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Source Description
This file contains a letter to President Gerald Ford regarding the possible appointment of a White House political counselor.
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Document identity
localId
1561641
label
Morton, Rogers
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
1561641
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Morton, Rogers
description
This file contains a letter to President Gerald Ford regarding the possible appointment of a White House political counselor.
citationUrl
collections
Richard B. Cheney Files
Richard Cheney's Campaign Subject Files
subjects
Political affairs
Presidential campaign, 1976
White House staff
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1
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naId
1561641
coverageEndDate
day
17
logicalDate
1975-12-17
month
12
year
1975
coverageStartDate
day
17
logicalDate
1975-12-17
month
12
year
1975
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fileUnit
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description
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nara-archive
Single page context
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1
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0
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document
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5ccce1363a56a77b
ocrText
The original documents are located in Box 17, folder "Morton, Rogers" of the Richard B.
Cheney Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box 17 of the Richard B. Cheney Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20230
December 17, 1975
The President
The White House
Washington, D. C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
The time has come to substantially strengthen your campaign
for the nomination. The actions required to accomplish this
are of paramount priority. Failure to perfect the campaign
organization and strategy presents a very real risk of de-
feat. The voter impression is that the campaign is too far
away from you, that it is not representative of your candi-
dacy and because of it you are losing ground. Whether true
or not, this is the perception.
I believe this impression can be corrected by putting a
senior political counselor in the White House who will be
the prime link between you and your campaign and between
the campaign and the Cabinet and senior elements of your
staff.
This person must have a broad-gauge political perspective,
must be able to comfortably work with you on a daily basis,
must be able to work with the press, but not as a surrogate,
and must have the respect of a wide spectrum of the Repub-
lican Party. Above all, this person must be your prime
associate in the development of an objective campaign strat-
egy. Separately, I have attached a list of people whom I
would suggest. My ranking would put George Bush, Bill
Ruckelshaus and Ody Fish at the top of the list.
I very strongly recommend that this action be taken. I
think it will be welcomed by Bo Callaway. It has the en-
dorsement of the Vice President, Bill Simon, Bill Seidman,
Jim Cannon, Dick Cheney and others with whom I have dis-
cussed the matter.
Yours sincerely,
Rog
George Bush
John Byrnes
Ody Fish
Bryce Harlow
Melvin Laird
Leon Parma
George Romney
Richard Rosenbaum
William Ruckelshaus
William Scranton
GERALD R. FORD AMERICA