Office of the Historian

Sources

Sources for the Foreign Relations Series

The 1991 Foreign Relations statute requires that the published record in the Foreign Relations series include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation on major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant U.S. diplomatic activity. It further requires that government agencies, departments, and other entities of the U.S. Government engaged in foreign policy formulation, execution, or support cooperate with the Department of State Historian by providing full and complete access to records pertinent to foreign policy decisions and actions and by providing copies of selected records.

The editors of the Foreign Relations series have complete access to all the retired records and papers of the Department of State: the central files of the Department; the special decentralized files (“lot files”) of the Department at the bureau, office, and division levels; the files of the Department’s Executive Secretariat, which contain the records of international conferences and high-level official visits, correspondence with foreign leaders by the President and Secretary of State, and memoranda of conversations between the President and Secretary of State and foreign officials; and the files of overseas diplomatic posts. All the Department’s indexed central files through July 1973 have been permanently transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland (Archives II). Many of the Department’s decentralized office files covering the 1969–1976 period, which the National Archives deems worthy of permanent retention, have been transferred or are in the process of being transferred from the Department’s custody to Archives II.

The editors of the Foreign Relations series also have full access to the papers of President Nixon and other White House foreign policy records. Presidential papers maintained and preserved at the Presidential libraries include some of the most significant foreign affairs-related documentation from the Department of State and other Federal agencies including the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dr. Henry Kissinger has approved access to his papers at the Library of Congress. The papers are a key source for the Nixon–Ford subseries of Foreign Relations.

Research for this volume was completed through special access to restricted documents at the Nixon Presidential Materials Project, the Library of Congress, and other agencies. While all the material printed in this volume has been declassified, some of it is extracted from still [Page XII] classified documents. In the time since the research for this volume was completed, the Nixon Presidential Materials have been transferred to the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. The Nixon Presidential Library staff is processing and declassifying many of the documents used in this volume, but they may not be available in their entirety at the time of publication.

Sources for Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XIII

The editors made considerable use of materials already researched for other volumes in the Foreign Relations series, especially those on South Asia, China, and Germany and Berlin; they also collected material subsequently published in volumes on Vietnam, SALT, and the Middle East. Readers interested in these subjects should consult the relevant volumes for further information on the specific sources used in research.

The Presidential papers and other White House records at the Nixon Presidential Library proved to be the most valuable source of documentation on the Nixon administration’s conduct of relations with the Soviet Union. Many of the most important records for this volume were found in the National Security Council Files, in particular, the Country Files, Soviet Union. A collection of sensitive documents on the Soviet Union is also in the Kissinger Office Files, including records of his secret trip to Moscow in April 1972 and of his periodic meetings with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko.

The President’s Trip File was the source of another important collection for this volume; the records relating to the “confidential channel” between Kissinger and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. The so-called “D” File includes memoranda of their conversations and correspondence exchanged and documents dialogue at a high level between the United States and Soviet Union on a wide range of global and bilateral issues.

The National Security Council Institutional Files (H-Files) were an essential source for recording formal decision-making processes on foreign policy and crisis management. The records of the Washington Special Actions Group and the papers underlying National Security Decision Memoranda and National Security Study Memoranda, for instance, are in this file.

Under President Nixon, decision-making on issues related to the Soviet Union was largely formulated and implemented outside the normal bureaucratic channels of either the National Security Council or the Department of State. Rather than rely on formal decision papers, Nixon and Kissinger made many decisions in person through a series of meetings and telephone conversations. Two crucial sources, therefore, were the Nixon White House Tape Recordings and the Kissinger [Page XIII] Telephone Conversation Transcripts. The latter includes a key collection of telephone conversations with Dobrynin. The Haig Telephone Conversations (Haig Chronological File) and the Haldeman Diaries—including the book, the CD-ROM, and handwritten notes (Staff Member and Office Files)—were also useful.

Nixon occasionally revealed his thoughts in writing, either in memoranda or in marginalia, for key members of his staff and Cabinet. Many of these documents were found in the President’s Personal Files, in particular, the President’s Speech File, which contains a wide range of materials used in preparation for important public statements.

During the Nixon administration, the White House generally excluded the Department of State from important decision-making on the Soviet Union. This exclusion is well reflected in the records of the Department. Several Department of State sources, however, proved useful in the compilation of this volume. The Department’s Central Files contain day-to-day communications, including telegrams, memoranda, and correspondence, on relations between the United States and Soviet Union. The lot files of Winston Lord, Kissinger’s Special Assistant at the time and later Director of Planning and Coordination Staff at the Department of State, helped to clarify some of the President’s preparations for the summit.

The editors also had access to the Nixon Intelligence Files at the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of Defense. The files of the Central Intelligence Agency, particularly the NIC Registry of NIE and SNIE files, were essential for intelligence reports and assessments on which the Nixon administration based its policy decisions.

The following list identifies the particular files and collections used in the preparation of this volume. In addition to the paper files cited below, a growing number of documents are available on the Internet. The Office of the Historian maintains a list of these Internet resources on its website and encourages readers to consult that site on a regular basis.

Unpublished Sources

Department of State

Turkish Desk Files: Lot 75 D 65

[Page XIV]

National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

Record Group 59, General Records of the Department of State

Central Files 1970–73

DEF 6 EUR, armed forces, Europe

DEF 15 IND–US, bases and installations, Indian Ocean

DEF 18–3, arms control and disarmament, organizations and conferences

DEF 18–3 AUS(VI), arms control and disarmament, organizations and conferences, Vienna, Austria

DEF 18–3 FIN(HE), arms control and disarmament, organizations and conferences, Helsinki, Finland

EDX 4 US–USSR, U.S.-Soviet educational and cultural exchanges

LEG 7 MUSKIE, Congressional delegations and individual visits

POL US–USSR, general U.S.-Soviet relations

POL 1 US–USSR, general policy and background on U.S.-Soviet relations

POL 17 USSR–GER B, Soviet diplomatic and consular representation in Berlin

POL 21 INDIA–USSR, political affairs and relations, India–Soviet Union

POL 23–8 US, demonstrations, riots, and protests in the United States

POL 23–8 USSR, demonstrations, riots, and protests in the Soviet Union

POL 23–10 USSR, travel and emigration, Soviet Union

POL 27–14 VIET S, truce talks, South Vietnam

POL 28 GER B, government of Berlin

POL 28 USSR, government of the Soviet Union

POL 29 USSR, political prisoners, Soviet Union

POL 38–6, quadripartite organizations on access to Berlin

SOC 14 USSR, human rights, Soviet Union

UN 6 CHICOM, Chinese representation question in the United Nations

Lot Files

Rogers’ Office Files, Entry 5439 (Lot 73 D 443)

  • Office Files of William Rogers, 1969–1973

Executive Secretariat, Briefing Books, 1958–1976 (Lot 72 D 317)

Executive Secretariat, Conference Files, 1966–1972

Records of the Office of News

  • Records of the Office of News and its predecessor, records relating to press conferences, transcripts of daily news conferences of the Department of State, 1946–1980

S/S Files, Entry 5049 (Lot 74 D 164)

  • President’s Evening Reading Reports, 1964–1974

Nixon Presidential Materials Project, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland (now at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, California)

Haldeman Diaries

  • Handwritten Journals and Diaries of H. R. Haldeman
[Page XV]

Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts

  • Transcripts of Kissinger’s telephone conversations during his tenure as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1969–1974) and Secretary of State (1973–1974)

National Security Council (NSC) Files

  • Agency Files
  • Alexander M. Haig Chronological Files
  • Backchannel Files
  • Country Files
  • For the President’s Files—China/Vietnam Negotiations
  • For the President’s Files (Winston Lord)—China Trip/Vietnam
  • Kissinger Office Files
  • Country Files
  • Name Files
  • NSC Institutional Files (H-Files)
  • NSC Unfiled Material
  • Presidential Correspondence 1969–1974
  • Presidential/HAK Memcons
  • Presidential Press Conferences
  • President’s Trip Files
  • Harold H. Saunders Files, Middle East Negotiations Files
  • SALT
  • Saunders Files
  • Soviet Defector Case
  • Subject Files

President’s Personal Files

  • Foreign Affairs File
  • President’s Speech File

White House Central Files

  • President’s Daily Diary

White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files

  • H.R. Haldeman
  • Leonard Garment
  • Peter G. Peterson
  • President’s Office Files
  • Ziegler

White House Tapes

Central Intelligence Agency

NIC Files, Job 79–R01012A

Executive Registry Files, Job 80–B01086A

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan

National Security Adviser

  • Kissinger–Scowcroft West Wing Office Files
[Page XVI]

Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Papers of Henry Kissinger

  • Geopolitical Files, 1964–77
  • Memoranda of Conversation, 1968–77
  • Miscellany, 1968–76, Record of Schedule
  • Subject Files

National Security Council

Intelligence Files

Personal Papers of William P. Rogers

Appointment Books

Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland

RG 330, Records of the Secretary of Defense

  • OASD/ISA Files: FRC 330–74–115
    • Top Secret files of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, 1971
  • OSD Files: FRC 330–76–067
    • Secret and Top Secret subject decimal files of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary of Defense, and their assistants, 1970
  • OSD Files: FRC 330–76–197
    • Secret and Top Secret subject decimal files of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary of Defense, and their assistants, 1971

Published Sources

Aijazuddin, F.S. From a Head, Through a Head, To a Head: The Secret Channel between the US and China through Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2000.

———, ed. The White House and Pakistan: Secret Declassified Documents, 1969–1974. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Akten zur Auswärtigen Politik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 1970. 3 Vols. Edited by Ilse Dorothee Pautsch, Daniela Taschler, Franz Eibl, Frank Heinlein, Mechthild Lindemann, and Matthias Peter. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 2001.

Akten zur Auswärtigen Politik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 1971. 3 Vols. Edited by Martin Koopmann, Matthias Peter, and Daniela Taschler. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 2002.

Arbatov, Georgi A. The System: An Insider’s Life in Soviet Politics. New York: Times Books, 1992.

Beam, Jacob D. Multiple Exposure: An American Ambassador’s Unique Perspective on East-West Issues. New York: Norton, 1978.

Bohlen, Charles E. Witness to History, 1929–1974. New York: Norton, 1973.

Brinkley, Douglas. Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years, 1953–1971. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.

Burr, William, and Jeffrey Kimball. “Nixon’s Nuclear Ploy.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 59 (January/February 2003): 28–37, 72–73.

Current Digest of the Soviet Press, 1970–1971.

Dobrynin, Anatoly. In Confidence: Moscow’s Ambassador to America’s Six Cold War Presidents (1962–1986). New York: Times Books, 1995.

[Page XVII]

Garthoff, Raymond L. Détente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan. Rev. ed. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1994.

Haldeman, H.R. The Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1994.

———. The Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House. Complete Multimedia Edition. Santa Monica, CA: Sony Electronic Publishing, 1994.

Hyland, William G. Mortal Rivals: Superpower Relations from Nixon to Reagan. New York: Random House, 1987.

Jain, R.K., ed. Soviet-South Asian Relations, 1947–1978. Atlantic Heights, NJ: Humanities Press, 1979.

Keesing’s Contemporary Archives, 1970–1971.

Khan, Sultan Muhammad. Memories & Reflections of a Pakistani Diplomat. Karachi: Paramount Publishing Enterprise, 2006.

Khrushchev, Nikita S. Khrushchev Remembers. Translated and edited by Strobe Talbott. Boston: Little, Brown, 1970.

Kissinger, Henry A. White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979.

Luu Van Loi and Nguyen Anh Vu. Le Duc Tho–Kissinger Negotiations in Paris. Hanoi: Gioi Publishers, 1995.

Nixon, Richard M. RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1978.

Quandt, William B. Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict since 1967. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1993.

Ro’i, Yaacov. From Encroachment to Involvement: A Documentary Study of Soviet Policy in the Middle East, 1945–1973. New York: Wiley, 1974.

Safire, William. Before the Fall: An Inside View of the Pre-Watergate White House. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975.

Schecter, Jerrold, and Leona Schecter. Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History. Washington: Brassey’s, 2002.

Smith, Gerard. Doubletalk: The Story of the First Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980.

Thompson, Kenneth W., ed. The Nixon Presidency: Twenty-two Intimate Perspectives of Richard M. Nixon. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987.

United States. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Documents on Disarmament, 1969. Washington: Government Printing Office

United States. Congress. Congressional Record. Washington: Government Printing Office.

United States. Department of State. Department of State Bulletin.

———. Documents on Germany, 1944–1985. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1985.

———. American Foreign Policy, 1950–1955: Basic Documents. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1957.

United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Richard Nixon, 1969, 1970, 1971. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1971–1972.

Walters, Vernon A. Silent Missions. New York: Doubleday, 1978.

Winkler, David F. Cold War at Sea: High-Seas Confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2000.