January 11, 2010 Materials Release

Background

NOTE: Since the January 11, 2010 opening, all of these documents have been consolidated and are available for research at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. The locations given below indicate where the documents were at the time of the opening.

On January 11, 2010 the Nixon Library opened additional materials from the Nixon Presidential Materials. Below are scans of nearly one hundred documents that represent the variety of subjects and wealth of historical information included in this new release.

The documents are from file segments for the White House Special Files, Staff Member & Office Files; White House Central Files, Staff Member & Office Files; and the National Security Council File series, including the Henry A. Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts (Telcons).

A selection of these documents are available online below as PDF files.
Please visit the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California, or College Park, Maryland (as indicated for each collection below), to research all of the documents.

The following abbreviations are used below to identify original collections of the scanned documents:

NSC: National Security Council
SMOF: Staff Member & Office Files
WHSF: White House Special Files

Formerly Restricted Documents (College Park, MD)

Gordon Strachan’s Daily Notes
Gordon Strachan, staff assistant to White House Chief of Staff H. R. [Bob] Haldeman kept daily notes of his conversations with Haldeman and other administration officials. The Daily Notes below provide additional information on how the political espionage capability of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President evolved out of the White House’s efforts to spy on former Senator Ted Kennedy [EMK]. The Daily Notes also indicate White House involvement in the hiring of Donald Segretti, who would engage in campaign dirty tricks; how Haldeman’s office handled President Nixon’s June 23, 1971 request to use the Internal Revenue Service against political opponents and a bribery scheme to influence the presidential campaign of George Wallace.

Strachan used abbreviations to refer to specific individuals. The Greek letter PI appears to be President Nixon, H appears to be Haldeman, E appears to be John D.Ehrlichman, JM appears to be John Mitchell, JSM appears to be Jeb Stuart Magruder, K appears to be Herbert Kalmbach, Don Seg appears to be Donald Segretti, and G appears to be Strachan himself. Finally, the initials EMK appear to stand for Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

Political Espionage, 1971-1972
This release includes a record of President Nixon’s desire to improve political intelligence in April 1971 and of White House Chief of Staff Haldeman’s familiarity with what would become known as the SANDWEDGE proposal from Jack Caulfield in June 1971 to improve political intelligence.

SANDWEDGE and the Origins of GEMSTONE, October-November 1971
This release contains additional information that sheds light on how G. Gordon Liddy was hired to develop a political espionage capability for the Committee to Re-Elect the President in 1971. White House assistant Gordon Strachan attended the meeting between Attorney General John Mitchell and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman on November 4, 1971, where the two men decided that Liddy should run the secret intelligence operation instead of Herbert Kalmbach, Jack Caulfield, or Roger Barth, the other candidates for the job. Strachan’s handwritten notes outline the nature of the discussion that resulted in the choice of Liddy. Strachan’s handwritten notes from an earlier October conversation with Magruder and Mitchell, are also included to provide the context for the November decision. The October 18 note of Strachan’s conversation with “L” [possibly Haldeman’s assistant Lawrence Higby] appears to list the special operations tasked to White House Counsel John Dean as of the fall of 1971.

On the Washington Post

Charles W. Colson to President Nixon, January 15, 1973, folder P Memos 1973; Box 230; WHSF: SMOF: H. R. Haldeman

Selling Ambassadorships

President Nixon on Churchill and Speechwriting

President Nixon to Raymond Price, April 12, 1972, folder Memos - April 1972; Box 3; WHSF: SMOF: President's Personal Files

Conservatives and Liberals

De-Segregation and Busing

On the Environment

Politics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Jerry Jones to H. R. Haldeman, “BLS-Shiskin,” April 3, 1973, folder H. R. Haldeman [Chron.] April 1973; Box 202; WHSF: SMOF: H. R. Haldeman

Politics and the Census

Peter Flanigan to Maurice Stans, November 25, 1970, Folder [Stans, Maurice Memoranda] [Apr 1969 - Dec 1971] [1 of 2]; Box 10; WHSF: SMOF: Peter M. Flanigan

President Nixon on the 1970 Election

President Nixon to H. R. Haldeman, November 22, 1970, folder P Memos 1970, Part II; Box 229; WHSF: SMOF: H. R. Haldeman

President Nixon on the Administration at Midterm

Richard Nixon to H. R. Haldeman, December 21, 1970, folder P Memos 1970, Part II; Box 229; WHSF: SMOF: H. R. Haldeman

On the Second Term

On the New Majority

Michael P. Balzano to H. R. Haldeman, “The Destruction of the New Majority,” February 17, 1973, folder New American Majority; Box 6; WHSF: SMOF: W. Richard Howard

President Nixon and Television

On White House Official Dinners and Guest Lists

President Nixon on Modern Art

President Nixon to H. R. Haldeman, January 26, 1970, folder P Memos 1970; Box 229; WHSF: SMOF: H. R. Haldeman, folder P Memos 1970; Box 229; WHSF: SMOF: H. R. Haldeman

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

News Summary, May 1971, Folder News Summaries - May 1971; Box 33; WHSF: SMOF: President's Office Files
Rose Mary Woods to President Nixon, re: Draft Letter to Jackie Kennedy Onassis, folder Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy; Box 14; WHSF: SMOF: President's Personal Files Draft letter included in scan was previously opened

Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the “Moratorium” Peace Demonstration, 1969

“Oct. 15 Plan 9/26/69,” [Dwight Chapin?] notes from 7:45 a.m. White House Staff Meeting, September 26, 1969, folder 7:45 am Meeting-Chapin March-October 1969; Box 1; WHSF: SMOF: Dwight L. Chapin

Kent State

John Ehrlichman to President Nixon [with Presidential Handwriting] and attached Department of Justice document, November 24, 1970, folder President's Handwriting November 1970; Box 8; WHSF: SMOF: President's Office Files

President Nixon and Frank Sinatra

The Vice Presidency

Replacing Vice President Spiro T. Agnew

Tom Charles Huston in 1970-71

John W. Dean, III in 1970

Dwight Chapin to H. R. Haldeman, June 30, 1970, folder [CF] FG 6-11-1/Initial [1969-70]; Box 14; WHSF: White House Subject Files: Confidential Files

On Jimmy Hoffa

Handwritten notes from a meeting between H. R. Haldeman and John Mitchell, December 8, [1971], folder Notes 350; Box 297; WHSF: SMOF: H. R. Haldeman

General Alexander M. Haig, Jr. in 1971

Dwight Chapin to H. R. Haldeman, “General Haig,” November 9, 1971, folder Chronological - Chapin, Dwight - Nov. 1971; Box 15; WHSF: SMOF: Dwight L. Chapin

John Ehrlichman in 1973

Frederic Malek Documents (Yorba Linda, CA)

White House Central Files: Staff Member & Office Files

White House Investigation of Bureau of Labor Statistics

This release of documents from Frederic V. Malek’s White House Personnel Operation (WHPO) files supplements previously opened materials indicating that in July 1971 at the President’s request, H. R. “Bob” Haldeman asked Malek to determine both the number of democrats and the number of Jewish-Americans in the BLS. This release provides evidence that the political evaluation of the BLS staff and leadership had begun as early as February 1971. Although some of the documents had been released before, this is the first time that the entire run of relevant materials from Malek’s office can be researched. Below are selected documents on this matter from the newly released Malek WHPO collection.

Documents related to the White House Investigation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Office of Management and Budget

Below is a memorandum from Fred Malek to George Shultz, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, outlining Malek’s recommendation for personnel changes at OMB.

Memorandum related to the Office of Management and Budget

Creation of the Environmental Protection Agency

As deputy undersecretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1970, Frederic V. Malek participated in developing a staffing plan for the proposed EPA. That year, President Richard Nixon had proposed to Congress the development of a new agency to deal with environmental issues. Below you can access a collection of documents from Malek’s HEW files that shed light on the administration’s thinking about environmental protection.

Documents related to the Environmental Protection Agency

Robert Finch

Below is a letter from outgoing Secretary of HEW Robert Finch to Frederic V. Malek thanking Malek for his service during Finch’s tenure as secretary.

Letter to Frederic Malek from Robert Finch

Welfare Reform and the Family Assistance Plan

Below is an early draft administrative history, from Malek’s HEW files, of the Family Assistance Plan. Requiring “one of the most complex administrative mechanisms in history,” this attempt at welfare reform occurred in the first Nixon administration. The draft includes Malek’s handwritten marginal notes.

Early draft administrative history of the Family Assistance Plan

Women in Government

Below is a December 1971 memorandum from Federick V. Malek to Charles W. Colson suggesting the appointment of a woman to the Department of Labor. The documents contains Colson’s handwritten response, “No! No!”

Memorandum from Frederic Malek to Charles Colson

Committee for the Re-Election of the President Collection

Campaign Organization

Below is a memorandum written by Frederic V. Malek to H. R. Haldeman discussing the issues with the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP) setup and organization. Malek at this time was unofficially running parts of the campaign. On June 17, 1972, individuals affiliated with CRP were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. By July 1st, Campaign Director John Mitchell will have resigned from CRP, and Clark MacGregor will be named as his replacement. Frederic V. Malek will officially become Deputy Campaign Manager (Jeb Magruder remains in his job as Deputy Campaign Manager) and continue running the Citizens Division and Political Division.

Memorandum from Frederic Malek to H. R. Haldeman

Security Sweep

Below is a memorandum from the CRP’s new head of security, Steven King, after conducting a security evaluation of the CRP office after the break in at the Democratic National Committee. A search for “any electronic monitoring devices” is mentioned, as well as ideas to prevent future placement of “bugs.”

Memorandum from Steven King

The Youth Crew

Below is a memorandum from Robert Anthony Podesta, staff member of the Committee, to the staff of the Youth Citizens Group. The document indicates Podesta’s view of the “youth” protesting at the Capitol.