Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1973–1976


61. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Kissinger Reports on USSR, China, and Middle East Discussions, 1974–76, Box 1, USSR Memcons and Reports, July 20–August 2, 1975—Ford/Brezhnev Meetings in Helsinki (Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe). Secret; Nodis. Initialed by Rodman. All brackets, with the exception of those describing omitted material, are in the original. The meeting took place at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence. Ford and Brezhnev met during the summit held at the conclusion of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The full memorandum of conversation is printed in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XVI, Soviet Union, August 1974–December 1976, Document 171.


62. Address by President Ford

Source: Public Papers: Ford, 1975, Book II, pp. 1074–1081. Ford addressed the delegates to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe at 10:30 a.m. in Finlandia Hall. Prior to arriving in Helsinki, Ford traveled to the Federal Republic of Germany to meet with Scheel and Schmidt and to Poland for discussions with First Secretary Gierek. Ford also met with several European leaders prior to the opening of the conference on July 30, including Brezhnev (see Document 61). For documentation on the CSCE and Ford and Kissinger’s subsequent discussions with Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu in Bucharest, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XXXIX, European Security, Documents 319339.


63. Briefing Memorandum From the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Lord) and the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rogers) to Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Policy Planning Council (S/PC), Policy Planning Staff (S/P), Director’s Files (Winston Lord) 1969–77, Lot 77D112, Box 354, SEPT 16–30 1975. Confidential; Exdis.


65. Address by President Ford

Source: Public Papers: Ford, 1975, Book II, pp. 1950–1955. The President delivered his remarks at 11:05 a.m. at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii. Congress established the East-West Center in 1960 as an educational and research facility. Prior to this speech, Ford visited the People’s Republic of China (December 1–5), Indonesia (December 5–6), and the Philippines (December 6–7). For memoranda of Ford’s conversations with Asian leaders, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XVIII, China, 1973–1976, Documents 134, 136, and 137; and ibid., volume E–12, Documents on East and Southeast Asia, 1973–1976, Documents 141 and 341.


66. Interview With President Ford

Source: Public Papers: Ford, 1976–77, Book I, pp. 7–11. The interview began at 11:36 a.m. in the Library at the White House. It was broadcast during a portion of the program “New World—Hard Choices: American Foreign Policy 1976,” which was shown on the NBC network on January 5.


67. Statement by Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: Department of State Bulletin, February 16, 1976, pp. 174–182. The statement was made before the Subcommittee on African Affairs of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.


68. Telegram From the Department of State to All European Diplomatic Posts

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D760038–0493. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Warren Zimmerman (EUR/PP); cleared by Sonnenfeldt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs James G. Lowenstein, and Allan W. Otto (S/S–O); and approved by Kissinger.


70. Memorandum From the Secretary of State’s Executive Assistant (Eagleburger) to Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: Department of State, Files of Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Lot 84D204, Chron—February 1976. Confidential; Eyes Only.


71. Address by Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: Department of State Bulletin, April 5, 1976, pp. 425–432. Kissinger made the address before the Boston World Affairs Council upon receiving the Christian A. Herter Memorial Award. Eagleburger’s February 24 memorandum to Kissinger suggested a strategy for this speech (Document 70 and footnote 8 thereto). Kissinger made similar remarks during a speech in Phoenix April 16. The text of that speech is in Department of State Bulletin, May 10, 1976, pp. 597–603.


72. Statement by the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Lord)

Source: Department of State Bulletin, April 19, 1976, pp. 514–518. Lord made the statement before the Subcommittee on Future Foreign Policy Research and Development of the House Committee on International Relations.


73. Notes of an Address by the Counselor of the Department of State (Sonnenfeldt)

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Records of the Office of the Counselor Helmut Sonnenfeldt, Lot 81D286, Box 3, Sonnenfeldt Doctrine—Classified. Confidential. The date is handwritten.


74. Briefing Memorandum From the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Lord) to Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Policy Planning Council (S/PC), Policy Planning Staff (S/P), Director’s Files (Winston Lord) 1969–77, Lot 77D112, Box 357, APR 1–15 1976. Secret. Drafted by Bartholomew, Deputy Director Nicholas A. Veliotes (S/P), Donald K. Peterson (S/P), and Lord on April 12. Forwarded to Kissinger by Lord under an April 12 covering memorandum that reads in part: “In addition to a specific action plan, we still have to get at the strategic problem of convincing the various African partners that the only real solution lies through us. This will be much more difficult than the Middle East: the Arabs know that only we have the capability to ‘deliver’ the Israelis; we have nothing like this trump with the white regimes in Southern Africa that could be played with the Africans. But there are nevertheless some similar assets in the two situations: the fear of too-tight a Communist embrace as a threat to their autonomy; our economic role and potential assistance; and the intra-regional rivalries and antagonisms—some with a Soviet dimension—from which we might derive leverage.”


75. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversations, 1973–1977, Box 19, Memoranda of Conversations—Ford Administration, April 15, 1976—Ford, Kissinger, Rumsfeld. Secret; Nodis. The meeting took place in the Oval Office. All brackets, except those indicating omitted material, are in the original.


76. Address by President Ford

Source: Public Papers: Ford, 1976–77, Book II, pp. 1139–1145. Ford delivered the address to the 85th Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Constitution Hall at 10:31 a.m. Ford explored many of the same themes in an earlier address to the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations, March 12. (Ibid., Book I, pp. 643–652)


77. Address by Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: Department of State Bulletin, May 31, 1976, pp. 672–679. Kissinger delivered the address at a luncheon hosted by Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda. All brackets are in the original. Kissinger arrived in Lusaka on April 26 for talks with Kaunda on the political situation in Rhodesia, the third stop of a two-week visit to Africa. Between April 24 and May 6, Kissinger traveled to Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zaire, Liberia, and Senegal for meetings with the leaders of those countries, and attended the UNCTAD conference in Nairobi May 3–6. In his memoirs, Kissinger recalled that the “principal purpose” of the Lusaka speech and the entire African trip, his first to the continent, was to “place the United States squarely behind majority rule in Southern Africa.” (Kissinger, Years of Renewal, p. 925)


78. Address by Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: Department of State Bulletin, June 7, 1976, pp. 720–725. Kissinger delivered the address upon receiving the Chizuk Amuno Synagogue Distinguished Achievement Award.


79. Memorandum From the Deputy Secretary of State (Robinson) to Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Records of Deputy Secretary of State Charles W. Robinson, 1976–1977, Lot 77D117, Box 6, CWR—Memos to the Secretary, April 1976–June 1977 (1 of 2). Confidential. The text of the memorandum was relayed to Kissinger, who was attending an OECD summit in Paris, in an unnumbered June 22 telegram. (Ibid., Box 3, CWR—Telegrams)


80. Address by Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: Department of State Bulletin, July 26, 1976, pp. 105–115. All brackets, except those indicating the omission of unrelated material, are in the original. Kissinger delivered the address before the International Institute for Strategic Studies, inaugurating the Alastair Buchan memorial lecture series. He arrived in London on June 24 for meetings with British Prime Minister James Callaghan and Foreign Secretary Anthony Crosland.


81. Memorandum From Stuart S. Janney and Paul L. Ahern of the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management (Eagleburger)

Source: Department of State, Files of Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Lot 84D204, Chron—July 1976. No classification marking. Not initialed by Ahern. Eagleburger wrote a note to Kissinger on July 27 on the first page of the memorandum: “FYI: Worth reading. We’ll do more on this sort of thing by the end of the week.” Kissinger’s Executive Assistant Richard Aherne returned the memorandum to Eagleburger under a July 26 covering memorandum, describing it as “good and comprehensive.” Aherne warned, however, that it did not consider the possibility that Carter would seek the repeal of the Byrd Amendment shortly after the Republican National Convention to be held in Kansas City August 16–19. The Democratic National Convention was held in New York July 12–15.


82. Briefing Memorandum From the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Lord) to Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Policy Planning Council (S/PC), Policy Planning Staff (S/P), Director’s Files (Winston Lord) 1969–77, Lot 77D112, Box 361, SEPT 1–15 1976. Confidential. Drafted by Luigi Einaudi (S/P) on August 31.


83. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversations, 1973–1977, Box 21, Memoranda of Conversations—Ford Administration, October 3, 1976—Ford, Kissinger, Scowcroft. Secret; Nodis. All brackets, except those that indicate omitted material, are in the original. The purpose of the meeting, held in the Oval Office, was to discuss the upcoming foreign policy debate between Ford and Carter in San Francisco on October 6. An October 3 briefing paper produced by Eagleburger for the debate, outlining themes to be emphasized, Carter’s anticipated statements on foreign policy issues, and suggested responses is in the Department of State, Files of Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Lot 84D204, Chron—October 1976. For the full transcript of the debate, see the Public Papers: Ford, 1976–77, Book III, pp. 2408–2436.


84. Interview With Secretary of State Kissinger

Source: Department of State Bulletin, February 7, 1977, pp. 102–107. All brackets are in the original. Kissinger was interviewed by James Reston, Hedrick Smith, and Bernard Gwertzman of the New York Times. The interview appeared in the Times on President Carter’s inauguration day. (“Excerpts From Interview With Kissinger: Eight Years in Washington Evaluated,” New York Times, January 20, 1977, p. 16)