Office of the Historian

Sources

Sources for Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, Volume XI, START I

The White House Staff and Office Files at the Reagan Library illuminate high-level decision-making involving the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks. 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 version 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 include the files of National Security Advisors Richard Allen, William Clark, Robert “Bud” McFarlane, John Poindexter, Frank Carlucci, and Colin Powell, as well as those of Robert Linhard of the National Security Council Staff. 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 90D397, Ambassador Nitze’s Personal Files, 1953, 1972–1989; Lot 01D127, 1969–1990 Subject Records of James P. Timbie; and Lot 06D436, Verification, Compliance and Implementation, Subject Files, 1983–2005. 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.

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 those 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Unpublished Sources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
    • Lot Files
      • Lot 82D307; Executive Secretariat, S/S Records, Walter Stoessel Files
      • Lot 85D308; Executive Secretatriat, S/S–I Records: Deputy Secretary Dam’s Official Files
      • Lot 89D56; C. Max Kampelman Files
      • Lot 89D149; Executive Secretariat, S/S Records, Memoranda/Correspondence From the Director of Policy Planning to the Secretary and other Principals, January 1981–January 1989
      • Lot 90D397, Ambassador Nitze’s Personal Files 1953, 1972–1989
      • Lot 93D188, Executive Secretariat, S/S–IRM Records, Memoranda of Conversations Pertaining to United States and USSR Relations, 1981–1990
      • Lot 93D592, Executive Secretariat, Program Files for Delegation to the Negotations on Nuclear and Space Arms,
      • Lot 96D262; Executive Secretariat, S/S Special Handling Restrictions Memos 1979–1983
      • Lot 01D127; Bureau of Arms Control and Disarmament, 1969–1980 Subject Records of James P. Timbie
      • Lot 06D436, Verification, Compliance and Implementation, Subject Files, 1983–2005
      • Lot 16D0355, James Timbie Files
  • 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
      • Subject File
        • Nuclear-Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)
      • Office of the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Files
        • Richard Allen Files
        • Frank Carlucci Files
        • William Clark Files
        • Sven Kraemer Files
        • Robert Linhard Files
        • Jack Matlock Files
        • Robert McFarlane Files
        • John Poindexter Files
        • Colin Powell Files
        • President’s Daily Diary
    • Personal Papers
      • Charles Hill Papers
      • George Shultz Papers
  • Library of Congress
    • Manuscript Division
      • Papers of Alexander M. Haig
      • Papers of Caspar W. Weinberger
  • National Security Council
    • National Security Council meetings
    • National Security Planning Group meetings
    • Special Situation Group meetings
    • Crisis Pre-Planning Group meetings
    • National Security Decision Directives
    • National Security Study Directives
  • 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.
    • Shultz, George. Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State. New York: Scribner’s, 1993.
    • United States. Department of State. Bulletin, 1981–1988.
    • National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981–1988.