White House Tape Recordings and Textual Materials Opening
Media Alert · Friday, June 19, 2009

Washington, DC

WHAT:  The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, one of 12 Presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, will be opening approximately 154 hours of Nixon White House tape recordings and approximately 30,000 pages of textual materials from the Nixon Presidency.

WHERE:
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, Maryland 20740

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard
Yorba Linda, California 92886
Nixon Presidential Library web site (www.nixonlibrary.gov)

WHEN:
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
11:00a.m. - 4:30p.m. (EDT) - College Park, MD
9:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. (PDT) - Yorba Linda, CA
9:00a.m. (EDT) (6:00a.m., PDT) on the Nixon Presidential Library web site (www.nixonlibrary.gov)

BACKGROUND

Tapes
On June 23, 2009, the Nixon Presidential Library will be opening approximately 154 hours of tape recordings from the Nixon White House recorded in January and February 1973 and consisting of approximately 994 conversations. The conversations cover topics such as the conclusion of a peace settlement between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the return of American POWs, President Nixon's second inauguration, the U.S. and Europe, the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, energy policy, the reorganization of the executive branch, and the first Watergate trial. The newly released recorded conversations will be made available on the web at www.nixonlibrary.gov. They will also be available at both the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, CA and at the National Archives College Park, MD facility.

There are no transcripts for these recordings; however, tape subject logs will be available at each location and on the web to aid researchers in locating specific conversations and participants. Each log identifies the name, date, and location of the conversation as well as an outline of the general content. In addition, researchers may consult finding aids—-a tapes description and a Scope and Content note—to these newly released tapes on the web. Listening stations will be available for researchers at both locations on a first come, first served basis.

This is the 13th opening of Nixon White House tapes since 1980 and with this release, approximately 2,371 hours of tape recordings from the Nixon White House are now available to the public.

Textual Materials
The opening will also consist of approximately 10.5 cubic feet of previously restricted materials from the White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files; the National Security Files; and the Henry A. Kissinger Files. The materials include documents on U.S. policy toward Europe, on U.S. policy in the Middle East, on the investigation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on the investigation of Jack Anderson, also known as the Radford Affair, and on the conduct of the war in Cambodia and Vietnam. The opening also includes CIA Bay of Pigs materials personally delivered to the White House in 1971 by the Director of Central Intelligence, Richard Helms, at President Nixon's request. The President asked for these materials in support of activities associated with the so-called Plumbers unit. Although other copies of these documents have been released by the CIA on its website, these materials were not previously publicly known to have been received by the Nixon administration. A few representative documents will be available on the web at 9:00a.m. EDT (6:00a.m. PDT) and all of them will be available for review at the National Archives College Park, Maryland facility at 11:00a.m.

The Library will also be opening the files of Nixon aide Kenneth Cole from the White House Central Files, Staff Member and Office files collection at its Yorba Linda facility. The bulk of the Nixon presidential materials collection is still housed at the National Archives in College Park. To accelerate processing for the benefit of researchers some domestic policy collections, like the Cole collection, were moved to California in advance of the move of the entire textual holdings in 2010. In May 1973 Cole replaced John Ehrlichman as President Nixon's chief domestic affairs advisor. The 12,000-page Cole collection provides a new portal into the formulation of President Nixon's domestic policy. This collection will only be available at the Library's Yorba Linda Facility.

OTHER INFORMATION:

All researchers, including the media, must have a valid National Archives researcher card prior to gaining access to the records. Researcher cards may be obtained at either facility with a photo ID. Clean research room rules apply and no recording or transmission devices of any kind will be allowed in the research room. Lap top computers and scanners are permitted.

The National Archives facility in College Park does not currently provide wireless access to the Internet. A limited number of computers with Internet access will be available on a first come first served basis.

Due to parking limitations at College Park during openings, researchers are encouraged to use the National Archives shuttle bus service between the Washington, DC and College Park, MD buildings. The shuttle buses depart from both buildings between 8 a.m. - 5p.m. on the hour.

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For press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

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