Office of the Historian

Sources

Sources for Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, Volume XXIV

The presidential papers of Jimmy Carter at the Carter Library are one of the best sources for documentation on U.S.-South American relations from 1977 to 1980. Several collections within the National Security Adviser files are especially relevant, including the Brzezinski and Staff Material. The National Security Council Institutional Files contain records of high-level meetings and documentation related to presidential directives.

Department of State records are also critical to understanding U.S. policy toward South America during the Carter administration. The Department of State’s Central Foreign Policy File, consisting of D, P, and N reels, replaced the pre-1973 paper subject-numeric file. The P (Paper) reels consist of microfilmed versions of memoranda of conversation, letters, briefing papers, airgrams, and memoranda to principals. The Department lot files, available at the National Archives and Records Administration, are important as well, especially the files of Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, Deputy Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher, several lot files related to Human Rights, and the various subject files and office files for Inter-American Affairs.

The editor also utilized the files of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. Valuable records from the Department of Defense can be found in RG 330, notably FRC 330–81–0202, the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Several collections from the Central Intelligence Agency were also particularly useful: the Office of Congressional Affairs, the Office of Support Services, Directorate of Intelligence, and the Office of the Director of Central 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.

Unpublished Sources

  • Department of State, Washington, D.C.
    • Central Foreign Policy File. These files have been transferred or will be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland.
      • P Reels
      • D Reels
      • N Reels
    • INR/IL Historical Files
      • Files of the Office of Intelligence Coordination, containing records from the 1940s through the 1980s, maintained by the Office of Intelligence Liaison, Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
  • National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, Maryland
    • Record Group 59, General Records of the Department of State
      • Lot 80D177, Human Rights Subject Files and Country Files, 1976–1977
      • Lot 81D183, Subject files of the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, 1975–78
      • Lot 81D113 (Entry P-14), Office of the Deputy Secretary: Records of Warren Christopher, 1977-1980
      • Lot 81D208, Human Rights Country Files, 1977
      • Lot 84D241, Records of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, 1977–1980
      • Lot 82D100, Official Files and Briefing Books of Edmund Muskie, 1977–1981
      • Lot 82D177, Human Rights Country Files, 1980–1981
      • Lot 80D135, Records of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, 1977–1980
      • Lot 82D298 (Entry P-9), Records of the Director of the Policy Planning Staff Anthony Lake, 1977–1981
      • Lot 81D154, Records of David P. Newsom, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, 1978–1981
      • Lot 85D366, Chronological files and official records of Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Patricia Murphy Derian
      • Lot 81D5, Records of Philip C. Habib, 1976–1978
      • Lot 82D180, Human Rights Subject Files, 1980
      • Lot 85D427, U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States Files, 1971–1985
    • Record Group 84, Records of Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State
      • Lot 81F93, Embassy Buenos Aires Post Files, 1978
      • Lot 81F113, Classified and Unclassified Files of Ambassador Trusten Frank Crigler, 1976–1980
  • Jimmy Carter Library, Atlanta, Georgia
    • Records of the Office of the National Security Adviser
      • Brzezinski Material
        • Agency File
        • Country File
        • Subject File
        • Trip File
        • Brzezinski Office File, Country Chron
        • President’s Correspondence with Foreign Leaders File
        • General Odom File
        • President’s Daily CIA Brief File
      • Donated Historical Materials
        • Brzezinski Papers
        • Mondale Papers
      • Staff Material
        • North/South, Pastor Files,
          • Country Files
          • Subject Files
          • Chron Files
        • North/South, Thornton Files
          • Country Files
          • Subject Files
        • Freedom of Information/Legal Files
        • Office Files
      • Plains File
        • President’s Daily Diary
      • National Security Council, Institutional Files
  • Central Intelligence Agency
    • Office of Congressional Affairs
      • Job 81M00980R
    • Office of Support Services, Directorate of Intelligence
      • Job 78T02549A
      • Job 79T00975A
      • Job 79T01316A
      • Job 80T00071A
      • Job 80T00634A
      • Job 82T00150R
      • Job 82T00466R
      • Job 07S01568R
    • Office of the Director of Central Intelligence
      • Job 80M00165A
      • Job 80M01542R
      • Job 81B00112R
      • Job 81M00919R
  • Library of Congress
    • Harold Brown Papers
  • Washington National Records Center, Suitland Maryland
    • RG 330, Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense
      • FRC 330–81–0202, Records of the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, 1978
      • FRC 330–80–0035, Records of the Secretary of Defense, General/Country Files, 1977
[Page XVIII]

Published Sources

  • Asencio, Diego and Nancy. Our Man is Inside. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1982.
  • Bourne, Peter. Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Postpresidency. New York: Scribner, 1997.
  • Carter, Jimmy. White House Diary. New York: Farrar, Strous & Giroux, 2010.
  • Christian Science Monitor
  • Congress and the Nation, 1977–1980. Volume V. Washington: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1981.
  • New York Times
  • Organization of American States. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Argentina, Washington: General Secretariat, 1980.
  • Parry, Clive ed. The Consolidated Treaty Series. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1980.
  • Quandt, William B. Camp David: Peacemaking and Politics. Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1986.
  • United Nations. Ad Hoc Working Group to Inquire Into the Present Situation of Human Rights in Chile. “Study of Reported Violations of Human Rights in Chile.” Report E/CN.4/1221, February 10, 1977.
  • U.S. Department of State. American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents, 1977–1980. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1983.
  • ______. Bulletin, 1977-1980. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  • U.S. House of Representatives. “Arms Trade in the Western Hemisphere,” Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, June 27, 28; June 19, 20; August 2, 9, 1978.
  • ______. “Protection of Americans Abroad,” Hearings Before the Subcommittee on International Operations of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, July 12 and 14, 1977.
  • U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1977–1980. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981.
  • U.S. Senate. “U.S. Citizens in Foreign Jails on Drug Related Charges,” Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Foreign Assistance of the Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate, October 14, 1977.
  • Washington Post
  • Yearbook of the United Nations, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980. New York: United Nations Office of Public Information, 1981.