Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm81075867
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
Part I of the papers of Henry Kissinger, assistant to the president for national security affairs and secretary of state, was given by Kissinger to the Library of Congress between 1976 and 1977. A deposit of personal papers made in 1986 was returned to Kissinger in 1991.
Part I of the papers of Henry Kissinger was arranged and described in 1996 by Michael McElderry, Audrey A. Walker, and Ernest Emrich with the assistance of Bradley E. Gernand and Patrick M. Kerwin. The finding aid was revised in 2016.
Some audiotapes have been transferred to the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division where they are identified as part of of these papers.
Part II of the Kissinger Papers is comprised of materials that are owned either by the Library of Congress or Yale University. When they were in Kissinger's possession, the papers formed an integrated collection. To maintain that integrity, as well as increase access to these materials, the two institutions agreed to a joint project undertaken by Yale to arrange, describe, and digitize them. Each institution now holds both paper and digital copies of Part II. Part III of the Kissinger Papers was given to Yale University in 2011. It comprises material originally maintained by Kissinger's staff and primarily documents his post-government years.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Henry Kissinger is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for information concerning these restrictions.
Government regulations control the use of security classified material in this collection. Manuscript Division staff can furnish information concerning access to and use of classified materials.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Henry A. Kissinger Papers, Part I, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Part I of the papers of Henry A. Kissinger (1923-2023) spans the years 1957-1982, although the bulk of the items coincide with Kissinger's government service under Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford from 1969 to 1977. The collection consists of personal papers and non-record copies of official government documents which Kissinger worked on or reviewed as assistant to the president for national security affairs, 1969-1975, and as secretary of state, 1973-1977. The originals of the copies of government documents in the papers have been retained by the originating government agencies for eventual transfer to the National Archives and Records Administration and constitute part of the official records of those agencies. Typewritten transcripts of Kissinger's telephone conversations form the largest portion of his personal papers, which also include personal correspondence, notes and drafts for articles and speeches, appointment books and records of schedule, telephone log sheets, and assorted printed matter. Eighty-one unclassified audiotapes filed at the end of the collection are largely recordings of background briefings and press conferences conducted by Kissinger during his trips to the Middle East.
The main body of Part I of the Kissinger Papers consists of copies of classified government documents. Series containing a majority of classified records are identified as "classified material" though they include some unclassified items. In accordance with security regulations, documents carrying security classifications higher than confidential or secret have been separated from the larger group of classified items, replaced by cross-reference sheets, and arranged in series organized by classification category. The cross-reference sheets cite the original series and folders from which the items were removed, and the material is organized in the same sequence as the original series arrangement. Items bearing these special classifications are located at the end of the collection and include top secret material, sensitive compartmented information, restricted data, formerly restricted data, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization documents. Series containing a preponderance of unclassified items organized as unclassified files include telephone records, speeches and writings, and miscellany. Classified documents from these files have been removed and placed in separate "classified" series directly following the unclassified portion.
Kissinger served during a period in international relations dominated by the Vietnam conflict, and as a negotiator and foreign policy strategist, he sought to reshape the geopolitical landscape. His papers contain primary research material which documents not only Kissinger's statecraft but also the bureaucratic apparatus responsible for the analysis, formulation, and implementation of foreign policy. The documents represent agency-generated records as well as diplomatic exchanges between United States government officials and foreign dignitaries and include memoranda, correspondence, telegrams, cables, memoranda of conversations, reports, messages, minutes of meetings, policy and issue papers, transcripts, talking points, testimonies and statements, background briefings, charts, and miscellaneous attachments. Full sets of agenda, background, and briefing books collated in preparation for the many meetings and negotiating sessions which Kissinger conducted and in which he was a participant, both at home and abroad, can be found in the collection, in addition to volumes of reports and memoranda of conversations assembled as a record of events.
The Chronological File served as Kissinger's office file and contains memoranda, correspondence, and government exchanges routinely accumulated during the course of his government service. Memoranda to President Richard M. Nixon are organized in a separate series. These two series, together with those containing cables and memoranda of conversations , files of the National Security Council and Department of State , and the Geopolitical File and Subject File , are the records of Kissinger's government career. They outline the course of American international relations during Kissinger's tenure as chief foreign affairs adviser to Presidents Nixon and Ford and indicate the tactics and strategies he employed while pursuing his foreign policy objectives. In addition to documenting a broad range of international crises and events, the papers also reveal the development of several dominant themes in Kissinger's foreign policy initiatives. These include the quest for a conclusion to the Vietnam conflict, rapprochement with China and the creation of a triangular global balance between East and West, the reduction of American-Soviet tensions through support of arms control talks and the corresponding process of detente, and the search for peace in the Middle East by promoting the transformation of geostrategic alliances.
The Geopolitical File includes information regarding United States relations with specific countries or regions. Among the records located in this series are files documenting the Vietnam peace negotiations, papers concerning Kissinger's July 1971 trip to China, documents detailing the negotiations and subsequent agreements associated with the signing of the strategic arms limitation treaty, chronological and meeting files related to Anatoliy Fedorovich Dobrynin and Andrei Andreevich Gromyko, and material relating to the October 1973 Middle East war as well as to Kissinger's peace efforts in the Middle East, specifically the round of negotiating sessions collectively referred to as shuttle diplomacy, with which he became identified.
Since the records in the Geopolitical File were largely arranged as originally labeled, some degree of overlap exists within the organization of the files. Geographical areas, as well as the countries comprising the areas, are listed separately, and both file headings should be consulted. Since multiple copies of specific records exist throughout the collection, copies of individual documents from one series may also be filed in other series as well.
Shortly following Kissinger's appointment as national security adviser, he directed an assistant to monitor his telephone calls and prepare summary accounts of his conversations. During the course of his government service, this practice was further expanded and refined, resulting in verbatim typescripts transcribed from both secretarial shorthand notes and recorded tapes. Transcripts of these telephone conversations chronicle both incoming and outgoing telephone calls and record Kissinger's conversations with Presidents Nixon and Ford, foreign ministers and ambassadors, domestic and foreign government officials, members of Congress, business and civic leaders, journalists, cabinet members, political leaders, staff members, and personal friends. The conversations explore a wide variety of foreign policy, political, and personal issues and include Kissinger's own candid observations.
This collection is arranged in twenty-six series:
Copies of memoranda, correspondence, telegrams, cables, messages, diplomatic exchanges, memoranda of conversations, reports, agenda and briefing papers, research material, talking points, and related documents concerning U.S. foreign policy.
Arranged chronologically. Monthly or periodic indexes compiled prior to transfer of the files to the Library are located in the front of the first folder of the corresponding month or time period.
Copies of memoranda, correspondence, telegrams, cables, messages, diplomatic exchanges, memoranda of conversations, reports, research and policy papers, agenda and briefing books and papers, background and biographical reports, trip books, talking points, itineraries and schedules, documents and agreements, maps, printed matter, and related documents regarding specific countries or geographic regions.
Arranged alphabetically by country or region.
Copies of cables to and from National Security Council staff member Kennedy and others, as well as miscellaneous related documents.
Arranged chronologically.
Copies of cables to and from Kissinger with miscellaneous related documents.
Arranged chronologically.
Copies of cables to and from Scowcroft as deputy assistant and assistant to the president for national security affairs, as well as miscellaneous related documents.
Arranged chronologically.
Copies of memoranda of conversations between Kissinger and others, telegrams, cables, memoranda, briefing papers, and related documents.
Arranged chronologically.
Copies of memoranda of conversations with Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford and others, briefing papers, and related documents.
Arranged chronologically.
Copies of memoranda of conversations between National Security Council staff members and State Department officials and others, telegrams, cables, memoranda, correspondence, and related documents.
Arranged chronologically.
Copies of memoranda to President Richard M. Nixon from Kissinger and others, memoranda, briefing papers, and related documents.
Arranged chronologically. Indexes for selected months compiled prior to transfer of the files to the Library are located in the front of the first folder of the appropriate month.
Copies of memoranda, minutes of meetings, memoranda of conversations, correspondence, telegrams, reports, agenda papers, policy and issue papers, talking points, briefing books and papers, charts, research papers, and related documents regarding the National Security Council.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Copies of memoranda, correspondence, telegrams, cables, memoranda of conversations, reports, research and policy papers, charts, testimony and statements, briefing books and papers, transcripts of staff meetings, personnel documents, transition papers, notes, press releases, printed matter, and related documents concerning the administrative and policy planning activities of the State Department.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
Typed transcripts of telephone conversations between Kissinger and others.
Organized alphabetically by type of material and arranged chronologically therein.
Log of incoming telephone calls and reminders to return calls.
Arranged chronologically.
Classified transcripts of telephone conversations.
Organized and described according to the arrangement of the unclassified series from which the items were removed.
Copies and occasional originals of memoranda, correspondence, telegrams, cables, memoranda of conversations, briefing books and papers, reports, transcripts, messages, legal and official documents, agenda and research papers, background briefings, testimony, issue and summary papers, talking points, statements, notes, background and biographical reports, schedules and itineraries, interviews, press releases, checklists, printed matter, and related documents.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Copies of correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, original and corrected drafts of articles and speeches, notes, press releases, printed matter, and related documents.
Arranged alphabetically by subject. Files maintained for specific addresses and statements are arranged chronologically within the speeches subseries.
Classified copies of memoranda and telegrams, drafts of speeches, notes, and research notes for Kissinger's memoirs.
Organized and described according to the arrangement of the unclassified portion from which the items were removed.
Copies of memoranda and correspondence, appointments and schedules, invitations, notes, printed matter, and miscellaneous material.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
Copies of memoranda and chapter draft of Victor Lasky's research.
Organized and described according to the arrangement of the unclassified portion from which the items were removed.
Top Secret material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Sensitive Compartmented Information-Top Secret material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Sensitive Compartmented Information-Secret material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Sensitive Compartmented Information-Confidential material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Restricted Data-Top Secret material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Restricted Data-Secret material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Restricted Data-Confidential material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Formerly Restricted Data-Top Secret material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Formerly Restricted Data-Secret material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Formerly Restricted Data-Confidential material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization classified material.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and containers from which the items were removed.
Audiotapes and photocopied transcripts of tapes relating to Kissinger's background briefings, press conferences, memoranda of conversations, and miscellaneous statements.
Listings and indexes prepared by Kissinger's staff are included with some of the corresponding tapes.