11 respect to this agency's legal responsibilities, would serve no appro priate purpose. The common law generally recognizes three elements of a valid gift-i.e. the intent of the donor, delivery, and acceptance by the donee. Facts establish that delivery, in this case, occurred on March 26 and 27, 1969. The intent of the donor must be obtained from sources oter than GSA, i.e. the donor and his agents. The question of acceptance is a question of law rather than of fact, since acceptance by the donee does not have to be explicit, but can be implied when a gift is beneficial to the donee. In this regard, no proffered gift of papers from a President or former President has been refused by GSA. It is therefore possible that all the elements of an effective gift existed prior to July 25, 1969, but apparent that GSA is not in a position to make a purely factual determination to this effect. The agency is of the legal opinion that the papers described in Schedule A of the Chattel Deed dated March 27, 1969, are now the property of the United States and subject to the terms of the Chattel Deed. From a legal standpoint, the exact date that an effective gift of these papers took place is important only for tax purposes. Therefore, the agency has had no reason to reach this legal question and, in light of the explicit statutory responsibility of the Internal Revenue Service, should not do so. GSA 12 10. How were the gifts of earlier Presidents consummated? Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy died without signing such deeds of gift or making provisions for deposition of their papers in their wills. Their papers and memorabilia were given to the Government through other legal means. It is important to note that despite the absence of a deed of gift or other formal instrument, President Roosevelt's gift of his papers to the Government, including papers still retained by him at the time of his death, was upheld in the New York courts as a valid gift inter vivos, as evidenced by Roosevelt's public announcement to the effect that he planned to donate these papers to the United States for deposit in the Roosevelt Library. The executors of the John F. Kennedy estate deeded his papers and other historical materials to the Government by letter to the Administrator of General Services dated February 25, 1965. President Truman did not sign a deed of gift but did instead sign a letter addressed to the Administrator of General Services stating his intention to give his papers and other historical materials to the Government and specifying conditions governing access to and use of the materials. Transfer of title was made in his will. President Eisenhower signed a letter to the Administrator of General Services in 1960 in which he offered to give his papers to the Government. Title to his papers and other historical materials was formally conveyed in his will. President Johnson also gave the Administrator of General Services a letter of intent in 1965 and deeded portions of his papers to the Government annually from 1965 through 1968. Provisions were made in his will to convey the balance of his historical materials to the Government. GSA NARS/OGC 12/19/73 13 12. Did anyone countersign the deed of 1969 gift? If not, why not? The deed conveying the 1969 gift has not been countersigned. It is the position of the General Services Administration that such a countersignature is not legally required to effect the transfer of title. GSA 14 13. Did the person receiving the papers on March 27, 1969, consider all the papers to be given or only a portion thereof that was yet to be determined? (Was the acceptance of delivery covering all materials or was there an expectation that part only would be given for that year?) The person receiving these papers on March 27, 1969, (Mr. Sherrod East) placed them in the National Archives on deposit, expecting that a legal instrument of some kind would be executed later. This is reflected in his memorandum of May 27, 1969 (Attachment 3), reporting on archival processing, mentioning the separated material relating to the 1968 gift, and stating that "the papers for the most part are not yet deeded to the United States . . However, Mr. East, a professional archivist, was not in a position where he would be dealing with the question of when a legally completed gift had or would occur. Mr. East could have had no foreknowledge about whether the entire group or only a portion thereof would be covered by a legal instrument to come later. GSA 15 14. Who was in charge when these papers were delivered? Did he consider them as gifts? The Assistant Archivist for Presidential Libraries, Daniel J. Reed, was in charge of the Presidential libraries' program when the papers were delivered to the National Archives and he was the principal officer involved in correspondence between that office and White House assistants around the time of the delivery dealing with the actual delivery of the papers, preliminary organization of the papers and access to them. Dr. Reed reported the delivery of the materials to his superior, the Archivist of the United States, who in turn reported such delivery to the Administrator of General Services, the agency head with statutory responsibility. GSA personnel viewed the papers as having been delivered for gift purposes with a formal deed to follow. GSA |