The President's Office Files consist of materials that record the President's daily activities or that were seen or annotated
by the President. The two series within this group that are most closely associated with the President are the Handwriting
File and the Annotated News Summaries. The files also include memoranda prepared by White House staff members who attended
certain meetings with the President.
The President's Office Files consists of materials drawn together by the Special Files Unit from several administrative subdivisions
within the White House Office. President Nixon's chiefs of staff, H. R. Haldeman (1969-73) and Alexander M. Haig (1973-74),
were in charge of the overall operation of the White House Office. Alexander P. Butterfield, as Deputy Assistant to the President,
was responsible for the final review of all memoranda and reports going to the President and for handling and marking the
material seen by him. Stephen B. Bull assumed these duties in 1973. The bulk of the papers retrieved from the President's
outbox were sent to the Central Files or to Henry A. Kissinger for the National Security Council Files. However, materials
containing the President's handwriting or of a particularly sensitive nature were sent by Butterfield to the Staff Secretary's
Office for disposition and storage.
It is the handwriting and sensitive papers sent to the Staff Secretary that now comprise much of the President's Office Files.
The manner in which these materials were processed depended on the procedures established by the Staff Secretary. John R.
Brown III (1969-71), Jon M. Huntsman (1971), Bruce A. Kehrli (1972-74) and Jerry H. Jones (1974) held this position in the
Nixon White House.
Butterfield and, later, David C. Hoopes were responsible for ensuring that meetings attended by the President were documented
in the files. This included instructing staff members to be present at specific meetings in order to prepare memoranda for
the record, and following up to make sure the required memoranda were completed and submitted.
The Appointments Office, headed by Dwight L. Chapin, handled the preparation of the President's daily schedule. The First
Lady's Office informed Chapin of the public activities of Mrs. Nixon, Patricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower for inclusion
in the President's official schedule.
49 linear feet, 10 linear inches; 114 boxes
Most government records are in the public domain; however, this series includes commercial materials, such as newspaper clippings,
that may be subject to copyright restrictions. Researchers should contact the copyright holder for information.
Collection is open for research. Some materials may be unavailable based upon categories of materials exempt from public release
established in the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974.