Date

Nov 9, 1976

Description

Before Gerald Ford’s electoral defeat on 4 November 1976, Kissinger spirited away the telcons from the State Department. Believing that they were his personal property, regardless of the litigation risk that Leigh had mentioned, on 29 October he sent them back again secretly to Nelson Rockefeller’s estate, possibly without consulting State Department records managers, much less the National Archives.[8]

Ford’s defeat subsequently prompted Kissinger to make final decisions on arrangements for his papers. The uncertainties that Leigh had mentioned may have excluded from serious consideration storing records or copies at the National Archives or the State Department. A donation of personal and official papers to the Library of Congress, where Kissinger could have easy access, quickly became the focus of attention. There were uncertainties, however, and this report by one of Leigh’s aides looked closely at the legal and other questions involved in a donation, such as gift authority, possible claims of access by Congress or the Justice Department, the need for State and NSC approval, conditions of access, amenities for Kissinger (workspace, research assistance), the need for private counsel, because this was a private transaction between Kissinger and the Library, and the tenure of the Librarian of Congress.

Each of those topics raised questions that needed answers. For example, a key issue was access. Sandler asked whether it was reasonable to require that outside access be barred for 25 years or until Kissinger died (whichever was later), whether the Library’s employees would have access to the papers, and how the Library handle FOIA requests. Before he raised the latter question, Sandler had written that, “There should not be any basis for access under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts.” That was so, he opined, because the proposed donation did not consist of “agency records,” either because they were personal papers or copies of government records. Apparently, Sandler had not yet realized that Congress and its institutions were immune from FOIA requests.

Source

RG 59, Records of Monroe Leigh, box 9, HAK Papers

Document published in following posting(s):

The Kissinger Telcons: The Story Behind the Story

Feb 13, 2024

Memorandum, Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser Michael D. Sandler to Under Secretary for Management Lawrence Eagleburger, “Library of Congress Questions,” 9 November 1976, with attachments, including letters from Librarian of Congress Boorstin to Kissinger