Ronald Reagan: U.S News & World Report White House Correspondents Notes & Files - Download

Ronald Reagan: U.S News & World Report White House Correspondents Notes & Files

 3,000 pages of printouts of notes from interviews, background briefings and story drafts compiled by U.S. News & World Report reporters, dating from November 1980 to September 1983, mostly by the Magazine's chief White House correspondent Sara Fritz, copied from a collection donated to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum.

Sara Fritz (1944-2013) was a Washington D.C. based journalist. In 1978, she began working at US News & World Report as a White House correspondent, covering the campaign, transition and early years of the Reagan administration, through 1983.

U.S. News & World Report was considered more conservative than its rivals Time and Newsweek. For this reason Reagan Administration members may have been more open to provide information to its reporters.

This collection is valuable for offering a unique view of the internal politics in the Reagan White House, and how it intersected with the Administration’s domestic and foreign policy, and the work involved in producing journalistic product.

This collection also offers a valuable view on how White House correspondents gather information, often from sources on an "Off the Record," "Not for Attribution," "Background" or "Deep Background" basis. For example, an article appeared in U.S. News & World Report titled, "Reagan's New Foreign Policy Offensive," which covered a wide range of foreign policy issues faced by the Reagan Administration, and a power struggle between Secretary of State George Schultz and National Security Advisor William Clark.

The article relied on several anonymous sources identified either as "says an official on deep background," or "says an aide" or as an "insider." Sara Fritz's interview notes reveal that among the sources were Bob Sims and Geoffrey Kemp of the National Security Council, White House Staff Secretary Dick Darman and White House Director of Communications David Gergen.

In notes taken of a background only interview in Los Angeles with White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker, who was ending a vacation, he is recorded as giving harsh criticism of Ed Meese. He further criticized Meese for keeping Reagan away from the press. This was followed by six pages of notes in which Baker gives background info on various subjects such as the federal budget, defense spending cuts, Israel and the sale of AWAC planes to Saudi Arabia, information about a forthcoming shake-up of the White House press operation and the political-liaison office and air-traffic controllers union labor problems.

Fritz ends the notes by writing, "Baker asks that we protect him on the stuff in this memo about Meese. Not only should he not be quoted by name, but everyone should be careful not to discuss this information outside the office. It would jeopardize our relationship with him."

In later notes of a background only interview with Ed Meese, among the subjects he talks about is the feud between him and Baker.

Frequent sources of anonymous background information recorded in these files include: White House Chief of Staff James Baker, Counselor to the President Ed Messe, Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Director of the Cabinet Craig Fuller, Assistant to the President for Political Affairs Lyn Nofziger, White House Director of Communications David Gergen and Press Secretary Larry Speakes among others.


Scope and Content 

The bulk of the materials in this collection consist of story drafts for US News & World Report articles and transcript/summaries of information gathered from Reagan officials and others. The collection includes not only the work of Ms. Fritz, but also her colleagues at the magazine. While most of the interviews were “on the record,” some of the interviewees asked for anonymity or for comments to be “off the record.” The National Archives and Records Administration out of deference for the common professional practice of not disclosing sources, withdrew some of  the “off the record” comments from living persons as of June 2018. 

The list of people interviewed includes:

Rick Ahearn
Richard Allen
Debbie Augsbach
Howard Baker (deceased)
James Baker
Terrell Bell (deceased)
Joanna Bistany (deceased)
Robert Bonitati (deceased)
Barry Bosworth
James Boyle
James Brady (deceased)
William Brock
Richard Burt
Claude Cheysson (deceased)
William Clark (deceased)
Kenneth Dam
Richard Darman (deceased)
Mike Deaver (deceased)
Ken Duberstein
William Dyes (deceased)
Lawrence Eagleburger (deceased)
Thomas Enders (deceased)
Frank Fahrenkopf
Fred Fielding
Dean Fischer (deceased)
Max Friedersdorf
Craig Fuller
David Gergen
Alexander Haig (deceased)
Clifford Hardin (deceased)
Ed Hewett (deceased)
Frank Hodsell (deceased)
John Holdridge (deceased)
Robert Hormats
Fred Ikle (deceased)
Pendleton James
Les Janka
James Jenkins (deceased)
Geoffrey Kemp
George Keyworth (deceased)
Dan Kingsley
William Knaus
Drew Lewis (deceased)
Richard Lugar
Robert “Bud” McFarlane
John McKeel (deceased)
Maureen McMann
Peter McPherson
Ed Meese
Ursula Meese
Jim Michael
Kenneth Moffett
Powell Moore
Tony Motley
Henry Nau
Jim Naughton
Lyn Nofziger (deceased)
Robert Nipp (deceased)
Lionel Olmer
Verne Orr (deceased)
Richard Perle
Richard Pipes
David Prosperi
Ronald Reagan (deceased)
Don Regan (deceased)
Thomas Reed
George Reedy (deceased)
Roger Robinson
John Rogers
Ed Rollins
Pete Roussel
David Runkle
Glenn Schleede (deceased)
George Shultz
Gaston Sigur (deceased)
Bob Sims (deceased)
Helmut Sonnenfeldt (deceased)
Larry Speakes (deceased)
John Steinbruner (deceased)
Walter Stoessel (deceased)
Richard Stone
Sheila Tate
Howard Teicher
Robert Thompson
Stansfield Turner (deceased)
Margaret Tutwiler
Guy Vander Jagt(deceased)
Nicholas Veliotes
Lee Verstandig
Helene Von Damm
William Webster
Murray Weidenbaum (deceased)
Mark Weinberg
Caspar Weinberger (deceased)
Faith Whittlesey
Rich Williamson (deceased)
Richard Wirthlin (deceased)
Jim Wooten
Jim Wright (deceased)
Jack Zimmerman
 
Some of the many subjects the notes document U.S. News & World Report reporters gathering information on, some off the record or on background, include: Carter-Reagan transition, Relationship between President Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, Reagan ordering the dismissal of 13,000 PATCO air traffic controllers out on strike, Sadat's assassination, Tax cuts, The Soviet Union, Polish Solidarity movement, Assassination attempt and Reagan's recovery, Strategic Defense Initiative, Soviet grain embargo, Social Security Reform Bill, Reagan nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart, making O'Connor the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court.