68. Memorandum From the President’s Counselor (Marsh) to President Ford1
MEETING ON INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Friday, January 30, 1976
3:30 p.m. (1 hour)
Cabinet Room
I. Purpose
To discuss your tentative Intelligence Community decisions with key Administration officials.2
II. Background, Participants and Press Plan
A. Background
On January 10, you met with your advisors (including those present today) to discuss the alternatives available to strengthen the Intelligence Community and avoid abuses.3
You have reached tentative decisions after reviewing all the papers and comments submitted by the agencies and departments affected.
You have stated publicly that you will announce your comprehensive decisions shortly.
[Page 216]B. Participants
- Secretary Kissinger
- Secretary Rumsfeld
- Attorney General Levi
- CIA Director Bush4
- Jack Marsh
- Phil Buchen
- Brent Scowcroft
- Mike Duval
- Peter Wallison (for the Vice President who is out of town)
C. Press Plan
No press coverage.
III. Agenda
Tab A contains a summary of your tentative decisions and Fact Sheets.
- Source: Ford Library, President’s Handwriting File, Box 31, National Security—Intelligence (9). No classification marking. A stamped notation indicates that the President saw the memorandum.↩
- According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting was held in the Cabinet Room beginning at 4:05 p.m. Ford participated in the meeting between 4:05 and 4:15 p.m. and then again between 4:30 and 5:14 p.m. (Ibid., Staff Secretary’s Office, President’s Daily Diary) No other record of the meeting has been found.↩
- See Document 64.↩
- Bush was sworn in as DCI at 11:14 a.m. on January 30 in a ceremony at the CIA. (Ford Library, Staff Secretary’s Office, President’s Daily Diary) Prior to Bush’s swearing-in, Ford addressed a gathering of 525 guests, including Members of Congress, Cabinet members, and senior White House staff. During his remarks, he stated that he would announce “in the next few weeks” his decisions “on the steps I believe necessary to strengthen our foreign intelligence operations.” (Public Papers: Ford, 1976–77, Book I, p. 113)↩
- No classification marking.↩
- Attached but not printed. Also attached but not printed is an organizational table illustrating the newly-created intelligence committees.↩