spondence with all other foreign dignitaries should also be withdrawn. That was not done and the boxes were not numbered until December 22, 1969. I then telephoned him and gave him the box numbers of the General Correspondence as rearranged. In a memo, December 22, 1969, for the information of Dr. Reed. I stated: 'Exact information on the number of archives boxes containing the general correspondence of President Nixon was telephoned today to the office of Ralph G. Newman, 18 E. Chestnut Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611 (312–787–1860). Mr. Newman needed the information in order to describe the material that is to be deeded by the President to the United States before December 31. According to Mr. Newman, the President will deed the main bulk of his general correspondence for the Vice-Presidential years, as contained in archives boxes 18-845, inclusive. Boxes 1-17 will not be deeded at this time.""

Mrs. Livingston was quite certain when she met with the staff that as of December 8, 1969, Mr. Newman expressed the intent of giving only the General Correspondence file. She said that he also made this clear to her on December 22 when she telephoned him to indicate the box numbers of the General Correspondence file.

Mrs. Livingston said that her last contact with Mr. Newman in 1969 in regard to the pre-Presidential papers was on December 22. She said that she had no further contacts with Mr. Newman after December 22, 1969, on the Nixon papers, until March 27, 1970, which will be discussed below.

Newman's preliminary valuation of the pre-Presidential papers

On November 7, 1969, after his first examination of the papers on November 3, Mr. Newman sent a letter to the President (Exhibit I-28), copies of which also went to Messrs. DeMarco and Morgan, which gave an evaluation of his preliminary valuation of the prePresidential papers and other collected materials. The letter to the

President reads as follows:

"I have now had an opportunity to make a preliminary examination of your Pre-Presidential Papers and Other Collected Materials, which are presently housed in the National Archives Building in Washington and to arrive at an estimate of the valuation. I herewith submit the results of my investigations.

“As I had expected, I found the material to be unusually interesting and valuable.

"It is my recommendation that certain of the more important letters, which are valuable, considered either as historical documents or autograph manuscripts, should be removed from these general files, inventoried very carefully, and placed in a separate facility under conditions which would allow access to them only at your direction. A vault cabinet in a small office in the Executive. Office Building might satisfactorily serve this purpose.

"It is my intention to begin the actual, detailed appraisal on Monday, the 17th of November.

"Copies of the enclosed document have been sent to Messrs. Frank De Marco and Edward L. Morgan."

Mr. Newman's estimate was contained in a document titled "Appraisal-The Papers and Other Collected Materials of Richard

Milhous Nixon, Pre-Presidential." The document contained a brief summary of the work done by Mr. Newman on November 3, 1969, and listed the National Archives personnel who assisted him. The document also gave a brief summary of the preliminary work done by Sherrod East and indicated that a "more sophisticated arrangement and description required for a collection as important as The Nixon Papers will be needed and is planned by the National Archives.“ Newman stated that from the information and data gathered at the National Archives he was able to prepare a summary of the size and approximate appraised value of the collection stored at the National Archives. A summary of the appraisal is as follows:

Newman's letter to Morgan. Mr. Newman forwarded a copy of the appraisal document to Mr. Morgan enclosing the covering letter to the President and asked Mr. Morgan to expedite the delivery of the material to him. Mr. Newman described the document in the letter as a summary of his "findings as a result of my investigation of the PrePresidential Papers and Other Collected Materials of Richard M. Nixon, presently housed in the National Archives Building in Washington." Mr. Newman indicated his intention to return to Washington on November 17 to begin the detailed appraisal of the material.

Newman's letter to DeMarco.-Mr. Newman also forwarded a copy of his estimate of the appraised value of the pre-Presidential material of President Nixon to Mr. DeMarco in a letter dated November 7, 1969 (Exhibit I-31). He made it clear in the letter that it was just an estimate and that it was based on an examination that had been done under extreme pressure and in a very short period of time. In the letter he stated, "It is, however, accurate enough to enable the President to make a determination as to the disposition of the material."

These letters give the impression that as of this time Mr. Newman was not aware of any designation of the papers as a gift to the National Archives. It gives the impression, rather that Mr. Newman prepared a "ballpark" estimate of the value of the material at the Archives so that a determination of what was to be given could be made from his analysis. Further, the letter makes clear that Mr. DeMarco knew that the value of the papers at the Archives greatly exceeded any $500,000 amount contemplated for a 1969 gift. Newman's valuation of the general correspondence

The staff has received from Mr. Newman his original estimate of the valuation of the general correspondence files, which is dated April 1969, and which states that the estimated total for 1969 is $436,400 (Exhibit I-32). Mr. Newman did not remember when he actually made this estimate, but it is clear that it was not made in April 1969. Mr. Newman agreed in his staff interview that the estimate was not made until after his last visit at the National Archives and after Mary Livingston had completed her work on the general cor

respondence files, following her instructions from Mr. Newman to separate the correspondence from important people and foreign dignataries from the general correspondence. This would mean that at the earliest the estimate could not have been prepared until after December 8, his last visit to the National Archives, and probably was not made until after December 22, when Mary Livingston called him to inform him that she had completed what he had requested and told him the status of the general correspondence files at that time. The staff does not understand and Mr. Newman could not explain the reason why the estimate was dated April 1969, unless the estimate had been prepared as late as March 1970, at which time Mr. Newman may have consulted his records and been confused, as he explained was the case with the dates on his appraisal document, or unless there was an intent on Mr. Newman's part to give the impression that this estimate was made on that date.

Mr. Newman told the staff that he does not remember when he first heard of the $500,000 figure to which Mr. DeMarco referred. He said at first that he thought it may have been in his first conversation with Mr. DeMarco, which he believes occurred on October 31, 1969, but upon thinking back on the matter, he said that it could have been later and also indicated that it could very well have been on March 27, 1970. (The events of this date will be discussed below.)

If Mr. Newman had heard in 1969 about a $500,000 amount that was intended to be given, the staff suggests that he would have recommended that the gift consist of more than just the General Correspondence files, since his estimate for the correspondence files only amounted to $436,400. The staff believes that in November 1969 Mr. Newman understood that the President would make a large gift. in 1969 since the House version of the Tax Reform Act eliminated this deduction as of the end of 1969. Under the House version of the bill, it was possible to make a large gift at the end of the year to cover a 6-year period-the current year and the 5-year carryover period.

Newman's impressions of the gift as of the end of 1969

Mr. Newman told the staff that he never understood nor was led to believe by Mr. DeMarco or Mr. Morgan that a gift had been given before July 25, 1969. He said he called Mr. DeMarco on December 24 (the staff has verified this call on his telephone records) to ask if there was anything he should be doing in view of the Tax Reform Act (which had passed Congress on December 22 and was sent to the President for his signature to enact it into law). He said that Mr. DeMarco told him there was nothing more for him to do then. Mr. Newman told the staff that as of the end of 1969 he was not aware that any gift had been made by the President and that if he had been asked to make any recommendations as to what was to be given, he would have recommended the General Correspondence files. Staff analysis

Mr. Newman's and Mrs. Livingston's account of their activities. concerning the examination of the undeeded papers in November and December 1969 suggests that when Mr. Newman first talked to Mr. DeMarco, probably in October, they were probably talking about an intent to make a large gift at the end of 1969 to cover the current year and a 5-year carryover period, which would have been consistent

with the availability of the deduction under the House version of the Tax Reform Act. Since Mr. Newman does not remember specifically receiving any information on the amount of the gift in that conversation, and since his first estimate of the general correspondence files was less than the $500,000 amount, it appears to the staff that Mr. DeMarco may not have mentioned to Mr. Newman any amount to be designated in any conversations he had with Mr. Newman in 1969. The staff suggests that if Mr. DeMarco did not mention a figure to Mr. Newman it was probably because he was not aware of a figure at that time. The staff has received no information on who determined the amount and told Mr. DeMarco, other than Mr. DeMarco's statement that it was the President's accountant in early 1969, Martin Feinstein of Vincent Andrews Inc. in New York. Mr. Feinstein told the staff, however, that he had not given Mr. DeMarco a figure. Only Mr. Blech has a recollection of a conversation with Mr. DeMarco in 1969 on the amount and so far he has not been able to find his notes which he said he made of that conversation (although he does have other notes from a conversation in 1969 with Mr. DeMarco relating to Mr. Nixon's taxes).

In any event, the events that transpired during this period suggest that there was an intent on Mr. Newman's part to designate a large gift consisting of the President's general correspondence files but that the change in the law relating to the effective date of the elimination of the deduction, which was the result of the House-Senate conference on the Tax Reform Act, caused Mr. Newman not to make this designation at the end of the year. Mr. Newman's telephone call to Mr. DeMarco on December 24, in which he asked directions as to what he should be doing, seems to indicate that the course of action on the Nixon papers had been changed as a result of the final passage of the 1969 Tax Reform Act two days earlier.

F. STATUS OF THE 1969 PAPERS IN EARLY 1970

After the President signed the Tax Reform Act on December 30, 1969, it was clear that a charitable contribution deduction for papers given in 1969 was available only for gifts made before July 25, 1969. The staff made attempts to determine what the individuals involved with President Nixon's papers believed was the status of the undeeded papers. The staff discussed this with the people at the National Archives who were involved with the President's papers and have received memoranda on the status of the papers. The staff has made similar inquiries to the people representing the President in this regard.

Impressions of National Archives personnel on the status of the papers in carly 1970

On January 9, 1970, the Archivist of the United States. Dr. James B. Rhoads, wrote a memorandum (Exhibit 1-33) to the Administrator of General Services in which he discussed the effect of the 1969 Tax Reform Act. The memorandum summarized the provision relating to the tax deduction for gifts of papers, and commented on the adverse effect of the provision on the donations of papers and manuscripts. It also indicated the impression of the Archivist (and others on his Staff who reviewed the memorandum) that President Nixon would

have made a gift in 1969 but for the change in the law. The memorandum reads, in part, as follows:

"It now seems apparent that the prospect of claiming tax deductions has encouraged many persons to donate their papers to a Presidential Library or other manuscript repository. It is likewise plain that the lack of a tax incentive has slowed up the flow of gifts to Presidential Libraries. Foremost in importance was the expected donation by President Nixon of another increment of his pre-Presidential papers as a second installment to those deeded to the Government of the United States in December 1968. No such donation was made in December 1969, although we understand all plans had been made for it."

On February 2, 1970, Dr. Rhoads wrote another memorandum to the GSA Administrator titled "Topics for White House Discussion." The memorandum (Exhibit I-34) was prepared for use by the Administrator in a discussion with H. R. Haldeman concerning the development of a Richard Nixon Presidential Library. The memorandum discusses the status of the Nixon papers, the relations with the Richard Nixon foundation, staffing, and other projects to be undertaken. The following is the part of the memorandum relating to the status of the Nixon papers:

"1. Most of the pre-Presidential papers are now in the National Archives. A portion of these have been deeded to the Government and that portion has been boxed, labelled and listed. The remainder of the pre-Presidential papers, here on courtesy storage, have been listed by categories. None of the papers are available to anyone except NARS staff without permission from the President.

"2. We had expected a deed of gift from the President covering a second installment of papers before the end of the calendar year, but the Tax Reform Act apparently eliminated this.

"3. We have no official duties yet relating to Presidential papers now being created and filed in the White House Central File or in any White House staff office.

"4. We receive, catalog and store all gifts received by the President and transferred to the National Archives Building by the White House Gift Unit."

The staff understands that both Mary Livingston and Dr. Reed were involved in the preparation of both of these memoranda. These memoranda indicate that in early 1970 the National Archives personnel did. not view any portion of the papers transferred to the National Archives on March 26-27, 1969, as actually having been given to the Government at any time during the year. Dr. Reed and Mrs. Livingston are the key people in the Presidential Libraries office of the National Archives, and they would have almost certainly known if any gifts had actually been made. It is clear that they were aware that gifts of the papers were intended to be made and they expected these gifts to be made. This is evidenced by Mr. Newman's and Mrs. Livingston's work on the papers in November and December 1969.

Loan Receipt Written by Anne Higgins

In January 1970 the Archives sent eight folders of papers from the 1968 campaign to Mrs. Anne Higgins of the White House staff. She