Office of the Historian

Sources

Sources for Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, Volume III, Soviet Union, January 1981–January 1983

The White House Staff and Office Files at the Reagan Library illuminate high-level decision making toward the Soviet Union during the period January 1981–January 1983. Therein are files of the Executive Secretariat, which include key collections such as the USSR Country File, the Head of State File, National Security Decision Directives (NSDDs), National Security Council (NSC) Meeting Files, and the National Security Planning Group (NSPG) files; in some instances, the original versions of NSDDs and minutes of NSC and NSPG meetings and their preparatory material remain at the National Security Council in Washington. Key collections of individuals are the files of National Security Advisors Robert “Bud” McFarlane and William Clark as well as those of Director of East European and Soviet Affairs Richard Pipes, some of whose files are included in the collection of his successor, Jack Matlock. Also at the Reagan Library is a set of the George Shultz papers housed at the Hoover Institution in Palo Alto.

The Central Foreign Policy File of the Department of State includes the cable traffic between Washington and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Key lot files include: Lot 83D288, Alexander Haig’s Correspondence with Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, DCI Casey, and Meetings with the President,1981–1982; Lot 84D204, Department of State, Executive Secretary, S/S–I Records: Lawrence Eagleburger Files; Lot 85D308; Files of Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Dam; and Lot 93D188, Memoranda of Conversations Pertaining to United States and USSR Relations, 1981–1990 Department of State, Executive Secretariat, S/S–IRM Records, Memoranda of Conversations Pertaining to United States and USSR Relations, 1981–1990, Lot 93D188. The National Archives and Records Administration facility in College Park, Maryland, will eventually include these collections as part of Record Group 59 (RG 59); at printing, they are in various stages of accession.

Key documents pertaining to U.S. strategy and policies toward the Soviet Union are in the 1981 and 1982 DAY FILE in the personal papers of Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig, Jr., at the Library of Congress. Special access was granted to Department of State historians with the kind permission of the Estate of Secretary Haig.

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Unpublished Sources

  • Department of State
    • Central Foreign Policy File
    • Lot Files
      • Lot 82D127; Files of Deputy Secretary William P. Clark, January 1981–1982
      • Lot 82D128; Official Papers of Counselor McFarlane, 1981–1982
      • Lot 82D307; Files of Walter Stoessel
      • Lot 82D370; Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Secretary of State, 1981–1982: Very Sensitive Documents
      • Lot 83D288; Alexander Haig’s Correspondence with Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, DCI Casey, and Meetings with the President, 1981–1982
      • Lot 83D229; Files of the Special Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, June 1981–June 1983.
      • Lot 84D204, Executive Secretary, S/S-I Records: Lawrence Eagleburger Files
      • Lot 85D308; Files of Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Dam
      • Lot 87D327; Secretary Haig Memcons, January–December 1981, Secretary Shultz Memcons, August–December 1982, October–Dec 1985, January–November 1986
      • Lot 88D276; Not for the System Documents, January 1981–December 1981
      • Lot 88D99; Exdis Memoranda of the Secretariat, 1981; Nodis Memoranda, 1981
      • Lot 89D149; Memoranda/Correspondence From the Director of Policy Planning to the Secretary and Other Principals, January 1981–January 1989
      • Lot 92D252; 1 January 1984– 21 January 1988 Executive Secretariat Sensitive (ES) and Super Sensitive Documents
      • Lot 92D630; Not For the System Documents, 1979–1989; Evening Reading, 1980–1989
      • Lot 93D562; Secto and Tosec Telegrams, 1982.
      • Lot 96D262; Executive Secretariat, Special Handling Restrictions Memos, 1979–1983
  • National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
  • Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California
    • National Security Council Intelligence Files
    • White House Staff and Office Files
      • Executive Secretariat, National Security Council
        • Agency File
        • Cable File
        • Country File: USSR
        • Head of State File
        • Subject File
        • National Security Decision Directives
        • National Security Council Meeting File
        • National Security Planning Group
        • Weekly Reports
        • Office of the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Files
        • Dennis Blair Files
        • William Clark Files
        • Timothy Deal Files
        • European and Soviet Affairs Directorate, NSC, 1983-89
        • Jack Matlock Files
        • Robert “Bud” McFarlane Files
        • Edwin Meese Files
        • James “Bud” Nance Files
        • Richard Pipes Files
        • John Poindexter Files
        • President’s Daily Diary
      • Personal Papers
        • Charles Hill Papers
        • George Shultz Papers
    • Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
      • Manuscript Division
        • Papers of Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
        • Papers of Caspar W. Weinberger
    • National Security Council
      • National Security Council Institutional Files
      • National Security Council meetings
      • National Security Planning Group meetings
      • Special Situations Group meetings
      • Crisis Pre-Planning Group meetings
      • National Security Decision Directive meetings
    • Central Intelligence Agency
      • Office of the Director of Central Intelligence
        • Job 83M00914R: Executive Director and Executive Registry Files (1982)
        • Job 84B00049R: Subject Files (1981–1982)
        • Job 88B00443R: Policy Files (1980–1986)
    • Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland
      • OSD Files: FRC 330-90-0033, Official Records of the Secretary of Defense, 1981–1987

Selected Published Sources

  • Brinkley, Douglas, ed. The Reagan Diaries Unabridged. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.
  • Current Digest of the Soviet Press
  • Haig, Alexander M., Jr. Caveat: Reagan, Realism, and Foreign Policy. New York: Macmillan, 1984.
  • McFarlane, Robert and Zofia Smardz. Special Trust. New York: Cadell and Davies, 1984.
  • Shultz, George. Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State. New York: Scribner’s, 1993.
  • United States. Department of State. Department of State Bulletin, 1981–1984. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981–1984.
  • United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981–1987.
  • Weinberger, Caspar. Fighting for Peace: Seven Critical Years in the Pentagon, 1980–1988. New York: Warner Books, 1990.

Electronic Sources

  • Library of Congress. Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/diplomacy/
  • Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library. www.reaganfoundation.org