relating to his adminis-
tration, will be housed 11 a memorial lidrary at Harvard Univer-
sity.
The Johnson papers are 2! the Ly+40n Johnson Library located at
the University of Texes. ~ustia, Tex.
The Nixon papers ar2 being gathered in Washi at the National
Archives for shipment to 2 Federal Records Center near San
Clemente, Calif, where the, will be under the joint supervision
of the former President 224 the G2neral Services Administration.
it
H
| Information regarding papers depositories is gerer2il; drawn from Arthur Bernon Tourtellot. The Presidents on the
presidency. Gardes City NY. Doubleday & Co., 1955, 2D. 471-485; updating material supplied by the National Archives
purchases of Presidential parers is drawn from David Demarest Lloyd. Presidential papers
and Records Service.
> Information
and Presidential li =, Manuscripts, v. 8, fall, 1955:9-15. -
Source: Harold C. Relyea, analyst, American National Government, Government and General Research Division, Sept.
24, 1974.
415
COUNTY OF ARLINGTON _)
) ss
STATE OF VIRGINIA )
AFFIDAVIT
Personally appears before me Jack Alvin Albright,
Major General, U.S. Army, who, being duly sworn
deposes and says:
(1) I, Jack Alvin Albright was assigned as the
Commanding Officer, White House Communications
Agency from Apri! 29, 1965 to June 12, 1969. In making
this affidavit the following represents my best recollec-
tion of actions taken with respect to my assigned duties
at the White House Communications Agency.
(2) At the time I assumed the responsibilities of this
position I found that there were in existence facilities
whereby the President or designated members of the
White House Staff could record telephone conversations
by a simple act of pushing a button on the telephone or
throwing a separate switch which would activate a
recording device thereby recording the conversations. My
Agency was responsible for installing and servicing these
facilities. Either at the end of each day or when the
recording belt or tape was completed, a member of my
Agency removed the recording and presented it to the
secretary of the office concerned. Recordings were
transcribed by secretaries in the White House Staff as
directed by the office in which the recorders were
installed. Recorders were installed or available on selected
telephone lines in the office of the President and the
office of his Appointments Secretary. In addition, this
same capability was available at Aspen Lodge, Camp
David, Maryland, the Main Ranch House at the LBJ
Ranch in Texas, and the presidential offices in the
Federal Office Building in Austin, Texas. These recorders
were not equipped with any warning devices.
416
(3) The conference table in the Cabinet Room at the
White House contained hidden microphones which could
be activated at the conference table.
(4) In January 1969 President Johnson personally
directed me to remove all recording devices from the
Cabinet Room and from all telephones. This was
accomplished prior to the departure of President Johnson
from office.
/s/Jack Alvin Albright
J.A.A.
County of Arlington )
) ss
State of Virginia )
Subscribed and sworn to before me, a Notary Public
for the County of Arlington, State of Virginia, this 17th
day of July, 1973
/s/Rose C. Morris
Notary Public
My commission expires 20 April 1976.
[Caption Omitted in Printing]
AFFIDAVIT OF MILDRED STEGALL
State of Texas
: 3
County of Travis
MILDRED STEGALL, being duly sworn under oath,
deposes and says as follows:
1. On June 30, 1975, I retired from the position of
Program Officer in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presiden-
417
tial Library where I had been employed since mid-1969.
Prior to that time I was employed as an assistant to
President Johnson during his term in the White House. I
joined his Senate staff July 1, 1953, and worked
continuously for him for the next nineteen and one-half
years.
2. I worked with President Johnson in the prepara-
tion of his memoirs which he wrote after leaving office
on January 20, 1969.
3. I served as personal custodian of a quantity of
tape recordings which were recorded in the White House
during President Johnson’s term. These were principally
recordings of telephone conversations between President
Johnson and others made on a selective basis from a
device activated manually on his secretary’s desk outside
the Oval Office. Some were recordings of meetings held
in the Cabinet Room.
4. President Johnson made frequent use of these
recordings during the preparation of his memoirs. On
occasions when preparing portions of his memoirs in
which the recordings reflected what he had said or done,
he would request me to type a transcript of the
recordings covering that period so that he could
personally review them.
5. Also, when President Johnson considered the
transcripts to be pertinent, he would permit members of
his staff to review particular recordings. In most instances
he dictated summaries of these recordings for the staff
members’ use in their work on the memoirs.
6. President Johnson on various occasions informed
me he considered that ultimately these recordings would
be of benefit to historians but that he was concerned that
these recordings never be used to injure, embarrass or
otherwise reflect adversely upon any person. He in-
418
structed me, in this regard, that if the recordings should
be in my possession at the time of his death, I should
deliver them thereafter to the Director of the Presidential
Library and inform him that the recordings were to be
deposited under seal and that the seal should not be
broken nor the recordings reviewed for a period of fifty
years from the date of President Johnson’s death.
7. At the time of President Johnson’s death, the
recordings were in fact in my custody. As President
Johnson had requested, I delivered them to Harry
Middleton, Director of the Johnson Library, and in-
formed him of the fifty years access restriction President
Johnson had requested to be imposed.
/s/Mildred Stegall
MILDRED STEGALL
Subscribed and sworn to
before me this 29th day of
July, 1975.
/s/John M. Barr
Notary Public
[SEAL]
My commission Expires:
June 1, 1977
[Caption Omitted in Printing]
AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN R. HUBBARD
I, JOHN R. HUBBARD, being duly sworn, hereby
deposes and say:
1. I am the President of the University of Southern
California located in Los Angeles, California and have
served in that capacity since August 3, 1970.
419
2. Beginning in approximately March 1975, I en-
gaged in a series of discussions with former President
Richard M. Nixon concerning the disposition of the
historical materials pertaining to his public career,
including those relating to his tenure as President. During
those discussions Mr. Nixon expressed to me his desire
that these materials be preserved for history and that
they be made available to scholars for research and
analysis.
3. During these discussions I expressed to Mr. Nixon
the University’s willingness to establish a library to house
Mr. Nixon’s historical materials, and I informed him that
the University was prepared to operate an appropriate
archival facility upon the receipt and inventory of said
materials.
4. Although it is the University’s desire to include in
the Library historical material pertaining to Mr. Nixon’s
entire public career, the material relating to his tenure as
President, particularly those items now in the possession
of the Government which are the subject of this
lawsuit must, obviously, form the core of the Library.
Considering the extraordinary historical significance of
many of the events which occurred during Mr. Nixon’s
Presidency, the University firmly believes that the records
behind these events should be made widely available for
research and study. In this regard, my discussions with
Mr. Nixon included reference to the White House tape
recordings which, in the interim depository agreement
with the General Services Administration (GSA), Mr.
Nixon had agreed should be destroyed as of September
1984, or at the time of his death, after an initial five-year
deposit. Mr. Nixon stated that he intended these
recordings to be included among the materials transferred
to the University and that he would take steps necessary
420
to eliminate the destruction provisions of that agreement
in order to facilitate that expressed intention.
5. A copy of Mr. Nixon’s public statement released
in conjunction with the announcement of the plans for a
presidential library at the University of Southern Califor-
nia is attached hereto as Exhibit A. A copy of the
University’s public statement in this regard is attached
hereto as Exhibit B. The University is presently negotiat-
ing with Mr. Nixon through his attorneys as to the precise
terms of the Agreement which will finalize these
discussions.
/s/John R. Hubbard
J-R.H.
Date: 30 July 1975
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) ss.
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES _)
On July 30, 1975 before me, the undersigned, a Notary
Public in and for said State, personally John R. Hubbard,
known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed
to the within instrument and acknowledged that he
executed the same.
WITNESS my hand and official seal.
/s/[Mlegible]
[SEAL]
421
[Caption Omitted in Printing]
PLAINTIFF’S BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF CLAIM
FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE AND
DECLARATORY RELIEF
* * *
III.
THE PRACTICE OF PRESIDENTS AND OTHER
CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICEHOLDERS IN EXERCISING
INCIDENTS OF OWNERSHIP IN THE
PAPERS AND EFFECTS OF THEIR OFFICES
A. Presidents.
Although every constitutional officeholder has treated
the materials accumulated by him while in office as his
own, the record demonstrating in what forms thai
ownership has been exercised is understandably best
documented in the case thoroughly illustrates the
unvarying practice of early Presidents and their families
in exercising common law incidents of ownership, but it
is informative to discuss a few examples here because
they not only lend support to plaintiff’s claim to the
same rights but help explain the rationale that underlies
the cutsom of ownership.
The papers of 23 Presidents are now found in the
Library of Congress’ presidential collections. Historians
and scholars employed by the Manuscript Division of the
Library have documented the history of the collections
and have described how each President and his family
disposed of the papers of his office.*!
21 See Stipulation, dated July 31, 1975, concerning the Library
of Congress’ historical summaries describing its collection of
presidential papers and effects [hereinafter “Stip. of Hist.
Summ.”’}.
422
1. The practice prior to Hoover.
George Washington.
At the end of Washington’s second term, he instructed
his personal secretaries to separate from among his papers
those which he wished to leave for John Adams’ use. The
remainder were packed and sent to Mount Vernon. In the
short time Washington lived after leaving office, he was
able to review only a small portion of his papers. Upon
his death, he bequeathed to his nephew, Bushrod
Washington, “‘all the papers in my possession which relate
to my civel [sic] and military administration of the
affairs of this country, also, such of my private papers as
are worth preserving.”
From 1800 to 1833, the papers changed location
several times, although the bulk of the collection
remained in the hands of Chief Justice Marshall, who
intended to write a biography of Washington. However,
between 1824 and 1827, Washington’s nephew nego-
tiated with Jared Sparks to have him write an official
biography of Washington. A contract was finally exe-
cuted, and Bushrod Washington directed that the papers
be sent from Marshall to Sparks.
In 1833, the Secretary of State requested of George C.
Washington (nephew of the deceased Bushrod Washing-
ton and legatee of the papers) that-he deposit the papers
in the Department of State. Washington agreed to
transfer title, with the exception of those “‘of a private
nature, or which it would be obviously improper to make
public.”’ He reserved to Sparks the right of publication of
the papers. On June 30, 1834, Congress appropriated
$25,000 for the purchase of Washington’s papers pur-
suant to the Secretary of State’s agreement, and in 1849,
it appropriated another $20,000 to purchase papers
withheld earlier by Washington under the exceptions
423
s
originally agreed upon. (Stip. of His. Summ., /ndex To
The George Washington Papers, Library of Congress
(1964).
James Monroe.
When Monroe left the Presidency in 1825, he was in
financial tronble, and looked to the use of his presidential
papers as a source of revenue. He wrote an autobiography
and one paper for Congress, using his papers in order to
raise money. On January 27, 1828, a new method of
obtaining income from the papers was suggested to
Monroe by Nicholas Trist of Monticello. Trist suggested
that Monroe pledge the income from future publication
of his»papers relating to Jefferson, in return for a loan
(presumably from Trist, although this is unclear). Monroe
replied: “Your suggestion as to the sale of my papers, or
pledge of them, merits attention.”
Upon his death, Monroe entrusted his papers to his
son-in-law, Samuel Gouverneur of New York. The legacy
required Gouverneur to divide equally with Monroe’s two
daughters the income from any publication that Gou-
verneur might undertake. Gouverneur never did publish
the papers himself, but in 1844 he transferred the papers
to Henry O’Reilly for publication, dividing the profits
pursuant to a complicated settlement with Monroe’s
estate. On June 30, 1850, Congress appropriated $20,000
for the purchase of Monroe’s public papers; his private
papers were acquired later. (Stip. of Hist. Summ., /ndex
To the James Monroe Papers, Library of Congress, 1963.)
Andrew Jackson.
President Jackson, shortly before his death, placed his
collection of papers in the hands of Amos Kendall, a
close friend, with the following injunction: “On the
subject of my papers—You are to retain them so long as
424
you think necessary [sic] to use them—Should you die
they are to pass forth into Mr. [Francis P.] Blair’s
hands—I have full & unlimited confidence in you both,
that my papers will be safe in your hands & that they
never will be permitted to be used but for a proper use.”
After Jackson’s death, Andrew Jackson, Jr., contrary to
his father’s earlier statement, began to collect all of his
father’s papers and place them in the custody of Mr.
Blair. Thus, Francis Blair controlled access to most of the
Jackson papers for several years, granting access to such
interested persons (e.g., Jackson biographers) as he might
deem fit. Kendall retained a substantial number of
Jackson papers until his death. After the deaths of Blair
and Kendall, the Jackson papers were separated and
dislocated, falling into different private hands for several
years.
On February 29, 1884, the Senate resolved to “‘inquire
into the propriety and expediency of purchasing said |
collection of papers from General Jackson’s legal
heirs...’ A legal struggle ensued between the heirs of
Francis Blair, who had possession of many of the Jackson
papers, and the heirs of Andrew Jackson, to determine
ownership in the bulk of the papers. On October 29,
1890, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia
dismissed the Jackson heirs’ bill of complaint. In 1930
the Library of Congress received deposit of and title to
the Blair family’s collection of Jackson papers. Later, in
1911 and 1932, two purchases of Jackson papers were
made, amounting to $18,000. The Library of Congress
later purchased other smaller collections of Jackson
papers from different persons including heirs of the
former president. (Stip. of Hist. Summ., /ndex To The
Andrew Jackson Papers, Library of Congress 1967.)
425
John Tyler
Tyler took great care im preserving his papers after his
presidency. In 1859, he executed a will bequeathing to
his sons and son-in-law “‘for revision and publication if
they shall think proper all such of my papers as relate to
my own times... or to public affairs.’”” To his wife he
~ left all his private papers. Most of his papers were either
stolen or destroyed during the Civil War. The small
collection presently in the Library of Congress was
gathered by Tyler’s son, Lyon, and sold for $1,000 to the
Library in 1919. (Stip. of Hist. Summ., Index To The
John Tyler Papers, Library of Congress, 1961.)
James K. Polk.
Upon leaving office in 1849, Polk transferred Adminis-
tration papers to his Tennessee home and to various
departments of government. Polk died shortly after
leaving office, and the papers sent to Tennessee remained
in Mrs. Polk’s possession with two exceptions, until her
death in 1891. The two exceptions were for transfer of
the papers to an official biographer and to George
Bancroft who also undertook a biography of Polk. Both
times the papers were returned to Mrs. Polk. Upon her
death, Mrs. Polk left the papers to her niece. In 1902, the
Chicago Historical Society purchased Polk’s diaries as
well as some 300-400 letters from her; in 1903 the
Library of Congress purchased the bulk of the collection,
approximately 10,000 documents. Shortly thereafter, the
Chicago Historical Society sold its holdings to the Library
of Congress. Finally, in 1910, the Library acquired the
remainder of the collection. (Stip. of Hist. Summ., Jndex
To The James K. Polk Papers, Library of Congress 1969.)
426
Abraham Lincoln
Immediately after Lincoln’s assassination, Justice
David Davis at the request of Robert Lincoln ordered the
President’s files packed and shipped from the White
House. Two aides to the President then removed the
papers within two weeks, and transferred them to the
National Bank in Bloomington, Illinois. Between 1865
and 1874 it is unclear whether anyone had access to the
papers in Bloomington. In 1874, however, Robert
Lincoln ordered the collection transferred to J.G.
Nic6My in Washington, D.C. for use by Nicolay in
writing the official Lincoln biography. The papers
remained in Nicolay’s possession until 1901, when he
died, and then were transferred to the State Depart-
ment. Robert Lincoln retook possession of the papers in
1905 and only in 1919 did he transfer possession to the
Library of Congress. On January 23, 1923, Lincoln
deeded title in the papers to the Library of Congress,
upon the condition that access to the papers be totally
restricted until twenty-one years after Robert’s death.
Robert died July 26, 1926. (Stip. of Hist. Summ., Jndex
To The Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress
1960).
Andrew Johnson.
Johnson died in 1875, leaving to his eldest daughter,
Martha Johnson Patterson, the materials he had taken
from the White House. During her years as sole possessor
of the papers, she granted very few of the many requests
for access. In 1890, she allowed Laura Carter Holloway
to use the papers for a biographical sketch of Johnson in
another book and in 1900, Holloway and David DeWitt
were allowed to use the papers for a biography of
Johnson. Martha Patterson died in 1901, and bequeathed
the papers to her son, Andrew Johnson Patterson. In
427
1904, the Library of Congress purchased the papers from
him for $7,500. (Stip. of Hist. Summ., /ndex To The
Andrew Johnson Papers, Library of Congress 1963).
William McKinley.
McKinley did not provide for disposition of his papers
in his will. Instead, a co-executor of his estate, George
Cortelyou, assumed responsibility for them. Cortelyou
intended to deposit the papers in the Library of Congress
in 1905, but for various reasons deferred deposit until
1935. After deposit, he controlled access to the
collection until 1940; his son, George, Jr., controlled
access until 1954. (Stip. of Hist. Summ., /ndex To The
William McKinley Papers, Library of Congress 1963).
William Howard Taft.
President Taft left the Office of the President on
March 4, 1913, and assumed residence in New Haven,
Connecticut. Once established, he directed the executive
clerk at the White House to send his presidential papers
to New Haven. All of his papers were not sent, however.
In 1915 the executive clerk discovered a group of Taft
papers which had been intermixed with the White House
Office Files, and immediately dispatched the newly-
discovered collection to New Haven. Again, in late 1924,
extensive office files of the Taft Administration were
discovered in the White House, separate from the
General Office Files of the White House Office, and
deposited in the Library of Congress at then Chief Justice
Taft’s request. Earlier, possession of the collection of
Taft papers which had been sent to New Haven had been
acquired by the Library of Congress. Until 1952 the Taft
papers were only on deposit in the Library of Congress;
in February of that year the deposit was converted to a
gift by Robert A. Taft, Charles P. Taft, and Helen Taft
428
Manning. Until 1960, none of the papers could be
consulted without the consent of the Taft family. (Stip.
of Hist. Summ., Index To The William Howard Taft
Papers, Library of Congress 1972).
Woodrow Wilson.
Despite a request to President Wilson by the Library of
Congress that his papers be transferred to the Library
immediately following termination of his Presidency,
Wilson took his papers with him. A second request for
deposit of the papers in 1922 led to a similar refusal.
President Wilson replied to the Library: “I am not willing
yet to make any such disposition of my papers. I think it
best to leave the matter for my last will and testament.”
Shortly after Wilson’s death in 1924, the Library
renewed its request for deposit of the Wilson papers, this
time to Mrs. Wilson. The request assured Mrs. Wilson that
whatever her wishes regarding treatment of or access to
the papers, the Library would respect them:
“[T]he Library desires the papers as a deposit
from you, to be held subiect to your orders, to be
withdrawn for biographic:’ purposes at your pleas-
ure. The papers would not be open to inspection
except on your order. If you so will they will simply
be stored, «:ithout arrangement of classification.
You may tre the Library as a storage warehouse,
thereby insuriy safety from fire and theft. Mean-
time we would endeavor to secure originals of the
letters that are now in private hands. . .”
Mrs. Wilson replied that she did not wish to deposit the
papers at that time, although her desire was to deposit
them eventually with the Library. After a biographer had
been appointed, Mrs. Wilson reopened negotiations with
the Library in 1929 for deposit of the papers. After
several months of negotiations, the Library and Mrs.
429
Wilson agreed to a memorandum of conditions for
deposit, Which specified several restrictions on access as
well as the right of the donor to witlidraw the collection
from deposit. As the collection was gradually transferred
from the biographer to the Library, the public began to
gain access to the Wilson papers. All requests for access,
however, were referred to Mrs. Wilson for clearance until
her death in 1961. (Stip. of Hist. Summ., Index To The
Woodrow Wilson Papers, Library of Congress 1973).
In sum, although different Presidents disposed of the
materials of their offices in different ways, each President
without exception took with him the papers of his office
or otherwise provided for their preservation or disposi-
tion as he deemed appropriate. Moreover, in nearly every
case the President or his heirs exercised some incident of
ownership in addition to simply protecting the confiden-
tiality of the material itself. Several Presidents be-
queathed their papers and effects to their family.
(Washington, Monroe, Tyler, Andrew Johnson). Others or
their heirs used or authorized the use of their materials to
further literary interests. (Washington, Monroe, Polk,
Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Wilson). Some presidential
materials were ultimately donated to private collections
or to the government. (John Adams, John Quincy
Adams, Jackson, Buchanan, Fillmore, Harrison, Mc-
Kinley, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Hayes, Garfield,
Cleveland). Some were sold for substantial sums. (Wash-
ington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Tyler, Polk,
Andrew Johnson). Others were simply destroyed. (Van-
Buren, Fillmore, Pierce, Harding). (Broderick Aff).
Intervenor-defendants, relying upon the Affidavit of
Julian P. Boyd, editor of the Thomas Jefferson Papers,
apparently contend that all Presidents did not consider
their public papers to be private property. The affidavit,
which deals only with Jefferson’s Presidency, however,
430
shows solely Jefferson’s concern for the historical
preservation of his papers which is not unmindful of the
identical concern for preservation exhibited arid shared
by Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower,
Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. His description of the
steps taken by Jefferson to deposit official papers in the
appropriate departments or agencies could be compara-
ble, for example, to the steps Mr. Nixon undertook to
institutionalize the files of the National Security Council,
or the general practice in government agencies to retain
all records generated or received by them including all
communications with the White House. The rather abrupt
conclusion of the affiant in paragraph 5 that Jefferson
“considered it to be self evident” that “public records are
public property” is—as admitted by affiant—unsupported
by any expression by Jefferson.
2. The practice since President Hoover.
The collections of papers of early Presidents reveal
indirectly that each took with him those items he
accumulated while in the White House; there is direct
evidence of the fact, however, since the Administration
of President Hoover. It is provided by William J. Hopkins,
a career White House employee who served every
President from Hoover to Nixon. As a general matter, Mr.
Hopkins expressed the transition practice as follows:
“At the end of each Presidential Administration
under which I served, all of the files maintained by
the Central File Room, as well as those maintained
separately by the President’s staff and his personal
secretary, were packaged and shipped to a desig-
nated location selected by the retiring President or
his representative. The only files which remained for
the incoming Administration were the files of the
Administrative Office, the card file in the Records
Office, and a small ‘precedent file’ maintained in
Central Files.” (Hopkins Aff. 6)
431
In reference to specific transitions the following
occurred. .
President Roosevelt.
Portions of President Roosevelt’s materials had been
sent to his library in Hyde Park during his term in office.
Mr. Hopkins describes the handling of those files which
remained in the White House Office at Roosevelt’s death.
“Because of the death of President Roosevelt
during his term in office, the packing and shipping
of his files was less well prepared than during the
changeover from President Hoover to President
Roosevelt. President Roosevelt had already shipped
to Hyde Park for storage some of his files which had
become inactive. All of the files that remained in
Central Files were packed in large boxes and sent to
the National Archives within 72 hours of President
Roosevelt’s death. Nothing was left in Central Files
except the small precedent file. The incoming mail
which had not yet been acknowledged at the time of
President Roosevelt’s death was left unanswered,
bosed for transfer to the National Archives, and for
subsequent forwarding to Hyde Park. Although
President Roosevelt’s material was in the Archives
building temporarily, access to it was controlled by
President Roosevelt’s Private Secretary, Grace Tully,
and later by a committee consisting of Grace Tully,
Judge Samuel Rosenman, and others whom I do not
presently recall.
President Roosevelt, like all other Presidents,
maintained his own personal file which was not
comingled with the files in Central Files. Grace
Tully. had responsibility for and control over access
to this file, which consisted of materials more
political or more sensitive than the materials
normally sent to Central Files. Upon President
Roosevelt’s death, this file was sent to the Archives
432 433
as well, where Miss Tully, having sole control over
access, personally worked with the file for several
months before its eventual transfer to the Roosevelt
Library in Hyde Park.
The files of President Roosevelt’s staff that were
not maintained in Central Files were also packed
President Etsenhower.
The first-hand account of President Eisenhower’s
departure from the White House is provided by his son,
John S.D. Eisenhower, who personally supervised the
collection and transfer of his father’s papers and effects.
and sent to the National Archives Building with the
rest of the Presidential materials at the time of
Roosevelt’s death. Because of the abrupt change of
Administrations, some of the staff members worked
in the White House on President Truman’s staff for
an interim period, and maintained those materials in
their files which were active at the time of the
changeover. Shortly, however, even those materials
were forwarded for inclusion among President
Roosevelt’s materials.” (Hopkins Aff. 9-10).
“Near the conclusion of my father’s second term
as President, I began the process of arranging for the
disposition of all the materials generated by or
retained within the Office of the President during
his Administration. Through conversations with
President “isenhower and others, I was aware that
prior to the time my father arrived in the White
House on January 20, 1953, the prior administra-
tion had removed from the White House and
Executive Office Building offices all staff and
central files pertaining to the work of that adminis-
President Truman. tration. My father informed me that the only
- material left for him was a single page of instruc-
tions to be used in the event of national crisis and
National Security Policy Documents. All other files
had been removed. We were informed that this same
general procedure had been followed by every prior
At the close of the Truman Administration, approxi-
mately 1,600 file drawers of Presidential materials were
sent to Missouri at President Truman’s request. Again,
Mr. Hopkins recalls the incident:
“We used old file cases found in the attic of the
Old Soldier’s Home in Washington, D. C. to package
and ship these materials to Kansas City. President
Truman’s personal file (which included daily sum-
maries sent to President Truman from the National
Security Council) were sent to a bank building in
Kansas City where they were organized and main-
tained by President Truman’s secretary, Rose Con-
way. It is my understanding that President Truman
maintained control over this category of his files
until his death.” (Hopkins Aff. 10.)
administration, and we determined that we would
adopt the same policy.
To begin the task of packaging the presidential
materials for shipment from the White House, White
House Staff Secretary, A. J. Goodpaster, prepared a
memorandum to be sent to all members of the
White House staff directing them to package at least
75 percent to 90 percent of their individual files and
deliver them to a temporary storage area prepara-
tory to transfer to Abilene, Kansas. This memoran-
dum was circulated approximately December 15,
1960, and the request deadline for packaging and
transfer was December 23. On January 11, 1961, a
second memorandum was sent by Wilton Persons to
all staff members reiterating the directive for
434
packaging of the Eisenhower Presidential files. In
this memorandum, the staff was told to ’. . . clear
out every last possible paper (other than strictly
personal) from their files!!!’ and to box, label, and
place them in the custody of GSA by the end of the
day, January 16. Nothing was to be left in any
office that was not ‘completely essential.’
With regard to the material, if any, that was to be
left for the incoming administration, the memoran-
dum directed, that such items should be ‘cleared
with the President’ through the office of staff
secretary.
On the afternoon of January 19, 1961, within
hours of the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, I
personally toured the staff offices and gathered
several storage cabinet safes that had not previously
been prepared for shipment. Apart from these safes,
there was no files nor other items of Presidential
materials left for the incoming administration.
With respect to the President’s personal files, they
had previously been “packaged for shipment to
President Eisenhower’s future office in Gettysburg.
The only material left by President Eisenhower for
President Kennedy was a sachel containing a series
of orders and instructions to be of assistance in the
event of nuclear attack or other national crisis.”
(Eisenhower Aff 4-6.)
President Kennedy.
The unexpected death of President Kennedy and the
resulting abrupt transition to President Johnson’s Admin-
istration posed some of the same problems faced by Mr.
Hopkins earlier in the Roosevelt-Truman transition and
later by other staff members in the Nixon-Ford transi-
tion.
“When President Johnson succeeded to the
Presidency there had been no opportunity for
435
advance planning regarding disposition of President
Kennedy’s files. Many of President Kennedy’s staff
continued on for the time being as members of
President Johnson’s staff. Contrary to the rather
immediate action in removing the files at the time of
President Roosevelt’s death, it was deemed neces-
sary to retain most of President Kennedy’s files at
the White House for the time being for use by the .
Staff. Iu order to insure during this interim period
that President Kennedy’s files be kept inviolable
with no comingling, at the direction of McGeorge
Bundy, (a member of President Kennedy’s staff who
remained on with President Johnson for a time) |
prepared a memorandum providing instructions tv
the staff on the handling of the files during the
period when the files of both Presidents were active
within thé White House Office ... This dual opera
tion worked itself out in a matter of months and |
eventually all of President Kennedy’s files were
removed from the White House Office in accordance
with the pattern of his predecessors.”’ (Hopkins Aff.
12.)
Unlike all prior Presidents, however, President Kennedy had
generated while in office, in addition to the usual papers
and effects, dictabelt recordings of telephone conversa-
tions and tape recordings of meetings between himself
and others. These were removed from the White House
after his death. To date only one has been donated to the
United States.?*
22rhe assistant director of the Kennedy Library states:
There are 68 dictabelts of telephone conversation
and 125 magnetic tapes of meetings between President
Kennedy and others which are or have been physically
stored in the Kennedy Library but have not yet been
turned over to the library. Consequently, the library
staff has only very limited knowledge of their nature
and extent. Among the material which has been
{footnote continued |
436
President Johnson
President Johnson, perhaps more than any of his
predecessors, other than Roosevelt, began early to plan
for the creation of his library.
‘President Johnson was very much concerned
with the preservation of his Presidential materials. I
can recall instances in which he discussed with me
and others concerning this matter. I recall one
conversation in which President Johnson stated in
effect that when a staff member comes aboard he
comes with his hat in his hand and he should leave
the same way. As a result of President Johnson’s
concern, frequent efforts were made to contact all
staff members to advise them as to the separation of
Preside.:tial from their own personal materials; a
memorandum providing guidelines for this separa-
tion was attempted but never distributed.” (Hopkins
Aff. 12-12.)
When Johnson’s term ended, as in each prior transition,
the same White House Office files were packaged and
transferred to the President’s designated location (this
time the Federal Building in Austin, Texas). However, in
order to provide a more complete history of his
Administration at his presidential library, Johnson went
beyond the practices of most prior Presidents in at least
two respects. First, like Kennedy, during his term in
office Johnson had a tape recording system installed with
which he and certain members of his staff could
donated to the library as a part of President Kennedy’s
papers is one tape of two telephone conversations
between President Kennedy and Prime Minister Mac-
millan (October 1962). This tape (and transcript) is
classified as top secret.
See Stipulation, dated Aug. 19, 1975, concerning the testimony of
the Directors of the Presidential Libraries [hereinafter Stip. of Dir.
Test.’’] Exhibit G, at 5-6.
—_—~_—-—_ -- s... -=-- --— —__—_o _ <--> _ —_-~ > -—-- =»
-
—— ~~ p< ou
437
selectively record telephone conversations in various
offices at the White House, Camp David and Ausiin,
Texas. In addition, a recording system of hidden
microphones had been installed in the Cabinet Room.
(Albright Aff. 1-2.) Approximately eight cubic feet of
recorded reels of those conversations were transferred to
Texas as part of the Johnson presidential materials.”
(Stip. of Dir. Test., Exhibit F, at 1.) Second, during the
last few months of Johnson’s term, members of his staff
collected large quantities of microfilm of records from
the various federal agencies pertaining to the “Great
Society” and other programs with which President
Johnson was most closely affiliated. These microfilms
were also transferred to Texas for inclusion in the
Johnson Library. (Nesbitt Dep. 66-67.)
President Nixon
In keeping with the developing tradition of his
immediate predecessors, President Nixon’s staff after
assuming office, began plans for the establishment of a
presidential library which would house Nixon’s presiden-
tial papers at the conclusion of his term. A private
foundation was created to select the site and to raise the
funds for the structure that would be donated to the
government under the Presidential Libraries Act. (Nesbitt
Dep. 58-60.)
The plans for a presidential library were far from
complete when on August 9 President Nixon resigned
23rhe tape recordings of President Johnson’s conversations
which have been placed in the Johnson Library under a fifty year
access restriction were utilized extensively by Mr. Johnson in
preparing his memoirs. An account of this usage, and the steps
President Johnson took to safeguard the confidentiality of these
records is contained in the Stegall Affidavit, Ex. G, Pl’s. Supp.
Evid.
438
from office. In leaving, he instructed his staff to arrange
for the collection and transfer of his presidential
materials to California. This task fell primarily upon three
people: Jerry Jones, the White House Staff Secretary;
Leonard Garment, Counsel to President Nixon; and John
Nesbitt, who had headed the Office of Presidential Papers
in the White House during most of President Nixon’s
term and who had coordinated the planning for the
presidential library. (Nesbitt Dep. 38-39; Pl’s Aff. 2).
Shortly after the resignation these three individuals
met to discuss the arrangements for disposition of the
Nixon materials. They agreed, that the transition should
be carried out in such fashion that the needs of the
incumbent Administration for access to Nixon presiden-
tial materials could be accommodated. Mr. Nesbitt,
recognizing the similarity of circumstances to the abrupt
Kennedy-Johnson transition, obtained a copy of the
Hopkins memorandum circulated after Kennedy’s death
instructing staff members to segregate ‘mmediately their
Kennedy materials. (Matthews Aff. Exhibit C) This
memorandum formed the basis for the Jones memoran-
dum sent to all members of the White House Office.
(Matthews Aff. Exhibit D) However, one significant
change was made. In the Jones memorandum, each staff
member was instructed to make copies of any of the
Nixon materials he might need for ongoing government
business. The copies were to become part of the Ford
presidential materials. The remainder of the materials
were to be packed for shipment to President Nixon.
(Nesbitt Dep. 50-44.) In all other respects the packing
and preparation of the Nixon presidential materials
proceeded as it had in the close of 36 prior Administra-
tions, until it was called to a halt by the incumbent
Administration at the request of the Special Prosecutor.
439
B. Supreme Court Justices.
As we have noted, the matter of constitutional
officeholders’ ownership of the materials of their
respective offices is by no means limited to Presidents.
The following are merely illustrative of the fact.
The Library of Congress presently contains several
collections of papers donated or deposited by Justices of
the Supreme Court, including Justices Brennan and
Douglas and former Justices Black, Hughes and Frank-
furter. In placing their materials in the Library of
Congress, members of the Court and their families, like
former Presidents and their families, have taken steps to
preserve the confidentiality of their materials and have
exercised ownership rights recognized under common
law.*#
William J. Brennan.
Between 1967 and 1974, Justice Brennan donated to
the Library of Congress 55,000 documents covering his
work on the Court from 1956 to 1970. The collection
includes Memoranda for Conference, Bench Memos, case
files containing memoranda written to other Justices,
personal notes on the case, briefs, and memoranda from
law clerks. In making this donation, Justice Brennan has
expressly reserved for his lifetime the literary rights to his
unpublished donated writings. He has alsu prohibited
access to his legal files and correspondence files except
with his personal permission. The Justice’s “Personal
Annual Reviews of the Terms’ Work” is closed to access
until the death of all Justices participating in the
decisions reviewed.
tT he following summaries are based upon the Affidavit of
John C. Broderick and attachments.
440
William O. Douglas.
Justice Douglas has donated personal correspondence
and Supreme Court papers covering 1939 to 1952. The
content in Justice Douglas’ papers is similar to that of
Justice Brennan. Justice Douglas has forbidden access to
his donated files during his life.
Hugo L. Black.
Between 1972 and 1974, the Hugo Black family
donated to the Library of Congress papers from Justice
Black’s entire career, 1898-1971, including his Supreme
Court papers. The latter papers include correspondence,
assignment and conference lists, opinions in manuscript,
nearprint and printed form, memoranda, research mate-
rials, printed matter, vouchers, financial materials, and
clippings. Also included in the collection are dictaphone
recording, phonodiscs, magnetic tapes, and motion
pictures. Justice Black directed that his conference notes
be destroyed after his death, which was done.
The terms of the donation provide that the literary
rights will be dedicated ultimately to the public, but are
reserved to members of the Black family during the
lifetime of each member. Access to the files requires
permission of Mrs. Black and Hugo L. Black, Jr. If access
is granted, the researcher cannot publish or write for
publication without permission of the same two persons.
Access to the Supreme Court files is closed until the
death or retirement of all Justices who were active during
the time of the decision being accessed.
Charles Evans Hughes.
Mrs. Hughes in 1952 donated to the Library of
Congress a large body of correspondence of Chief Justice
Hughes. This donation includes correspondence relating
Re Oem
6 Re i BE Ban Be. St ne SeUI rete ew’ Re Re Bee ne ee ee en een ele cae
441
to both Chief Justice Hughes’ public career and personal
life. No case files are included such as are in the
donations of other Supreme Court Justices. Originally
access to the collection was prohibited except upon
permission of Chief Justice Hughes’ daughter. As of
January 1, 1975, no restrictions remain. However,
literary rights are reserved to Chief Justice Hughes’
daughter.
Felix Frankfurter.
Justice Frankfurter placed the bulk of his papers in
three different depositories: his Supreme Court papers
and his correspondence relating to the Sacco-Vanzetti
case were given to Harvard Law School; his papers
relating to the Zionist movement are at the Hebrew
University in Israel; the ramainder of his papers, covering
the period from 1906 to 1965, were placed in the Library
of Congress in several installments beginning in May,
1967. A sizeable portion of the Library of Congress
collection was stolen in 1973. (Washington Post, August
10, 1975. Sec B, p.1). Literary rights in the unpublished
writings of Justice Frankfurter have been dedicated to
the public, except that these rights are reserved for a
period of 16 years from the date of each paper. (Register
of the Papers of Felix Frankfurter in the Library of
Congress (Library of Congress 1971), at 4-7).
C. Congressmen.
Because of the sheer number of Members of Congress
it is impossible to discern a pattern for the disposition of
their materials. However, it can be said that uniformly
each member takes with him the papers and effects of his
office as he desires and disposes of them as he sees fit.
The Library of Congress holds the papers of several
Congressmen, although most such collections are pri-
442
vately held. For example, the papers of Sam Rayburn are
located in the Sam Rayburn Library at Bonham, Texas;
the papers of Estes Kefauver are in the University of
Tennessee Library at Knoxville, Tennessee; those of
Everett M. Dirksen are stored principally at the Univer-
sity of Illinois. Among the Library of Congress holdings
are the papers of Emanuel Celler and the papers of
Robert A. Taft. Access to collections is controlled
respectively by Mr. Celler and Mr. Taft. In addition, Mr.
Taft reserves the right to review quotations for matters of
taste. (Broderick Aff. 1-2.)
[Caption Omitted in Printing]
STIPULATION
On June 11, 1975, Plaintiff, by counsel, sent letters to
the Directors of each of the existing Presidential Libraries
posing various questions concerning the nature of certain
of the materials deposited in each Presidential Library
and the operation of each Library as it related to issues
pending in this litigation. Responses by the Directors to
these questions were received from the Government in
late July.
With regard to these responses, it is hereby stipulated
by and between the parties that the following persons, if
called upon to testify in this litigation, would testify
u
This text is long and has been trimmed here. Open the source document for the complete record.
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.