Office of the Historian

Sources

Sources for Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, Volume I, Foundations of Foreign Policy

Much of the documentation included in this volume was drawn from public sources. Speeches and policy statements were garnered from a number of published sources, most importantly the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States and the Department of State Bulletin. Congressional Record, Documents on Disarmament, and Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents were also consulted, as were numerous Congressional reports.

The declassified or open files at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library also contain documentation on Reagan’s public statements from both the pre-Presidential and Presidential years. A very useful source of information for the pre-Presidential period is the White House Office of Speechwriting, Research Office Files, especially Series IV, the 1980 Campaign File, which contains the statements and speeches made by Reagan and his Vice Presidential running mate, George H.W. Bush, during the course of the 1980 campaign. The collection also contains speeches from Reagan’s earlier Presidential run in 1975–1976. Series I of the collection, Speeches, 1981–1989, contains various drafts of Reagan’s speeches, including many with the President’s handwritten notations. In addition, the White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) Subject File includes a speech file (SP) category, which similarly contains speech drafts and associated briefing materials. The 1980 Transition Papers collection yielded documentation on the incoming Reagan administration’s preparation for the Presidential transition.

Among the classified sources consulted, the most useful were found in the Presidential Papers and other White House records maintained by the Reagan Library. A number of collections from the White House Staff and Office Files are relevant to research in this area. Within this collection, the files of Norman Bailey, Paula Dobriansky, Donald Fortier, David Gergen, and Robert McFarlane proved especially useful. In addition, the Executive Secretariat collections, especially the Subject File, yielded much information regarding the Reagan administration’s forward planning during both the first and second administrations. Separate from the White House Staff and Office Files, the donated papers of Secretary of State George P. Shultz contain copies of incoming and outgoing memoranda, briefing books, and talking points for Shultz’s meetings with the President and other foreign policy principals.

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Of the lot files of the Department of State, the most useful for the purposes of this compilation were the Policy Planning Staff (S/P) Files. The Director’s Files (Lot 89D149) contain the memoranda and correspondence from Directors Paul Wolfowitz, Stephen Bosworth, Peter Rodman, and Richard Solomon to Secretaries of State Alexander Haig and George Shultz and other Department principals. This chronological collection is especially useful, as it also includes memoranda concerning the administration’s various forward planning exercises and documentation regarding proposed speeches by Haig and Shultz. Another useful lot file is the Executive Secretariat file containing Haig’s memoranda of conversation (Lot 87D327). The Central Foreign Policy File of the Department of State, consisting of D, P, and N microfilm reels, replaced the pre-1973 paper subject-numeric file. The D and N reels contain the cable traffic between Washington and diplomatic and consular posts abroad and, for the purposes of this particular volume, provide additional background information concerning key concepts and events. The P reels consist of microfilmed versions of memoranda of conversation, letters, briefing papers, airgrams, and memoranda to principals. The National Archives and Records Administration facility in College Park, Maryland, will eventually include these collections as part of Record Group 59 (RG 59).

The personal papers of Secretary of State Haig, located at the Library of Congress, contain many key documents illuminating Haig’s world view. In additional, the Library holds the personal papers of Donald Regan, which describe the forward planning process at the mid-point of the administration, as well as the administration’s efforts to manage Executive-Legislative relations.

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

Lot Files. These files have been transferred or will be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland

  • Lot 00D471: EUR Files, EUR/RUS Special Collection
  • Lot 84D204: P Files, Subject File—Lawrence Eagleburger Files
  • Lot 85D308: D Files, Deputy Secretary Dam’s Official Files
  • Lot 87D327: Executive Secretariat, S/S Files, Secretary Haig Memcons and Whitehead Briefing
  • Lot 89D149: S/P Files, Memoranda/Correspondence From the Director of the Policy Planning Staff to the Secretary and Other Seventh Floor Principals
  • Lot 89D156: Executive Secretariat, S/S Files, 1986 Official Office Files, Action/Briefing/Information/Through Memoranda/Chron Files/Memoranda to the Secretary Handled by Under Secretary Allen Wallis, (E) Economic Affairs
  • Lot 89D250: A Files, FAIM/IS Files, Miscellaneous Papers Screened From the Subject Files of Secretary Shultz and his Assistant Charles Hill Upon the Secretary’s Resignation on January 20, 1989
  • Lot 89D378: E Files, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs W. Allen Wallis, Chrons; Memo to the Secretary/Staff and Departmental/Other Agencies; Memos to the Files; White House Correspondence, 1981–1987
  • Lot 92D52: Executive Secretariat, S/S Files, Executive Secretariat (ES) Sensitive and Super Sensitive Documents, 1 January 1984–21 January 1989
  • Lot 92D630: Executive Secretariat, S/S Files, The Executive Secretariat’s Special Caption Documents
  • Lot 96D262: Executive Secretariat, S/S Records, S/S Special Handling Restriction Memos, 1979–1983

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California

  • White House Staff and Office Files
    • Files of the Executive Secretariat, National Security Council
      • Agency File
      • Country File
      • Meetings File
      • National Security Planning Group (NSPG) File
      • Subject File
      • Trip File
    • Files of the African Affairs Directorate, National Security Council
    • Files of the European and Soviet Affairs Directorate, National Security Council
    • Files of the Political Affairs Directorate, National Security Council
    • Norman Bailey Files
    • Frank Carlucci Files
    • William Clark Files
    • Stephen Danzansky Files
    • Paula Dobriansky Files
    • Donald Fortier Files
    • David Gergen Files
    • Donald Gregg Files
    • Sally Grooms Files
    • Frederick Iklé Files
    • C.W. Burleigh Leonard Files
    • Robert Linhard Files
    • Carnes Lord Files
    • Robert McFarlane Files
    • Douglas McMinn Files
    • Henry Nau Files
    • National Security Affairs
      • Office of Assistant to the President Files
    • John Poindexter Files
    • James Rentschler Files
    • Peter Rodman Files
    • Nicholas Rostow Files
    • Donald Tice Files
    • White House Office of Speechwriting Files
      • Research Office
        • 1980 Campaign File
        • Speeches, 1981–1989
  • Edwin Meese Files
  • President’s Daily Diary
  • George Shultz Papers
  • Vertical File
  • White House Office of Records Management
    • Subject File
      • Commodities (CM)
      • Federal Government Organizations (FG)
      • Speeches (SP)
  • 1980 Transition Papers
    • Deputy Director for Executive Branch Management
    • Foreign Policy

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

  • Manuscript Division
    • Papers of Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Department of State Files
    • Papers of Donald T. Regan
    • Papers of Paul Nitze

National Security Council, Washington, D.C.

  • NSC Institutional Files

Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland

  • RG 56, Department of the Treasury Records
    • Executive Secretariat, Official Files

Published Sources

  • Brinkley, Douglas, ed. The Reagan Diaries Unabridged. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.
  • Brookes, Warren T. The Economy in Mind. New York: Universe Books, 1982.

Chicago Tribune.

The Christian Science Monitor.

  • Churchill, Winston S. The Second World War. Volume 1, The Gathering Storm. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1948.

Commentary.

  • The Commission On Integrated Long-Term Strategy. Discriminate Deterrence: Report of the Commission On Integrated Long-Term Strategy, January 1988. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1988.
  • The Commission on Security and Economic Assistance. The Commission on Security and Economic Assistance: A Report to the Secretary of State. Washington: The Commission on Security and Economic Assistance, 1983.
  • Congress and the Nation. Volume V, 1977–1980; Volume VI, 1981–1984, Volume VII, 1985–1988. Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1981, 1985, 1989.

Congressional Record.

  • Cordier, Andrew W. and Wilder Foote, eds. Public Papers of the Secretaries-General of The United Nations, Vol. 4: 1958–1960, Dag Hammarskjold. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1974.
[Page XVII]

Current Digest of the Soviet Press.

Foreign Affairs.

  • Haig, Alexander M. Jr. Caveat: Realism, Reagan, and Foreign Policy. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984.
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  • Kissinger, Henry. White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1979.
  • Lippman, Walter. The Good Society. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1937.
  • Morgenthau, Hans J. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948.
  • National Bipartisan Commission on Central America. Report of the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1984.
  • Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Report to the President By The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Volume I. Washington: Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, 1986.
  • President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management. An Interim Report to the President by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, February 28, 1986. Washington: President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, 1986.
  • _____. A Quest for Excellence: Final Report to the President by the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management. Washington: President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, 1986.
  • President’s Special Review Board. Report of the President’s Special Review Board. Washington: 1987.

New York Times.

New York Times Magazine.

  • Sauzey, Francois, ed. Trialogue 29, Spring 1982. New York: The Trilateral Commission, 1982.
  • Shultz, George P. Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1993.
  • United Nations. Report on the U.N. Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, Nairobi, August 10–21, 1981, U.N. New York, 1981 (A/Conf. 100/11) (E. 81, I. 24)
  • _____. Resolutions and Decisions adopted by the General Assembly during its Thirteenth Special Session, 27 May–1 June 1986. General Assembly, Official Records: Thirteenth Special Session, Supplement No. 2 (A/S–13/16). New York: United Nations, 1986.
  • _____. Yearbook of the United Nations, 1974, 1979, 1982, 1983. New York: UN Office of Public Information, 1977, 1982, 1986, 1987.
  • U.S. Congress. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1983, Report Submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs U.S. House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations U.S. Senate, by the Department of State in Accordance With Sections 116 (d) and 502B (b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as Amended, Ninety-Sixth Congress, Second Session, February 1984. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1984.
  • _____. Joint Economic Committee. International Economic Policy: Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session, May 4, 1981. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981.
  • U.S. Department of Defense. Report of the DOD Commission on Beirut International Airport Terrorist Act, October 23, 1983. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1984.
  • U.S. House of Representatives. Committee on Agriculture. General Agricultural Export and Trade Situation: Hearing Before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, [Page XVIII] Ninety-Seventh Congress, Second Session, March 9, 1982, Serial No. 97–HHH. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1982.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Foreign Assistance Legislation For Fiscal Year 1982 (Part 1), Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session, March 13, 18, 19, and 28, 1981. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Policy Implications of Arms Sales to Iran and the Contra Connection: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-Ninth Congress, Second Session, November 24; December 8, 9, 1986. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1986.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Affairs. United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy (UNCNRSE) and U.S. Delegate Participation, Report Submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, March 29, 1982 Committee Print, 97th Congress, 2d Session. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1982.
  • _____. Committee on House Administration. The Presidential Campaign, 1976. Volume 1, Part 1, Jimmy Carter. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1978.
  • _____. Subcommittee on Africa. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Economic Policy Initiative for Africa: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Africa of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-Eight Congress, Second Session, Tuesday, February 7, 1984. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1984.
  • _____. Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Developments in the Middle East, April 1985: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session, April 4, 1985. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1985.
  • _____. Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and Related Agencies. Committee on Appropriations. Foreign Assistance and Related Programs Appropriations for 1983: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-Seventh Congress, Second Session, Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and Related Agencies, Part 1. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1982.
  • _____. Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs. Committee on Foreign Affairs. U.S. Policy on Latin America—1985: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session, January 29, 1985. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1985.
  • U.S. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Foreign Assistance and Related Programs Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1983: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, Second Session, Part 1. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1983.
  • _____. Committee on Armed Services. Department of Defense Authorization for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1982: Hearings Before the Committee on Armed Services United States Senate Ninety-Seventh Congress First Session on S. 815, Part I Posture Statement Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, General David C. Jones, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Budget Amendments, January 28, March 4, 1981. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. Arms Sales Package to Saudi Arabia: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session, on The AWACS and F–15 Enhancements Arms Sales Package to Saudi Arabia, Part 1, October 1, 5, 6, 14, and 15, 1981. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. Commitments, Consensus and U.S. Foreign Policy: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session, January 31, February 4, 5, 6, 7, 20, 25, 26, October 31, November 7 and 12, 1985. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1986.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. Nomination of Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session, on the Nomination of Alexander M. Haig, Jr., to be Secretary of State, January 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1981. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. Nomination of George P. Shultz: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, Second [Page XIX] Session on the Nomination of George P. Shultz, of California, to be Secretary of State, July 13 and 14, 1982. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1982.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. Nomination of Justice William Patrick Clark, Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session, on Nomination of Justice William Patrick Clark, of California, to be Deputy Secretary of State, February 2 and 3, 1981. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. Nuclear Arms Reduction Proposals: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, Second Session on S.J. Res 163, 171, 191; S. Res. 242, 323, 343, 370, 391; S. Ex. Res. 5, 6; and S. Con. Res. 81, April 29, 30, May 11, 12, and 13, 1982. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1982.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. Persian Gulf Situation: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session, September 17, 1981. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. Report of the U.S. Official Observer Mission to the El Salvador Constituent Assembly Elections of March 28, 1982, A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, by Senator Nancy L. Kassebaum, November 1982. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1982.
  • _____. Committee on Foreign Relations. United States-Soviet Relations: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First Session, June 15 and 16, 1983, Part 1. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1983.
  • _____. Report 96–1054. Military Implications of the Proposed SALT II Treaty Relating to the National Defense: Report of the Hearings on the Military Aspects and Implications of the Proposed SALT II Treaty (Executive Y, 96–1), Based Upon Hearings Held Before the Committee in Accordance With its Responsibilities Under Rule XXV (c) of the Standing Rules of the Senate together with Additional Views, 96th Cong., 2d sess., December 4, 1980. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1980.
  • _____. Select Committee on Intelligence. Nomination of William J. Casey: Hearing Before the Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session, on Nomination of William J. Casey, to be Director of Central Intelligence, Tuesday, January 13, 1981. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981.
  • _____. Treaty Document 98–30. Tax Agreement With the People’s Republic of China: Message From the President of the United States Transmitting the Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Tax Evasion With Respect to Taxes on Income, Together With a Supplementary Protocol and Exchange of Notes, Signed at Beijing on April 30, 1984, 98th Cong., 2d sess. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1984.
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Wall Street Journal.

Washington Post.

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.

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