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Richard Nixon Presidential Library
White House Special Files Collection
Folder List
Box Number Folder Number
Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
41
6
11/25/1968
Letter
To: Robert Haldeman From: John S.D.
Eisenhower Re: Staff secretariat in the White
House. 4 Pages.
41
6
n.d.
Report
"The Organization and Functioning of the
White House Staff Secretariat." 15 Pages.
41
6
n.d.
Book
Photocopy of Commission on Organization
of the Executive Branch of the Government
report on the essentials of effective
organization of the executive branch. 28
Pages.
41
6
08/13/1954
Report
Entitled "Staff Work for the President and
the Executive Branch" by Carter Burgess. 17
Pages.
41
6
11/25/n.d.
Memo
To: Bob Haldeman From: Kevin Phillips Re:
"In Clarification of my Election Data Memo
of Last Week." 1 Page.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Page 1 of 1
JOHN S. D. EISENHOWER
Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania 19481
25 November 1968
Mr. Robert Haldeman
Staff Member to Mr. Nixon
The Wyndham Hotel
42 West 58th Street
New York, New York
Dear Bob:
Pursuant to our telephone conversation today, I would like to
offer a few notes on the Staff Secretariat in the White House. I
realize that my experience is somewhat out-of-date, but I have main-
tained a strong interest in the subject (if for no other reason than
the fact that I earn a good portion of my living speaking on the
subject). What I would like to concentrate on is the subject of the
Staff Secretary. Historically in governmental staffs this is a
relatively new device. No such secretariat existed in the State
Department, for example, before the time of General Marshall.
I believe there is some misconception regarding the role of
Goodpaster as Staff Secretary in my Dad's years. He was carried as
"Liaison Officer from the Department of Defense," and during the last
2½ years I was his assistant. We carried these titles primarily to
camouflage the fact that we were military men performing civilian
duties. Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize that there is no
need whatsoever for the Staff Secretary to have military background.
In fact if you find the right man elsewhere, such is preferable. It
just so happened that Goodpaster was the right man.
Now to get on to the Staff Secretary in Dad's time and his duties:
a) One important duty of the Staff Secretary was coordination
of actions. At that time the White House received 15,000 letters a
week. Under the very capable supervision of Bill Hopkins, this
correspondence was sifted out and only the significant mail reached
the White House. The pertinent correspondence was distributed by the
mail room and each staff officer picked up his actions as necessary.
The role of the Staff Secretary in this (working very closely with the
Appointment Secretary) was to insure that all pertinent viewpoints
Mr. Robert Haldeman
25 November 1968
Page two
were represented when a Presidential decision was made. Within the
White House people knew each other so well that this was not much of
a problem.
b) Liaison between the National Security agencies and the
President represented the real meat of the job. The agencies most
concerned were State, Defense, CIA, AEC, USIA and AID. Some of these,
such as AID, were periodically independent and periodically under the
wing of the State Department. So far as I could make out the criterion
at a given time was how well its chief got along with Dulles.
Now these agencies soon learn that they cannot go directly to the
President with every one of their little problems. Therefore, once
an individual such as Goodpaster establishes himself in their confidence,
then they will be glad to leave secondary problems in his hands.
Parenthetically I might add that issues considered minor by the
White House are often considered quite major by the agencies concerned.
Once the Staff Secretary received an action, he would then decide
whether it involved only one Department or whether it involved several.
If it cut across several Departments or Agencies, he would then ask
tactfully regarding the positions of the others. (In such cases it was
usually best to let the initiating agency do the staffing.) If all
Agencies were happy, Goodpaster or I could get Presidential approval
in a second. If differences existed -- say between Defense and State --
then Goodpaster would set up a meeting with the Appointment Secretary
to include all interested people.
This function would seem to belong in the purview of the Special
Assistant for National Secretary Affairs. Indeed there were areas of
overlap and in order to avoid friction both the Staff Secretary and
Special Assistant have to be gentlemen and mutually considerate. But
the vast majority of problems fall rather clearly in one area or the
other, the criterion being immediacy. Gordon Gray, Special Assistant
for NSC, was involved primarily in long range planning. Goodpaster
was involved in the immediate -- the very latest on Quemoy-Matsu,
Lebanon, Suez or Berlin. They bent over backwards to keep each other
informed.
c) Daily intelligence briefings of the President, based on
documents delivered early in the morning by CIA, State Department and
other Agencies. In making these briefings I personally found it
necessary to read the newspapers thoroughly beforehand.
Mr. Robert Haldeman
25 November 1968
Page three
d) Records of meetings with the President. This is one of the
most important functions of the Staff Secretary. By and large I feel
that every visitor to the President's office should be accompanied by
the Staff Secretary or his Assistant. The only exception in Dad's
time was Dulles, and we have lived to regret it.
Visitors at first tend to cast a fishy eye at the "chaperone,"
feeling that the presence of a White House staff officer destroys the
intimacy of the conversation. Nevertheless, the fact that views are
being recorded serves to keep the visitors slightly more cautious in
the rendering of advice. And not to be overlooked is the fact that
Mr. Nixon will someday want to write his memoirs; 90% of the informa-
tion available to him in such endeavor will come from his correspondence
and from these records of conferences.
(To insure accuracy and establish the confidence of the visitor,
I found it advisable often to compare notes with him after we stepped
outside the office.)
e) Editing State Department drafts for the President's signature.
This is important to personalize them and to eliminate the State
Department flavor.
f) In the case of an individual like Goodpaster, with a seemingly
infinite capacity for all kinds of work, he tended to take over
functions that would surprise oen. These included allocation of
office space, parking permits, and furniture. He was the custodian
of the plans for the state funeral of George Marshall. However the
man makes the office. I do not consider these odd-job functions as
intrinsic to the job.
I would not be so presumptuous as to recommend who you would
want for such a job as Staff Secretary. I know of several people on
active duty in the Army who could perform it; perhaps it might be well
to consult with Goodpaster. As I mentioned above, however, it is
preferable if you can find a man with SGS experience from another
agency of government. Arch Calhoun in State, for example (if he's not
too high on the pecking order), would be excellent.
Mr. Robert Haldeman
25 November 1968
Page four
I think this has been long enough. I hope you have no objection
to my sending a copy to Bryce Harlow.
With best wishes,
Sincerely,
John
JSDE: jht
cc: The Honorable Bryce Harlow
THE ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF THE
WHITE HOUSE STAFF SECRETARIAT
Log Desk
Tab A
Review Officer
Tab B
Status Officer
Tab C
Action Officer
Tab D
Flow Diagram
Tab E
Files
Tab F
A.
LOG DESK
I.
Upon initial receipt of any document:
A.
Date stamp.
B.
Forward to Status Officer.
II.
Upon receipt from Status Officer with instructions for staffing:
A.
Assign log number.
B.
Type Action Memo and Record Cards.
C.
Forward to Review Officer.
III.
Upon return from Review Officer of document for staffing:
A.
Make necessary copies of document, Action Memo, and
Record Cards.
B.
Forward copies of Action Memo and document to Action
Officers and Information Officers.
C.
File document and copy of Action Memo in ACTION MEMO
FILE (by log number).
D.
File copy of Record Card in SUSPENSE FILE (by suspense date).
E.
File copy of Record Card in NAME FILE for each Action
Officer (In active section by name and log number).
F.
File copy of record card in SUBJECT FILE.
IV.
Upon return of material from Action Officer:
A.
Pull card from Suspense File and make appropriate notation.
B.
Pull packet from Action Memo File and attach to incoming
material.
2
C.
Forward to Status Officer.
V.
Upon receipt of document from Review Officer to be forwarded
to the President:
A.
Determine if it has received previous processing.
B.
If it has received previous processing, place card from
Suspense File in the PRESIDENTIAL ACTION PENDING
FILE (by log number).
C.
If it has not received previous processing:
1) Assign log number and type Record Card set.
2) File copy of card in Presidential Action Pending
File (by log number).
3) File copy of card in Name File (filed under the originator's
name).
4)
File copy of card in Subject File.
D.
Place log number on document with pencil.
E.
Place extra back-up material in the Action Memo File.
F.
Forward to the President.
VI.
Upon receipt from Review Officer of document which does not
have to go to the President:
A.
Determine if it has received previous processing.
B.
If it has received previous processing:
1)
Make appropriate notation on card.
2)
File card in ACTION PENDING FILE (by Action Officer
and log number).
3)
Forward document to Action Officer.
3
C.
If it has not received previous processing:
1)
Assign log number.
2)
Type up Record Card set.
3) File copy of card in Name File (filed under originator's
name).
4)
File copy of card in Action Pending File.
5) Forward document to Action Officer.
VII.
Upon receipt from Review Officer of document which has been to
the President:
A.
Pull card from Presidential Action Pending File, make
appropriate notation, and file in Action Pending File (by
Action Officer).
B.
Forward document to Action Officer.
VIII.
Final Disposition - Once Log Desk is sure appropriate action is
being taken:
A.
Pull card from Action Pending File, make notation, and
file in LOG FILE (by log number).
B.
Pull Action Memo File and forward to Central Files.
C.
Move card in Name File from the active to the inactive
section.
B
REVIEW OFFICER
I.
Upon receipt of document for staffing:
A.
Determine if the Status Officer has made the appropriate
recommendation for action and routing.
B.
If recommendation is not approved return to Status Officer
for revision.
C.
If recommendation is approved return to Log Desk for
routing.
II.
Upon receipt of document which requires no further staffing:
A.
Review to insure it does not require further staffing. If
further staffing is necessary then return to Status Officer.
B.
Determine what should be the appropriate routing (should
it go to the President, directly to a staff member, file, etc.).
C.
Forward to Log Desk for the appropriate routing.
III.
Upon return of document from the President:
A.
Determine if further action is necessary.
B.
If no further action necessary then have card pulled from
President's Action Pending File and forward to Log Desk
for final disposition.
C.
If further action is necessary then Review Officer must
determine if further staffing is necessary:
1)
If further staffing is necessary then have card pulled
from Presidential Action Pending File and forwarded
to Status Officer.
2)
If no further staffing is necessary then determine
Action Officer and forward to Log Desk for routing.
STATUS OFFICER
I.
Upon receipt of document from Log Desk or Review Officer:
A.
Determine whether or not it requires further staffing.
B.
If no further staffing is necessary then forward to Review
Officer with recommended action.
C.
If document requires staffing:
1)
Determine action necessary.
2)
Determine routing for both action and information copies.
3)
Determine action suspense date.
4)
Return to Log Desk for forwarding to Review Officer.
D.
ACTION OFFICER
I.
Upon receipt of document requesting action:
A.
Determine if the action requested is appropriate and if the
suspense date is realistic.
B.
If there is a discrepancy then Action Officer must contact
the Log Desk for revision of action or suspense date or for
possible rerouting.
C.
If request is appropriate then Action Officer should comply
with requested action and return the material to the Log Desk.
E.
(
S.O.
R.O
STAYUS OfficeR
DOES this
Log Desk
409 DESK
2
I
Action Necessary
IS the Action
INCOMING
Log Desk
ReQUiRE FURTHER
yes
Type up Action
FORWARded
3
Action Officer
Action OfficeR
CORRES-
PONDENCE
DATE Stamp
MEMO CARds
ANd Appropriate? Routing
to AcTioN
TAKE
staffing?
INFO Copies
AppropriAte
OfficeR copy
Action
suspence DATE
ANd CARds filed
A.O
NO
No
Action Officer
ARE thE
R.O
L.A
2
Contact Log
NO
SuspensE
Log Desk
Desk FOR
DATE and Request
Must
Has it
Revision of
ActioN
it go to the
Received PREVIOUS
Type CARdset
Action OR
No
NO
SUSPENSE DATE
A
propriate
?
PResidenT?
Rocessing?
FilE CARds
yes
3
yes
yes
Log Desk
PULL SUSPENSE CARD
W.P,
+ NOTE Receipt
Log Desk
HAS it
Putt Action MEMO
Type CARd Set
NO
FilE + AHAch
Received previous
with incoming
File CARds
PROCESSING?
/
yes
Loq Desk
CARdiN PRES. Action
Pending FilE
R.O.
Rio
Is
Loq Desk
Action
Log Desk
Does
Notation ON
OfficeR FOR
Notation ON
To PRES dEN +
4
FURTHER
it Require
CARD + Filed
ActioN OR
CARD + filed
FOR Action OR
Action Necessary?
FuthER staffing?
IN ActioN
IN 109 file
FYI
FYI
S.O. - Status Officer
PAPERS to
Pending File
Central Files
R.O. - Review OfficeR
A.O. - Action Officer
L.D. - Log Desk
No
yes
4
a
FILES
I.
WORKING FILES
A. ACTION MEMO FILE - contains original of incoming
document, copy of Action memo, and any additional
correspondence generated on the subject - file by log
number.
B. SUSPENSE FILE - contains a copy of the record card
of each document routed to an Action officer for staffing -
file by suspense date.
C. PRESIDENTIAL ACTION PENDING FILE - contains a
copy of the Record Card of each document routed to the
President for action on FYI - file by log number.
D. ACTION PENDING FILE - contains a copy of the Record
card of each document routed to an Action officer for
action - file by Action officer and log number.
E. SUBJECT FILE - contains a copy of the Record card of
each document that is being processed - file by subject.
II
PERMANENT FILES
A. NAME FILE - contains a copy of the Record Card - file
by Action officer or, in the case of an item which received
no staffing, by originator and within those categories by
log number. (Each name in this file has an active and an
inactive section).
B. LOG FILE - contains a copy of the Record card of each
document upon which action has been completed - file by
log number.
STAFF WORK FOR THE PRESIDENT
and the
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Presentation To The Cabinet
BY CARTER 8-13-1954 BURGESS
Since assuming office, the President has taken steps
toward improving White House and Cabinet staff work.
Last year he created a Staff Secretary and a Secretary
for the Cabinet.
At his recent request, I have again reviewed the
progress which has been made in placing White House and Cabinet
staff work on a more business-like basis.
Assisting me in this second undertaking has been
Bradley Patterson, Jr. We have served together on several
secretariat organization assignments in the government, and he
has brought to this particular study wide knowledge and
practical competence. The graphic materials used were provided
by the Department of State's Division of Visual and Technical
Services.
This review has convinced us first: that real
progress has been achieved in the past year in making White
House and Cabinet staff work time-saving and more effective
and the Cabinet can take pride in the results to date.
This review has also convinced us that we should
keep on the same road, and finish the creation of a system,
so long familiar to the President in his previous experience,
which will truly ensure good staff work for him and the
Executive Branch.
What the President requires is an action system which
will help him function as President. He is besieged by people
and problems which demand his attention -- by questions which
only he can decide.
- 2 -
How can ho spread his time over these important matters?
How can he conserve himsolf for those problems which are
presidential?
How can Department heads, in turn, be sure they know just
what the Prosident wants donc on a particular matter?
The answer is an action system which guarantoos to him
that White House requests or decisions are transmitted to the right
action point immediately, that thoy are made clear and specific so
that action taken can be exactly responsive to what is asked for,
and that there will be a systematic survcillance so that a
Department head won't come back to the White House to find the
President insisting that he had askod him to do something three
months ago, and where are the results?
This system will provide a coordinating point to ensuro
for the President and his top aides that what comes back to them
is in the shortest possible form, that it will come to them once,
donc right -- and not rebound two or three times, through four or
five pairs of hands before it is completed properly.
Such a system will not only enforce the President's
insistence on good staff work, but guide and assist the responsible
officers and Agencies to produce acceptable work from the beginning.
This kind of positive staff service saves the time of
Department heads as well as the President. Both they and the
President can be guaranteed that proper information will flow in
both directions to those who need to have it. In short, an
effective action system allows the President, his top aidos, and
Department heads themselves to dismiss from their minds concern
about the mechanics of getting good staff work in the Executive
Branch.
- 3 -
Having sketched out roughly what a staff "action
system" will do, let us look at the structure of our Executive
Branch -- the surroundings within which a staff system 1s to
function and the elements it will serve.
The President is supported by his personal staff of
White House Assistants. In his Executive Office are his
substantive staff arms -- filling a unique and vital role of
7
inter-agency staff work -- as for instance by the Bureau of the
Budget on appropriations requests and proposed legislation.
Directly responsible to the President also are the
operating agencies of government -- over 50 of them.
How can a White House staff office fit into this
picture and at the same time not violate the original proviso
which the President laid down when he asked for this study:
that nothing should restrict the President's direct contact
with his Cabinet and Agency heads?
It is at this point that a strengthened "Staff and
Cabinet Operations Office" is to be located. Like the other
White House elements, it will be the President's staff --
serving him -- and them. It must not be an institution by
itself.
It will work with the existing coordinating
mechanisms at The Presidential level -- the Cabinet, Cabinet
Committees and the NSC.
One of the major problems faced was: How can the
Staff and Cabinet Operations Office -- sitting up here -- give
that positive assistance to the responsible Agencies -- working
with their organizations speedily, and informally - in order
to help them do better staff work, to save their time as well
as the President's?
- 4 -
In some Agencies, there is no ono acting as a focal
point for that Agency's staff work and whom White House or
other Agencies' officers can consult without bothering the
top-lovol lino officors. This is a sovero handicap to a good
staff system.
Each Agency will shortly be invited by the White
House to designato a competent officer in the Office of its
Secretary, to bo a Special Assistant for White House and
Cabinct matters - a clearinghousc for problems of White House
and Cabinct coordination.
Such an officer should be a staff officer - not a
line official with major operating responsibilitics. Hc would
have to have the full, personal confidence of his Department
head, and immodiate access to him. He should have the ability
to reach anywhere in his Agency and, on behalf of his Secretary,
get action started or questions answered.
With staff links such as portrayed here, a fast
inquiry on a routino problem - such as assignment or reminder
of action, on clearance or on coordination -- can be made by
the Staff Socretary once, to one place, without bothering
top-level line officials. A typical question from the Staff
Secretary to a Departmental Special Assistant might be:
"Does your boss know about this?" To have a knowlodgeable
officer to whom to direct this question is a matter of
mochanics. But from tho lack of such mochanics could como
hours of lost notion.
The Departments have had many areas of functional
specialists - for legislation, for public information, for
personnel, for budget. Those specialists work closely with
their counterparts in the other Agoncies and on the White House
- 5 -
staff. The time is long overdue for the same solid relationships
between the specialists in the vital business of top-level
staff work.
A system of staff links, functioning in this manner,
will free the lines of contact which the President, Governor
Adams and the other White House Assistants have to various
Agency officials, for the policy questions which are
appropriately theirs. This system will thus act to support,
and not alter, the relationship of each Department head to
the President.
For the White House itself, there are several
general maxims for speeding action through staff operations.
The first is that the White House will not do work
which can be done elsewhere. It will send out to the
responsible agencies all the requests and problems which those
agencies can handle directly. It will also assign action out
on a maximum amount of the preparatory work on Presidential
matters.
In the second place, every such assignment on items
for subsequent action will be covered through a foolproof
suspense system.
Within the Agencies assigned action, responsibility
for preparation of White House assignments implies an
immediate triple task:
Producing the proper documentation;
Doing a complete job of lateral coordination with
the other interested Agencies;
Preparing in- a standard format a one-page Covering
Brief.
- 6 -
Once the responsible agencies have made their full
contribution, internal White House review, prior to final
action, is of two kinds:
A review by the Staff and Cabinet Operations Office
to ensure completed staff work. This Secretariat review is in
no way a policy review.
The second kind of White House review -- by the
White House Assistants on certain major issues and proposals --
grows out of the unique position of the President in the
Executive Branch. The President must scrutinize an important
proposal from any one part of his Executive Branch from the
perspective of the whole of his government and its relation to
his overall program. The President has had a recognized need
7
for specially qualified personal assistants who can examine,
from that unique White House perspective, the often divergent
and sometimes competitive recommendations of individual
agencies. These Assistants can advise the President as to
whether an individual recommendation does or does not fit
with his comprehensive objectives.
When the matter comes before the President for
decision, this system of staff operations will have guaranteed
that these. seven steps of good staff work will have been done,
and done right. He will not have to worry about them; he
can conserve his attention for the function which is
uniquely his: the decision.
Nor will he need concern himself about the
follow-up of his decision. A working system of staff
operations will ensure that his decision is recorded and then
reported to the officer or Agency which must take action, and
to others for information if necessary. He can also be sure
- 7 -
that his decision will not evaporate in the limbo of the
bureaucracy; he will hear from it again. Through selective
progress reporting he or his staff will be able to keep track
of it; and the President can be assured that he will be
alerted if his own intervention is again needed.
This system is likewise going to see to it that
7
no Department head is left wondering just what the President
asked him to do, and when. It will help guarantee that a
proposal to the President which vitally affects a given
Department Head is not made unknowingly without that officer's
being consulted.
Here is the Staff Secretary in action -- serving
the President by standardizing these procedures of staff
operations between the White House and the Executive Branch.
For assignment - this is the Route Slip which is
now in use.
Special written directives will also be used.
For fellow-up - this is a specimen of the type of
suspense list which may be initiated.
As the last step in preparation - this is the type
of Covering Brief which should appear on top of
every sheaf of papers sent for action to the
President or his top aides. In an unvarying
format, and on one page it states the problem,
gives the background, summarizes the reasoning,
refers to the proper papers which are attached,
explains what is being presented for action,
tells the President what kind of wheels will turn
when he makes his decision, gives him a specific
- 8 -
recommendation, and tells him what other Agency
heads concur.
The Staff Secretary's review is these six points:
Is this proposal necessary for the President
personally to act on?
Is it responsive to what was requested?
Is it ready for action?
Is it consistent with other commitments and
policies?
Have the appropriate Departments been consulted?
Is it timely?
How will it be implemented and followed up?
Here are two other extra features of a good staff
system to which White House consideration is being given.
The first is a record of decisions -- a routine
Never done.
system for putting written and oral decisions into a daily
summary which as a collection will be useful to the
President and his top aides, and which can be extracted,
with the pertinent extracts sent to the agencies and White
House Assistants concerned.
The second is an Overnight Brief. The President
must know what is going on -- in his Executive Branch, in
Deaugurated
1956.
the Congress, in the press, overseas. He can find out
}
either by ploughing through various memoranda and reports,
and by having his door opened or his telephone ring in the
morning with someone saying, "Have you heard this?" But
there is a more orderly way. All good newspapers have night
staffs to produce current reports for their readers in the
morning. The President of the United States and his Staff
deserve equally systematic and comprehensive reporting.
- 9 -
The State Department has such a system every working day.
An overnight briefing staff could arrange, through
the Departmental Special Assistants, to have selected
informational material, normally destined for the President
in separate pieces, sent to the White House in the late
evening and early morning, and from it compile in an
Overnight Brief for the President and his White House aides.
This would in no way prevent the door-opening and telephoning,
especially during the way -- but once the system got
7
working, Agency heads and White House Assistants would, we
believe, be glad to send their informational memoranda to a
central point, with the sure knowledge that if the items
are really important they will get to the President. Only
information, no action items, should be presented in this
fashion, though the President might wish to make notations
on some of the items such as -- "See me before anything is
done about this.
We emphasize that the mechanism for getting these
staff operations done is this staff system -- functioning
between the White House and the Agencies and among the
Agencies themselves.
Turning to the Cabinet, we will show that
techniques of good staff work can improve Cabinet meetings.
The President is using the Cabinet to get advice.
How can he be assured that this advice is the
most thorough he can get, and that the Cabinet gives it to
him with a minimum of lost motion? A Cabinet Operations
Office -- in full operation -- is the staff device to be
used.
- 10 -
Suggested items for Cabinet agendas can of course
come from the President, from any Cabinet Department, or from
the White House Assistants.
The Cabinet agenda is not the place, however, for
items which are half ripe or hastily gathered just in order to
have a full basket on Friday mornings.
The consideration of major items is going to result
in waste motion for everyone around the Cabinet table unless
the Cabinet Operations Office gets the opportunity to help
the interested agencies to do some prior staff work.
Most major items should be anticipated -- and a
single Department then given primary responsibility to carry
the ball, to consult with other Departments involved and to
produce a short paper in which there is careful analysis, a
refining of the issues, an identification of the agreements
and of any dissents, and a clear recommendation. It is then
appropriate for placement on the Cabinet agenda.
The agenda, and its accompanying documents, should
be circulated at least two days in advance.
At this point some homework is expected on the
the
part of each Secretary who will be coming to that Cabinet
meeting. His Special Assistant for Cabinet Matters will
have arranged for as thorough study as is warranted --
within his Department -- on the items for discussion. The
Special Assistant, together with appropriate Departmental
specialists -- will brief their Secretary 50 that he comes
to the Cabinet Room having been given all the facts and
background at his Department's command to support his advice
to his Chief.
- 11 -
The Cabinet advises the President, and the
President makes the action decisions.
Second only to that principle are two other rules
which are to form the boundaries of Cabinet staff work:
The secrecy of Cabinot discussions must be
preserved with those attending feeling free to speak their
minds, and yet on the other hand there must be no confusion
down the line as to the President's decisions on Cabinet
matters and as to the kind of action which is to be taken.
The NSC offers us an applicable model of a
reporting system. During the meetings there is a sum-up of
the consensus on each item before the group passes to the
DIDN'T
next. We will try this out in the Cabinet.
An ultra-succinct record of Presidential action
is the only report circulated; the same is to be true with
the Cabinet.
We intend that the Cabinet should have the benefit
of the same kind of post-mecting staff coordination which
the NSC Planning Board has developed. Following a Cabinet
meeting the Cabinet Operations Officer will call together
the appropriate Departmental Special Cabinet Assistants --
already familiar with the Cabinet items -- and give them a
selective, repeat selective oral "debriefing." This
debriefing is to consist of the minimum fill-in necessary to
enable these Special Assistants to interpret the Action
Record which they are going to receive, SO they can help
their Chiefs make certain that assignments are clearly
understood and that action will get underway. All this will
save the time of Cabinet members, and make positive that
Under Secretaries or Assistant Secretaries will not
- 12 -
unknowingly take actions contrary to Presidential decisions
from Cabinet meetings.
Finally, the Cabinet Operations Office will
routinely arrange for Progress Reports from the responsible
Agencies on those decisions which ought to have such
reporting.
Here is the Cabinet staff system as we expect it
will be in operation - through standardized Cabinet papers.
Papers awaiting Cabinet consideration will have a
distinctive color, - if lengthy, will always have a brief,
and will be circulated under a cover-page from the Cabinet
Operations Officer with a number, title, and an explanation
of its origin and status.
The Cabinet Paper will appear on the agenda,
together with the name of the Secretary responsible for its
presentation.
The Presidential Action Summary will be drafted
by the Cabinet Operations Officer and presented for the
approval which will signify decision. After the President's
approval, the action summary will itself become the directive
to the Departments.
The Cabinet Operations Office will incorporate the
approved revisions and recirculate the paper in final form
for action. If there needs to be a progress report later,
this will be circulated simply for the Cabinet to note, and
on paper distinctive to informational items.
We emphasize that these inflexible looking charts
should not cause concern. Cabinet procedures will always
have to remain flexible. Discussion of political or Party
matters, for instance, will call for no staff work down the
line and may be announced by occasional separate agendas
- 13 -
labelled "For the Secretary Only." Not all Cabinet matters
may require documentation, but unaccompanied items should be
the exception. Even the frequent informational items now
on Cabinet agendas should be accompanied by a one-page
statement of the kinds of problems to be discussed.
Some Departments may have little interest in
certain Cabinet items. This is to be expected, considering
the diversity of Cabinet membership. The President, however,
frequently uses his Cabinet as a group of statesmen, not just
as individual Department heads. Staff work then is all the
more necessary -- to brief a Secretary about an unfamiliar
matter on which the President may nevertheless welcome his
comments.
With thorough preparatory staff work assured, the
President can expect that important and fruitful topics for
discussion will be volunteered, and will not have to be
extracted from the Departments.
Advance agendas should not be interpreted as
preventing Department Heads from bringing up matters "off
the cuff. = We caution against the use of this period for
major action proposals however. Neither in business nor in
government should important decisions be reached without
careful preparation. The reporting of vital actions,
furthermore, is much more simplified and effective when all
that needs to be said is "The President approves this paper. "
It is to be emphasized again that all these
operations will bog down if done by the White House alone.
They must be the joint effort of the Cabinet Operations
Office working intimately with the Departmental Special
Assistants. The NSC staff numbers thirty, plus full-time
- 14 -
officers in each Member Agency. The Cabinet deserves more
man-hours for its staff work.
The final admonition -- that the Cabinet Operations
Office is not a policy group -- cannot be repeated too often.
In 1924, Lord Hankey laid down three maxims about the
Secretariat:
"It was not to interfere with the responsibility of
the Departments;
It was not to issue statements to the press.
It was not to laugh at the jokes made by ministers,
though a smile was permissible."
There are certain further aids to the Cabinet
which the Staff and Cabinet Operations Office can perform.
Ad hoc Cabinet Committees are useful devices for
preparing recommendations within specific problem-areas.
Some ten of them have been appointed for such a purpose.
The White House, through the Cabinot Operations Office needs
some method of keeping in touch with these Cabinet Committees.
A technique must be found to ensure that they have specific
terms of reference and clear deadlines, that they don't
overlap with one another, that they get off the ground
without waste motion, that they produce reports which meet
the staff work standards for Cabinet papers, that no
fundamental issues are watered down or compromised out ahead
of time, and that these Committees terminate when their task
is done.
The technique we plan to use is to have the Cabinet
Operations Office arrange for appropriate staff assistance
to each Cabinet Committee. Linked in this fashion to the
Cabinet Committees, the Cabinet Operations Office will be
- 15 -
continuously informed as to what these committees are doing,
and how thoir work is progressing.
The importance of good staff work for the Cabinet
is underscored when one rocalls that of those ton Cabinot
Committees, four of than have bcon established in the last
year to consider four major, controversial and complex areas
of problems. Botween noxt September and next March Members
of tho Cabinct will be giving advice to the President on
such vital questions as minerals and metals, water resources,
transport policy and enorgy resourcos. There will be longthy
studies and discussions. The best possible staff work is
needed now to ensure that these studies and discussions will
bc cogent and will bo helpful to the President.
A word about the Sub-Cabinct. Consideration
Overyines met
should be given to having it handle those matters which its
members can dispose of. Its Members may bc too high level
to act as a "Planning Board" considering Cabinct items and.
then 5 m discontinued
then passing thom on for nearly duplicate consideration one
lovel up. The Sub-Cabinot, whon it moots, however, deservos
to have tho same staff services which have been described
for the Cabinot itsclf.
We have portrayed a strengthened system for good
staff work in the Exccutive Branch. It closcly corresponds
to the system of staff services which Secretary Forrestal
and the first Hoover Commission finally recommended for tho
White House six years ago. As a result of wido informal
consultation, we believe this strengthened system is
realistic and feasible, and that it can be initiated
immodiately.
- 16 -
We end with a chart of the proposed Staff and
Cabinet Operations Office -- a chart which of course is not
final and which will be adapted to present needs. Heading
this Office would be
A Staff Secretary to the President, and supporting
him:
A Cabinet Operations Officer
A Staff Operations Officer
The Executive Clerk, and
An Assistant Staff Secretary for the administration
of the White House Office.
The President turns to the White House Assistants,
to the Departments and Agencies, to the Cabinet and its
Committees, or to the NSC with his requests for policy
recommendations, and advice and with his decisions for action.
He himself receives requests for decisions, and receives
policy recommendations and information.
The Staff Secretary's relationship to these
substantive elements is that of ensuring coordination and of
providing service and assistance.
7.
To fulfill the heavier responsibilities which have
just been described, it is expected that this Office will be
strengthened by additional, trained people.
Before concluding, it would be pertinent to point
out that some Departments have long had the benefits of their
own internal staff systems, operating for their Secretaries
1)
much the same as this White House system will operate for
the President. I believe General Smith and Mr. Stassen can
best describe just how much their Departments' secretariats
have meant to them. Secretary Hobby is perfecting these
- 17 -
executive methods in her new Department. It can be
emphasized that any such progress in internal staff work
which individual Agencies may consider making would be very
much in keeping with the goal toward which the White House
is moving, and would be a particularly effective support to
the functioning of the government-wide system described here
this morning.
Our presentation is complete with our showing to
you an advance information copy, in draft, of the handbook
for Executive Branch staff work. This handbook incorporates
six of the charts used this morning, plus more detailed
spell-outs of the principles and procedures outlined.
It is expected that the Assistant to the President
will sign the letter which introduces this handbook and that
the President will then approve its distribution in the
Executive Branch as the substantiation of his endorsement
of these ideas, and as a guidebook for all those participating
in good staff work for the President.
file
To: Bob Haldeman
25 November
From: Kevin Phillips
Re: In Clarification of my Election Data Memo of Last week.
1. As per RN's request for information on the dates when
a final count, including absentee ballots, becomes available in
Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania, I have checked with the
several Secretaries of State and established as follows:
a) Maryland - no final figures are as yet available for
want of returns from the Baltimore City elections board;
no specific date has been set, however these returns
- the only ones missing - should be available shortly.
No separate absentee count is made.
b) Pennsylvania - although November 25 was the state
official canvas deadline, only 25 counties have submitted
final figures, so that a certifiable Bennsylvania
figure will not be available until early December.
c) Florida - the Florida Secretary of State's office
has certified the following final statewide results:
RN - 886,804; HHH - 676,794; and GW - 624,207
I recognize that these are the same figures as UPI had,
however the Florida Secertary of State's office claims
that they include absentees.
2. Doubtless the 100% of Pennsylvania figure given by
APTon November 9 did not include absentee votes; I believe that
the wire services go by election districts (and ignore absentees
counted later) in computing whether 100% has been reached. As
indicated above, final Pennsylvania figures will not be available
for some time.
3. The UPI figure for Alabama includes both Humphrey slates.
4. Several certifications occurred on November 22. They are
as follows:
Missouri: RN 811,932
Maine: RN 169,254
HH 791,444
HH 217,312
GW 206,126
GW
6,370

Document source description

This file contains:

To: Robert Haldeman From: John S. D. Eisenhower Re: Staff secretariat in the White House.  4 Pages. [Letter], 11/25/1968

"The Organization and Functioning of the White House Staff Secretariat." 15 Pages. [Report], n.d.

Photocopy of Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government report on the essentials of effective organization of the executive branch.  28 Pages. [Book], n.d.

Entitled "Staff Work for the President and the Executive Branch" by Carter Burgess.  17 Pages. [Report], 8/13/1954

To: Bob Haldeman From: Kevin Phillips Re: "In Clarification of my Election Data Memo of Last Week." 1 Page. [Memo], 11/25/n.d.

Page data

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ID: 26127124
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    "title": "WHSF: Returned, 41-6",
    "description": "This file contains:\n\nTo: Robert Haldeman From: John S. D. Eisenhower Re: Staff secretariat in the White House.  4 Pages. [Letter], 11/25/1968\n\n\"The Organization and Functioning of the White House Staff Secretariat.\" 15 Pages. [Report], n.d.\n\nPhotocopy of Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government report on the essentials of effective organization of the executive branch.  28 Pages. [Book], n.d.\n\nEntitled \"Staff Work for the President and the Executive Branch\" by Carter Burgess.  17 Pages. [Report], 8/13/1954\n\nTo: Bob Haldeman From: Kevin Phillips Re: \"In Clarification of my Election Data Memo of Last Week.\" 1 Page. [Memo], 11/25/n.d.",
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    "ocrText": "Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nWhite House Special Files Collection\nFolder List\nBox Number Folder Number\nDocument Date\nDocument Type\nDocument Description\n41\n6\n11/25/1968\nLetter\nTo: Robert Haldeman From: John S.D.\nEisenhower Re: Staff secretariat in the White\nHouse. 4 Pages.\n41\n6\nn.d.\nReport\n\"The Organization and Functioning of the\nWhite House Staff Secretariat.\" 15 Pages.\n41\n6\nn.d.\nBook\nPhotocopy of Commission on Organization\nof the Executive Branch of the Government\nreport on the essentials of effective\norganization of the executive branch. 28\nPages.\n41\n6\n08/13/1954\nReport\nEntitled \"Staff Work for the President and\nthe Executive Branch\" by Carter Burgess. 17\nPages.\n41\n6\n11/25/n.d.\nMemo\nTo: Bob Haldeman From: Kevin Phillips Re:\n\"In Clarification of my Election Data Memo\nof Last Week.\" 1 Page.\nFriday, November 16, 2007\nPage 1 of 1\nJOHN S. D. EISENHOWER\nValley Forge,\nPennsylvania 19481\n25 November 1968\nMr. Robert Haldeman\nStaff Member to Mr. Nixon\nThe Wyndham Hotel\n42 West 58th Street\nNew York, New York\nDear Bob:\nPursuant to our telephone conversation today, I would like to\noffer a few notes on the Staff Secretariat in the White House. I\nrealize that my experience is somewhat out-of-date, but I have main-\ntained a strong interest in the subject (if for no other reason than\nthe fact that I earn a good portion of my living speaking on the\nsubject). What I would like to concentrate on is the subject of the\nStaff Secretary. Historically in governmental staffs this is a\nrelatively new device. No such secretariat existed in the State\nDepartment, for example, before the time of General Marshall.\nI believe there is some misconception regarding the role of\nGoodpaster as Staff Secretary in my Dad's years. He was carried as\n\"Liaison Officer from the Department of Defense,\" and during the last\n2½ years I was his assistant. We carried these titles primarily to\ncamouflage the fact that we were military men performing civilian\nduties. Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize that there is no\nneed whatsoever for the Staff Secretary to have military background.\nIn fact if you find the right man elsewhere, such is preferable. It\njust so happened that Goodpaster was the right man.\nNow to get on to the Staff Secretary in Dad's time and his duties:\na) One important duty of the Staff Secretary was coordination\nof actions. At that time the White House received 15,000 letters a\nweek. Under the very capable supervision of Bill Hopkins, this\ncorrespondence was sifted out and only the significant mail reached\nthe White House. The pertinent correspondence was distributed by the\nmail room and each staff officer picked up his actions as necessary.\nThe role of the Staff Secretary in this (working very closely with the\nAppointment Secretary) was to insure that all pertinent viewpoints\nMr. Robert Haldeman\n25 November 1968\nPage two\nwere represented when a Presidential decision was made. Within the\nWhite House people knew each other so well that this was not much of\na problem.\nb) Liaison between the National Security agencies and the\nPresident represented the real meat of the job. The agencies most\nconcerned were State, Defense, CIA, AEC, USIA and AID. Some of these,\nsuch as AID, were periodically independent and periodically under the\nwing of the State Department. So far as I could make out the criterion\nat a given time was how well its chief got along with Dulles.\nNow these agencies soon learn that they cannot go directly to the\nPresident with every one of their little problems. Therefore, once\nan individual such as Goodpaster establishes himself in their confidence,\nthen they will be glad to leave secondary problems in his hands.\nParenthetically I might add that issues considered minor by the\nWhite House are often considered quite major by the agencies concerned.\nOnce the Staff Secretary received an action, he would then decide\nwhether it involved only one Department or whether it involved several.\nIf it cut across several Departments or Agencies, he would then ask\ntactfully regarding the positions of the others. (In such cases it was\nusually best to let the initiating agency do the staffing.) If all\nAgencies were happy, Goodpaster or I could get Presidential approval\nin a second. If differences existed -- say between Defense and State --\nthen Goodpaster would set up a meeting with the Appointment Secretary\nto include all interested people.\nThis function would seem to belong in the purview of the Special\nAssistant for National Secretary Affairs. Indeed there were areas of\noverlap and in order to avoid friction both the Staff Secretary and\nSpecial Assistant have to be gentlemen and mutually considerate. But\nthe vast majority of problems fall rather clearly in one area or the\nother, the criterion being immediacy. Gordon Gray, Special Assistant\nfor NSC, was involved primarily in long range planning. Goodpaster\nwas involved in the immediate -- the very latest on Quemoy-Matsu,\nLebanon, Suez or Berlin. They bent over backwards to keep each other\ninformed.\nc) Daily intelligence briefings of the President, based on\ndocuments delivered early in the morning by CIA, State Department and\nother Agencies. In making these briefings I personally found it\nnecessary to read the newspapers thoroughly beforehand.\nMr. Robert Haldeman\n25 November 1968\nPage three\nd) Records of meetings with the President. This is one of the\nmost important functions of the Staff Secretary. By and large I feel\nthat every visitor to the President's office should be accompanied by\nthe Staff Secretary or his Assistant. The only exception in Dad's\ntime was Dulles, and we have lived to regret it.\nVisitors at first tend to cast a fishy eye at the \"chaperone,\"\nfeeling that the presence of a White House staff officer destroys the\nintimacy of the conversation. Nevertheless, the fact that views are\nbeing recorded serves to keep the visitors slightly more cautious in\nthe rendering of advice. And not to be overlooked is the fact that\nMr. Nixon will someday want to write his memoirs; 90% of the informa-\ntion available to him in such endeavor will come from his correspondence\nand from these records of conferences.\n(To insure accuracy and establish the confidence of the visitor,\nI found it advisable often to compare notes with him after we stepped\noutside the office.)\ne) Editing State Department drafts for the President's signature.\nThis is important to personalize them and to eliminate the State\nDepartment flavor.\nf) In the case of an individual like Goodpaster, with a seemingly\ninfinite capacity for all kinds of work, he tended to take over\nfunctions that would surprise oen. These included allocation of\noffice space, parking permits, and furniture. He was the custodian\nof the plans for the state funeral of George Marshall. However the\nman makes the office. I do not consider these odd-job functions as\nintrinsic to the job.\nI would not be so presumptuous as to recommend who you would\nwant for such a job as Staff Secretary. I know of several people on\nactive duty in the Army who could perform it; perhaps it might be well\nto consult with Goodpaster. As I mentioned above, however, it is\npreferable if you can find a man with SGS experience from another\nagency of government. Arch Calhoun in State, for example (if he's not\ntoo high on the pecking order), would be excellent.\nMr. Robert Haldeman\n25 November 1968\nPage four\nI think this has been long enough. I hope you have no objection\nto my sending a copy to Bryce Harlow.\nWith best wishes,\nSincerely,\nJohn\nJSDE: jht\ncc: The Honorable Bryce Harlow\nTHE ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF THE\nWHITE HOUSE STAFF SECRETARIAT\nLog Desk\nTab A\nReview Officer\nTab B\nStatus Officer\nTab C\nAction Officer\nTab D\nFlow Diagram\nTab E\nFiles\nTab F\nA.\nLOG DESK\nI.\nUpon initial receipt of any document:\nA.\nDate stamp.\nB.\nForward to Status Officer.\nII.\nUpon receipt from Status Officer with instructions for staffing:\nA.\nAssign log number.\nB.\nType Action Memo and Record Cards.\nC.\nForward to Review Officer.\nIII.\nUpon return from Review Officer of document for staffing:\nA.\nMake necessary copies of document, Action Memo, and\nRecord Cards.\nB.\nForward copies of Action Memo and document to Action\nOfficers and Information Officers.\nC.\nFile document and copy of Action Memo in ACTION MEMO\nFILE (by log number).\nD.\nFile copy of Record Card in SUSPENSE FILE (by suspense date).\nE.\nFile copy of Record Card in NAME FILE for each Action\nOfficer (In active section by name and log number).\nF.\nFile copy of record card in SUBJECT FILE.\nIV.\nUpon return of material from Action Officer:\nA.\nPull card from Suspense File and make appropriate notation.\nB.\nPull packet from Action Memo File and attach to incoming\nmaterial.\n2\nC.\nForward to Status Officer.\nV.\nUpon receipt of document from Review Officer to be forwarded\nto the President:\nA.\nDetermine if it has received previous processing.\nB.\nIf it has received previous processing, place card from\nSuspense File in the PRESIDENTIAL ACTION PENDING\nFILE (by log number).\nC.\nIf it has not received previous processing:\n1) Assign log number and type Record Card set.\n2) File copy of card in Presidential Action Pending\nFile (by log number).\n3) File copy of card in Name File (filed under the originator's\nname).\n4)\nFile copy of card in Subject File.\nD.\nPlace log number on document with pencil.\nE.\nPlace extra back-up material in the Action Memo File.\nF.\nForward to the President.\nVI.\nUpon receipt from Review Officer of document which does not\nhave to go to the President:\nA.\nDetermine if it has received previous processing.\nB.\nIf it has received previous processing:\n1)\nMake appropriate notation on card.\n2)\nFile card in ACTION PENDING FILE (by Action Officer\nand log number).\n3)\nForward document to Action Officer.\n3\nC.\nIf it has not received previous processing:\n1)\nAssign log number.\n2)\nType up Record Card set.\n3) File copy of card in Name File (filed under originator's\nname).\n4)\nFile copy of card in Action Pending File.\n5) Forward document to Action Officer.\nVII.\nUpon receipt from Review Officer of document which has been to\nthe President:\nA.\nPull card from Presidential Action Pending File, make\nappropriate notation, and file in Action Pending File (by\nAction Officer).\nB.\nForward document to Action Officer.\nVIII.\nFinal Disposition - Once Log Desk is sure appropriate action is\nbeing taken:\nA.\nPull card from Action Pending File, make notation, and\nfile in LOG FILE (by log number).\nB.\nPull Action Memo File and forward to Central Files.\nC.\nMove card in Name File from the active to the inactive\nsection.\nB\nREVIEW OFFICER\nI.\nUpon receipt of document for staffing:\nA.\nDetermine if the Status Officer has made the appropriate\nrecommendation for action and routing.\nB.\nIf recommendation is not approved return to Status Officer\nfor revision.\nC.\nIf recommendation is approved return to Log Desk for\nrouting.\nII.\nUpon receipt of document which requires no further staffing:\nA.\nReview to insure it does not require further staffing. If\nfurther staffing is necessary then return to Status Officer.\nB.\nDetermine what should be the appropriate routing (should\nit go to the President, directly to a staff member, file, etc.).\nC.\nForward to Log Desk for the appropriate routing.\nIII.\nUpon return of document from the President:\nA.\nDetermine if further action is necessary.\nB.\nIf no further action necessary then have card pulled from\nPresident's Action Pending File and forward to Log Desk\nfor final disposition.\nC.\nIf further action is necessary then Review Officer must\ndetermine if further staffing is necessary:\n1)\nIf further staffing is necessary then have card pulled\nfrom Presidential Action Pending File and forwarded\nto Status Officer.\n2)\nIf no further staffing is necessary then determine\nAction Officer and forward to Log Desk for routing.\nSTATUS OFFICER\nI.\nUpon receipt of document from Log Desk or Review Officer:\nA.\nDetermine whether or not it requires further staffing.\nB.\nIf no further staffing is necessary then forward to Review\nOfficer with recommended action.\nC.\nIf document requires staffing:\n1)\nDetermine action necessary.\n2)\nDetermine routing for both action and information copies.\n3)\nDetermine action suspense date.\n4)\nReturn to Log Desk for forwarding to Review Officer.\nD.\nACTION OFFICER\nI.\nUpon receipt of document requesting action:\nA.\nDetermine if the action requested is appropriate and if the\nsuspense date is realistic.\nB.\nIf there is a discrepancy then Action Officer must contact\nthe Log Desk for revision of action or suspense date or for\npossible rerouting.\nC.\nIf request is appropriate then Action Officer should comply\nwith requested action and return the material to the Log Desk.\nE.\n(\nS.O.\nR.O\nSTAYUS OfficeR\nDOES this\nLog Desk\n409 DESK\n2\nI\nAction Necessary\nIS the Action\nINCOMING\nLog Desk\nReQUiRE FURTHER\nyes\nType up Action\nFORWARded\n3\nAction Officer\nAction OfficeR\nCORRES-\nPONDENCE\nDATE Stamp\nMEMO CARds\nANd Appropriate? Routing\nto AcTioN\nTAKE\nstaffing?\nINFO Copies\nAppropriAte\nOfficeR copy\nAction\nsuspence DATE\nANd CARds filed\nA.O\nNO\nNo\nAction Officer\nARE thE\nR.O\nL.A\n2\nContact Log\nNO\nSuspensE\nLog Desk\nDesk FOR\nDATE and Request\nMust\nHas it\nRevision of\nActioN\nit go to the\nReceived PREVIOUS\nType CARdset\nAction OR\nNo\nNO\nSUSPENSE DATE\nA\npropriate\n?\nPResidenT?\nRocessing?\nFilE CARds\nyes\n3\nyes\nyes\nLog Desk\nPULL SUSPENSE CARD\nW.P,\n+ NOTE Receipt\nLog Desk\nHAS it\nPutt Action MEMO\nType CARd Set\nNO\nFilE + AHAch\nReceived previous\nwith incoming\nFile CARds\nPROCESSING?\n/\nyes\nLoq Desk\nCARdiN PRES. Action\nPending FilE\nR.O.\nRio\nIs\nLoq Desk\nAction\nLog Desk\nDoes\nNotation ON\nOfficeR FOR\nNotation ON\nTo PRES dEN +\n4\nFURTHER\nit Require\nCARD + Filed\nActioN OR\nCARD + filed\nFOR Action OR\nAction Necessary?\nFuthER staffing?\nIN ActioN\nIN 109 file\nFYI\nFYI\nS.O. - Status Officer\nPAPERS to\nPending File\nCentral Files\nR.O. - Review OfficeR\nA.O. - Action Officer\nL.D. - Log Desk\nNo\nyes\n4\na\nFILES\nI.\nWORKING FILES\nA. ACTION MEMO FILE - contains original of incoming\ndocument, copy of Action memo, and any additional\ncorrespondence generated on the subject - file by log\nnumber.\nB. SUSPENSE FILE - contains a copy of the record card\nof each document routed to an Action officer for staffing -\nfile by suspense date.\nC. PRESIDENTIAL ACTION PENDING FILE - contains a\ncopy of the Record Card of each document routed to the\nPresident for action on FYI - file by log number.\nD. ACTION PENDING FILE - contains a copy of the Record\ncard of each document routed to an Action officer for\naction - file by Action officer and log number.\nE. SUBJECT FILE - contains a copy of the Record card of\neach document that is being processed - file by subject.\nII\nPERMANENT FILES\nA. NAME FILE - contains a copy of the Record Card - file\nby Action officer or, in the case of an item which received\nno staffing, by originator and within those categories by\nlog number. (Each name in this file has an active and an\ninactive section).\nB. LOG FILE - contains a copy of the Record card of each\ndocument upon which action has been completed - file by\nlog number.\nSTAFF WORK FOR THE PRESIDENT\nand the\nEXECUTIVE BRANCH\nPresentation To The Cabinet\nBY CARTER 8-13-1954 BURGESS\nSince assuming office, the President has taken steps\ntoward improving White House and Cabinet staff work.\nLast year he created a Staff Secretary and a Secretary\nfor the Cabinet.\nAt his recent request, I have again reviewed the\nprogress which has been made in placing White House and Cabinet\nstaff work on a more business-like basis.\nAssisting me in this second undertaking has been\nBradley Patterson, Jr. We have served together on several\nsecretariat organization assignments in the government, and he\nhas brought to this particular study wide knowledge and\npractical competence. The graphic materials used were provided\nby the Department of State's Division of Visual and Technical\nServices.\nThis review has convinced us first: that real\nprogress has been achieved in the past year in making White\nHouse and Cabinet staff work time-saving and more effective\nand the Cabinet can take pride in the results to date.\nThis review has also convinced us that we should\nkeep on the same road, and finish the creation of a system,\nso long familiar to the President in his previous experience,\nwhich will truly ensure good staff work for him and the\nExecutive Branch.\nWhat the President requires is an action system which\nwill help him function as President. He is besieged by people\nand problems which demand his attention -- by questions which\nonly he can decide.\n- 2 -\nHow can ho spread his time over these important matters?\nHow can he conserve himsolf for those problems which are\npresidential?\nHow can Department heads, in turn, be sure they know just\nwhat the Prosident wants donc on a particular matter?\nThe answer is an action system which guarantoos to him\nthat White House requests or decisions are transmitted to the right\naction point immediately, that thoy are made clear and specific so\nthat action taken can be exactly responsive to what is asked for,\nand that there will be a systematic survcillance so that a\nDepartment head won't come back to the White House to find the\nPresident insisting that he had askod him to do something three\nmonths ago, and where are the results?\nThis system will provide a coordinating point to ensuro\nfor the President and his top aides that what comes back to them\nis in the shortest possible form, that it will come to them once,\ndonc right -- and not rebound two or three times, through four or\nfive pairs of hands before it is completed properly.\nSuch a system will not only enforce the President's\ninsistence on good staff work, but guide and assist the responsible\nofficers and Agencies to produce acceptable work from the beginning.\nThis kind of positive staff service saves the time of\nDepartment heads as well as the President. Both they and the\nPresident can be guaranteed that proper information will flow in\nboth directions to those who need to have it. In short, an\neffective action system allows the President, his top aidos, and\nDepartment heads themselves to dismiss from their minds concern\nabout the mechanics of getting good staff work in the Executive\nBranch.\n- 3 -\nHaving sketched out roughly what a staff \"action\nsystem\" will do, let us look at the structure of our Executive\nBranch -- the surroundings within which a staff system 1s to\nfunction and the elements it will serve.\nThe President is supported by his personal staff of\nWhite House Assistants. In his Executive Office are his\nsubstantive staff arms -- filling a unique and vital role of\n7\ninter-agency staff work -- as for instance by the Bureau of the\nBudget on appropriations requests and proposed legislation.\nDirectly responsible to the President also are the\noperating agencies of government -- over 50 of them.\nHow can a White House staff office fit into this\npicture and at the same time not violate the original proviso\nwhich the President laid down when he asked for this study:\nthat nothing should restrict the President's direct contact\nwith his Cabinet and Agency heads?\nIt is at this point that a strengthened \"Staff and\nCabinet Operations Office\" is to be located. Like the other\nWhite House elements, it will be the President's staff --\nserving him -- and them. It must not be an institution by\nitself.\nIt will work with the existing coordinating\nmechanisms at The Presidential level -- the Cabinet, Cabinet\nCommittees and the NSC.\nOne of the major problems faced was: How can the\nStaff and Cabinet Operations Office -- sitting up here -- give\nthat positive assistance to the responsible Agencies -- working\nwith their organizations speedily, and informally - in order\nto help them do better staff work, to save their time as well\nas the President's?\n- 4 -\nIn some Agencies, there is no ono acting as a focal\npoint for that Agency's staff work and whom White House or\nother Agencies' officers can consult without bothering the\ntop-lovol lino officors. This is a sovero handicap to a good\nstaff system.\nEach Agency will shortly be invited by the White\nHouse to designato a competent officer in the Office of its\nSecretary, to bo a Special Assistant for White House and\nCabinct matters - a clearinghousc for problems of White House\nand Cabinct coordination.\nSuch an officer should be a staff officer - not a\nline official with major operating responsibilitics. Hc would\nhave to have the full, personal confidence of his Department\nhead, and immodiate access to him. He should have the ability\nto reach anywhere in his Agency and, on behalf of his Secretary,\nget action started or questions answered.\nWith staff links such as portrayed here, a fast\ninquiry on a routino problem - such as assignment or reminder\nof action, on clearance or on coordination -- can be made by\nthe Staff Socretary once, to one place, without bothering\ntop-level line officials. A typical question from the Staff\nSecretary to a Departmental Special Assistant might be:\n\"Does your boss know about this?\" To have a knowlodgeable\nofficer to whom to direct this question is a matter of\nmochanics. But from tho lack of such mochanics could como\nhours of lost notion.\nThe Departments have had many areas of functional\nspecialists - for legislation, for public information, for\npersonnel, for budget. Those specialists work closely with\ntheir counterparts in the other Agoncies and on the White House\n- 5 -\nstaff. The time is long overdue for the same solid relationships\nbetween the specialists in the vital business of top-level\nstaff work.\nA system of staff links, functioning in this manner,\nwill free the lines of contact which the President, Governor\nAdams and the other White House Assistants have to various\nAgency officials, for the policy questions which are\nappropriately theirs. This system will thus act to support,\nand not alter, the relationship of each Department head to\nthe President.\nFor the White House itself, there are several\ngeneral maxims for speeding action through staff operations.\nThe first is that the White House will not do work\nwhich can be done elsewhere. It will send out to the\nresponsible agencies all the requests and problems which those\nagencies can handle directly. It will also assign action out\non a maximum amount of the preparatory work on Presidential\nmatters.\nIn the second place, every such assignment on items\nfor subsequent action will be covered through a foolproof\nsuspense system.\nWithin the Agencies assigned action, responsibility\nfor preparation of White House assignments implies an\nimmediate triple task:\nProducing the proper documentation;\nDoing a complete job of lateral coordination with\nthe other interested Agencies;\nPreparing in- a standard format a one-page Covering\nBrief.\n- 6 -\nOnce the responsible agencies have made their full\ncontribution, internal White House review, prior to final\naction, is of two kinds:\nA review by the Staff and Cabinet Operations Office\nto ensure completed staff work. This Secretariat review is in\nno way a policy review.\nThe second kind of White House review -- by the\nWhite House Assistants on certain major issues and proposals --\ngrows out of the unique position of the President in the\nExecutive Branch. The President must scrutinize an important\nproposal from any one part of his Executive Branch from the\nperspective of the whole of his government and its relation to\nhis overall program. The President has had a recognized need\n7\nfor specially qualified personal assistants who can examine,\nfrom that unique White House perspective, the often divergent\nand sometimes competitive recommendations of individual\nagencies. These Assistants can advise the President as to\nwhether an individual recommendation does or does not fit\nwith his comprehensive objectives.\nWhen the matter comes before the President for\ndecision, this system of staff operations will have guaranteed\nthat these. seven steps of good staff work will have been done,\nand done right. He will not have to worry about them; he\ncan conserve his attention for the function which is\nuniquely his: the decision.\nNor will he need concern himself about the\nfollow-up of his decision. A working system of staff\noperations will ensure that his decision is recorded and then\nreported to the officer or Agency which must take action, and\nto others for information if necessary. He can also be sure\n- 7 -\nthat his decision will not evaporate in the limbo of the\nbureaucracy; he will hear from it again. Through selective\nprogress reporting he or his staff will be able to keep track\nof it; and the President can be assured that he will be\nalerted if his own intervention is again needed.\nThis system is likewise going to see to it that\n7\nno Department head is left wondering just what the President\nasked him to do, and when. It will help guarantee that a\nproposal to the President which vitally affects a given\nDepartment Head is not made unknowingly without that officer's\nbeing consulted.\nHere is the Staff Secretary in action -- serving\nthe President by standardizing these procedures of staff\noperations between the White House and the Executive Branch.\nFor assignment - this is the Route Slip which is\nnow in use.\nSpecial written directives will also be used.\nFor fellow-up - this is a specimen of the type of\nsuspense list which may be initiated.\nAs the last step in preparation - this is the type\nof Covering Brief which should appear on top of\nevery sheaf of papers sent for action to the\nPresident or his top aides. In an unvarying\nformat, and on one page it states the problem,\ngives the background, summarizes the reasoning,\nrefers to the proper papers which are attached,\nexplains what is being presented for action,\ntells the President what kind of wheels will turn\nwhen he makes his decision, gives him a specific\n- 8 -\nrecommendation, and tells him what other Agency\nheads concur.\nThe Staff Secretary's review is these six points:\nIs this proposal necessary for the President\npersonally to act on?\nIs it responsive to what was requested?\nIs it ready for action?\nIs it consistent with other commitments and\npolicies?\nHave the appropriate Departments been consulted?\nIs it timely?\nHow will it be implemented and followed up?\nHere are two other extra features of a good staff\nsystem to which White House consideration is being given.\nThe first is a record of decisions -- a routine\nNever done.\nsystem for putting written and oral decisions into a daily\nsummary which as a collection will be useful to the\nPresident and his top aides, and which can be extracted,\nwith the pertinent extracts sent to the agencies and White\nHouse Assistants concerned.\nThe second is an Overnight Brief. The President\nmust know what is going on -- in his Executive Branch, in\nDeaugurated\n1956.\nthe Congress, in the press, overseas. He can find out\n}\neither by ploughing through various memoranda and reports,\nand by having his door opened or his telephone ring in the\nmorning with someone saying, \"Have you heard this?\" But\nthere is a more orderly way. All good newspapers have night\nstaffs to produce current reports for their readers in the\nmorning. The President of the United States and his Staff\ndeserve equally systematic and comprehensive reporting.\n- 9 -\nThe State Department has such a system every working day.\nAn overnight briefing staff could arrange, through\nthe Departmental Special Assistants, to have selected\ninformational material, normally destined for the President\nin separate pieces, sent to the White House in the late\nevening and early morning, and from it compile in an\nOvernight Brief for the President and his White House aides.\nThis would in no way prevent the door-opening and telephoning,\nespecially during the way -- but once the system got\n7\nworking, Agency heads and White House Assistants would, we\nbelieve, be glad to send their informational memoranda to a\ncentral point, with the sure knowledge that if the items\nare really important they will get to the President. Only\ninformation, no action items, should be presented in this\nfashion, though the President might wish to make notations\non some of the items such as -- \"See me before anything is\ndone about this.\nWe emphasize that the mechanism for getting these\nstaff operations done is this staff system -- functioning\nbetween the White House and the Agencies and among the\nAgencies themselves.\nTurning to the Cabinet, we will show that\ntechniques of good staff work can improve Cabinet meetings.\nThe President is using the Cabinet to get advice.\nHow can he be assured that this advice is the\nmost thorough he can get, and that the Cabinet gives it to\nhim with a minimum of lost motion? A Cabinet Operations\nOffice -- in full operation -- is the staff device to be\nused.\n- 10 -\nSuggested items for Cabinet agendas can of course\ncome from the President, from any Cabinet Department, or from\nthe White House Assistants.\nThe Cabinet agenda is not the place, however, for\nitems which are half ripe or hastily gathered just in order to\nhave a full basket on Friday mornings.\nThe consideration of major items is going to result\nin waste motion for everyone around the Cabinet table unless\nthe Cabinet Operations Office gets the opportunity to help\nthe interested agencies to do some prior staff work.\nMost major items should be anticipated -- and a\nsingle Department then given primary responsibility to carry\nthe ball, to consult with other Departments involved and to\nproduce a short paper in which there is careful analysis, a\nrefining of the issues, an identification of the agreements\nand of any dissents, and a clear recommendation. It is then\nappropriate for placement on the Cabinet agenda.\nThe agenda, and its accompanying documents, should\nbe circulated at least two days in advance.\nAt this point some homework is expected on the\nthe\npart of each Secretary who will be coming to that Cabinet\nmeeting. His Special Assistant for Cabinet Matters will\nhave arranged for as thorough study as is warranted --\nwithin his Department -- on the items for discussion. The\nSpecial Assistant, together with appropriate Departmental\nspecialists -- will brief their Secretary 50 that he comes\nto the Cabinet Room having been given all the facts and\nbackground at his Department's command to support his advice\nto his Chief.\n- 11 -\nThe Cabinet advises the President, and the\nPresident makes the action decisions.\nSecond only to that principle are two other rules\nwhich are to form the boundaries of Cabinet staff work:\nThe secrecy of Cabinot discussions must be\npreserved with those attending feeling free to speak their\nminds, and yet on the other hand there must be no confusion\ndown the line as to the President's decisions on Cabinet\nmatters and as to the kind of action which is to be taken.\nThe NSC offers us an applicable model of a\nreporting system. During the meetings there is a sum-up of\nthe consensus on each item before the group passes to the\nDIDN'T\nnext. We will try this out in the Cabinet.\nAn ultra-succinct record of Presidential action\nis the only report circulated; the same is to be true with\nthe Cabinet.\nWe intend that the Cabinet should have the benefit\nof the same kind of post-mecting staff coordination which\nthe NSC Planning Board has developed. Following a Cabinet\nmeeting the Cabinet Operations Officer will call together\nthe appropriate Departmental Special Cabinet Assistants --\nalready familiar with the Cabinet items -- and give them a\nselective, repeat selective oral \"debriefing.\" This\ndebriefing is to consist of the minimum fill-in necessary to\nenable these Special Assistants to interpret the Action\nRecord which they are going to receive, SO they can help\ntheir Chiefs make certain that assignments are clearly\nunderstood and that action will get underway. All this will\nsave the time of Cabinet members, and make positive that\nUnder Secretaries or Assistant Secretaries will not\n- 12 -\nunknowingly take actions contrary to Presidential decisions\nfrom Cabinet meetings.\nFinally, the Cabinet Operations Office will\nroutinely arrange for Progress Reports from the responsible\nAgencies on those decisions which ought to have such\nreporting.\nHere is the Cabinet staff system as we expect it\nwill be in operation - through standardized Cabinet papers.\nPapers awaiting Cabinet consideration will have a\ndistinctive color, - if lengthy, will always have a brief,\nand will be circulated under a cover-page from the Cabinet\nOperations Officer with a number, title, and an explanation\nof its origin and status.\nThe Cabinet Paper will appear on the agenda,\ntogether with the name of the Secretary responsible for its\npresentation.\nThe Presidential Action Summary will be drafted\nby the Cabinet Operations Officer and presented for the\napproval which will signify decision. After the President's\napproval, the action summary will itself become the directive\nto the Departments.\nThe Cabinet Operations Office will incorporate the\napproved revisions and recirculate the paper in final form\nfor action. If there needs to be a progress report later,\nthis will be circulated simply for the Cabinet to note, and\non paper distinctive to informational items.\nWe emphasize that these inflexible looking charts\nshould not cause concern. Cabinet procedures will always\nhave to remain flexible. Discussion of political or Party\nmatters, for instance, will call for no staff work down the\nline and may be announced by occasional separate agendas\n- 13 -\nlabelled \"For the Secretary Only.\" Not all Cabinet matters\nmay require documentation, but unaccompanied items should be\nthe exception. Even the frequent informational items now\non Cabinet agendas should be accompanied by a one-page\nstatement of the kinds of problems to be discussed.\nSome Departments may have little interest in\ncertain Cabinet items. This is to be expected, considering\nthe diversity of Cabinet membership. The President, however,\nfrequently uses his Cabinet as a group of statesmen, not just\nas individual Department heads. Staff work then is all the\nmore necessary -- to brief a Secretary about an unfamiliar\nmatter on which the President may nevertheless welcome his\ncomments.\nWith thorough preparatory staff work assured, the\nPresident can expect that important and fruitful topics for\ndiscussion will be volunteered, and will not have to be\nextracted from the Departments.\nAdvance agendas should not be interpreted as\npreventing Department Heads from bringing up matters \"off\nthe cuff. = We caution against the use of this period for\nmajor action proposals however. Neither in business nor in\ngovernment should important decisions be reached without\ncareful preparation. The reporting of vital actions,\nfurthermore, is much more simplified and effective when all\nthat needs to be said is \"The President approves this paper. \"\nIt is to be emphasized again that all these\noperations will bog down if done by the White House alone.\nThey must be the joint effort of the Cabinet Operations\nOffice working intimately with the Departmental Special\nAssistants. The NSC staff numbers thirty, plus full-time\n- 14 -\nofficers in each Member Agency. The Cabinet deserves more\nman-hours for its staff work.\nThe final admonition -- that the Cabinet Operations\nOffice is not a policy group -- cannot be repeated too often.\nIn 1924, Lord Hankey laid down three maxims about the\nSecretariat:\n\"It was not to interfere with the responsibility of\nthe Departments;\nIt was not to issue statements to the press.\nIt was not to laugh at the jokes made by ministers,\nthough a smile was permissible.\"\nThere are certain further aids to the Cabinet\nwhich the Staff and Cabinet Operations Office can perform.\nAd hoc Cabinet Committees are useful devices for\npreparing recommendations within specific problem-areas.\nSome ten of them have been appointed for such a purpose.\nThe White House, through the Cabinot Operations Office needs\nsome method of keeping in touch with these Cabinet Committees.\nA technique must be found to ensure that they have specific\nterms of reference and clear deadlines, that they don't\noverlap with one another, that they get off the ground\nwithout waste motion, that they produce reports which meet\nthe staff work standards for Cabinet papers, that no\nfundamental issues are watered down or compromised out ahead\nof time, and that these Committees terminate when their task\nis done.\nThe technique we plan to use is to have the Cabinet\nOperations Office arrange for appropriate staff assistance\nto each Cabinet Committee. Linked in this fashion to the\nCabinet Committees, the Cabinet Operations Office will be\n- 15 -\ncontinuously informed as to what these committees are doing,\nand how thoir work is progressing.\nThe importance of good staff work for the Cabinet\nis underscored when one rocalls that of those ton Cabinot\nCommittees, four of than have bcon established in the last\nyear to consider four major, controversial and complex areas\nof problems. Botween noxt September and next March Members\nof tho Cabinct will be giving advice to the President on\nsuch vital questions as minerals and metals, water resources,\ntransport policy and enorgy resourcos. There will be longthy\nstudies and discussions. The best possible staff work is\nneeded now to ensure that these studies and discussions will\nbc cogent and will bo helpful to the President.\nA word about the Sub-Cabinct. Consideration\nOveryines met\nshould be given to having it handle those matters which its\nmembers can dispose of. Its Members may bc too high level\nto act as a \"Planning Board\" considering Cabinct items and.\nthen 5 m discontinued\nthen passing thom on for nearly duplicate consideration one\nlovel up. The Sub-Cabinot, whon it moots, however, deservos\nto have tho same staff services which have been described\nfor the Cabinot itsclf.\nWe have portrayed a strengthened system for good\nstaff work in the Exccutive Branch. It closcly corresponds\nto the system of staff services which Secretary Forrestal\nand the first Hoover Commission finally recommended for tho\nWhite House six years ago. As a result of wido informal\nconsultation, we believe this strengthened system is\nrealistic and feasible, and that it can be initiated\nimmodiately.\n- 16 -\nWe end with a chart of the proposed Staff and\nCabinet Operations Office -- a chart which of course is not\nfinal and which will be adapted to present needs. Heading\nthis Office would be\nA Staff Secretary to the President, and supporting\nhim:\nA Cabinet Operations Officer\nA Staff Operations Officer\nThe Executive Clerk, and\nAn Assistant Staff Secretary for the administration\nof the White House Office.\nThe President turns to the White House Assistants,\nto the Departments and Agencies, to the Cabinet and its\nCommittees, or to the NSC with his requests for policy\nrecommendations, and advice and with his decisions for action.\nHe himself receives requests for decisions, and receives\npolicy recommendations and information.\nThe Staff Secretary's relationship to these\nsubstantive elements is that of ensuring coordination and of\nproviding service and assistance.\n7.\nTo fulfill the heavier responsibilities which have\njust been described, it is expected that this Office will be\nstrengthened by additional, trained people.\nBefore concluding, it would be pertinent to point\nout that some Departments have long had the benefits of their\nown internal staff systems, operating for their Secretaries\n1)\nmuch the same as this White House system will operate for\nthe President. I believe General Smith and Mr. Stassen can\nbest describe just how much their Departments' secretariats\nhave meant to them. Secretary Hobby is perfecting these\n- 17 -\nexecutive methods in her new Department. It can be\nemphasized that any such progress in internal staff work\nwhich individual Agencies may consider making would be very\nmuch in keeping with the goal toward which the White House\nis moving, and would be a particularly effective support to\nthe functioning of the government-wide system described here\nthis morning.\nOur presentation is complete with our showing to\nyou an advance information copy, in draft, of the handbook\nfor Executive Branch staff work. This handbook incorporates\nsix of the charts used this morning, plus more detailed\nspell-outs of the principles and procedures outlined.\nIt is expected that the Assistant to the President\nwill sign the letter which introduces this handbook and that\nthe President will then approve its distribution in the\nExecutive Branch as the substantiation of his endorsement\nof these ideas, and as a guidebook for all those participating\nin good staff work for the President.\nfile\nTo: Bob Haldeman\n25 November\nFrom: Kevin Phillips\nRe: In Clarification of my Election Data Memo of Last week.\n1. As per RN's request for information on the dates when\na final count, including absentee ballots, becomes available in\nFlorida, Maryland and Pennsylvania, I have checked with the\nseveral Secretaries of State and established as follows:\na) Maryland - no final figures are as yet available for\nwant of returns from the Baltimore City elections board;\nno specific date has been set, however these returns\n- the only ones missing - should be available shortly.\nNo separate absentee count is made.\nb) Pennsylvania - although November 25 was the state\nofficial canvas deadline, only 25 counties have submitted\nfinal figures, so that a certifiable Bennsylvania\nfigure will not be available until early December.\nc) Florida - the Florida Secretary of State's office\nhas certified the following final statewide results:\nRN - 886,804; HHH - 676,794; and GW - 624,207\nI recognize that these are the same figures as UPI had,\nhowever the Florida Secertary of State's office claims\nthat they include absentees.\n2. Doubtless the 100% of Pennsylvania figure given by\nAPTon November 9 did not include absentee votes; I believe that\nthe wire services go by election districts (and ignore absentees\ncounted later) in computing whether 100% has been reached. As\nindicated above, final Pennsylvania figures will not be available\nfor some time.\n3. The UPI figure for Alabama includes both Humphrey slates.\n4. Several certifications occurred on November 22. They are\nas follows:\nMissouri: RN 811,932\nMaine: RN 169,254\nHH 791,444\nHH 217,312\nGW 206,126\nGW\n6,370"
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