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 also 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. U.S. foreign policy agencies and Departments—the Department of State, National Security Council, Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library—have complied fully with this law and provided complete access to their relevant records.

Research for Foreign Relations volumes is undertaken through special access to restricted documents at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, and other agencies. While all the material printed in this volume has been declassified, some of it is extracted from still-classified documents. The staff of the Jimmy Carter Library 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, 1977–1980, Volume XVI

The files at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia, are the single most important source of documentation for those interested in U.S. foreign policy toward Southern Africa during the Carter administration. Foreign policy research in the Carter Library centers around two collections: National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, and National Security Affairs, Staff Material. Comprehensive documentation of bilateral and regional issues is in Brzezinski Material, particularly the Country File, Brzezinski Office File, Country Chron File, President’s Correspondence with Foreign Leaders, Cables File, the Subject File, and the Agency File, which contains Department of State Evening Reports. Many of these reports, with Carter’s handwritten annotations, are also in the Plains File, Subject File. Additional important documentation is in National Security Affairs, Staff Material, especially the North/South File, Office File, and the Global Issues File. Also housed at the Carter Library is the National Security Council, Institutional File, which contains records related to the issuance of Presiden [Page XIV] tial Directives. Important documents on South Africa, Namibia, and Rhodesia are in the donated collection of Walter Mondale.

The National Archives and Records Administration facility in College Park, Maryland (Archives II), houses a variety of materials produced by the Department of State. The Central Foreign Policy File is a valuable resource for diplomatic cables. Department of State lot files, some of which have been or will be transferred to Archives II, provide documentation on Department policy. Records from the Executive Secretariat, as well as those of specific individuals, such as Cyrus Vance and Anthony Lake, contain important documentation for this volume.

Department of Defense records in RG 330, specifically FRC 330–80–0037, Top Secret General Files 1977, provide information on cooperation with South Africa on ocean surveillance. Documents crucial to understanding the administration’s policy toward Angola are in the National Security Council, Carter Administration Intelligence Files, Subject and Special Programs File. This collection contains inter-departmental records pertaining to the development and implementation of the covert operation in Angola.

The volume also includes Central Intelligence Agency documents. Two collections were particularly useful: the Executive Registry Files and the Office of Support Services, Directorate of Intelligence.

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. The following list identifies the particular files and collections used in the preparation of this volume. The declassification and transfer to the National Archives of the Department of State records is in process, and some of these records are already available for public review at the National Archives.

Unpublished Sources

  • Department of State, Washington D.C.
    • Lot Files. These files have been transferred or will be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland.
    • Office of the Secretariat Staff
      • 1979 Briefing, Fact Sheets, Visit, and Conference Books for the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and other Senior Officials, Lot 80D110
      • Cyrus R. Vance, Secretary of State—1977–1980, Lot 84D241
  • National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
    • RG 59, General Records of the Department of State
      • Central Foreign Policy File
      • Office of the Secretariat Staff, Official Working Papers S/P Director Anthony Lake 1977–Jan 1981, Lot 82D298
  • Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Atlanta, Georgia
    • National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material
      • Agency File
      • Cables File
      • Country File
      • Country Chron File
      • President’s Correspondence With Foreign Leaders File
      • Subject File
    • National Security Affairs, Staff Material
      • Global Issues
      • North/South
      • Office
    • National Security Council
      • Institutional Files
    • Papers of Walter F. Mondale
    • Plains File
    • Presidential Materials
      • President’s Daily Diary
  • Central Intelligence Agency, Langley, Virginia
    • Office of the Deputy Director for Intelligence
      • Job 82R00034R, Policy Files (1974–1978)
    • Office of the Director of Central Intelligence
      • Job 80M00165A, Executive Registry Subject Files (’74–’78)
    • Office of Support Services, Directorate of Intelligence
      • Job 79T01316A, Intelligence Publication Files (1977–1979)
      • Job 80T00071A, Production Copy Files (1976–1979)
  • National Security Council, Washington D.C.
    • Carter Administration Intelligence Files
  • Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland
    • RG 330, Records of the Department of Defense
      • FRC 330-80-0037: Top Secret Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1977

Published Sources

  • Chicago Tribune
  • Congressional Quarterly. Congress and the Nation, 1969–1972. vol. III. Washington: Congressional Quarterly Service, 1973.
  • ___. Congress and the Nation, 1977–1980. vol. V. Washington: Congressional Quarterly Service, 1981.
  • Keesing’s Contemporary Archives. London: Keesing’s Publications Limited, 1976–1979.
  • New York Times
  • United States Department of State. Bulletin, 1977–1979. Washington.
  • United States National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1977–1980. Washington.