THOMAS,
W. DENNIS: Files, 1983-1987 – REAGAN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
This
collection has been reviewed by the Reagan Library staff and it is available
for research. You may access this
collection in our research room. There
is no need to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any of the
contents of this collection.
THOMAS, W. DENNIS: Files, 1983-1987
Office of Legislative Affairs:
Deputy Assistant for Legislative Affairs, 1983-1985 (see separate inventory)
Office
of the Chief of Staff: Assistant to the President, 1985-1987
In
July 1985 William Dennis Thomas began work as the chief assistant to Donald
Regan, the White House Chief of Staff. He served as a de facto deputy chief of staff, though this title was never used of
him. Thomas advised and assisted Regan on the full range of policy and
administrative matters, with a concentration on economic policy. Thomas also oversaw
White House staff involvement in President Reagan’s overseas trips, and
coordinated the drafting of Reagan’s State of the Union messages. He attended
many Administration meetings with Mr. Regan,
accompanied Regan on some of President Reagan’s travels, screened appointment
requests and telephone calls for Regan, and occasionally substituted for Regan
at meetings and events.
Dennis
Thomas was born in Baltimore on August 12, 1943. He grew up in central
Maryland, earning a B.S. degree from Frostburg State College in 1965, and a
Master of Social Work degree from the University of Maryland in 1967. After
graduate school he served for about a year as Administrative Assistant to the
Board of Education of Carroll County, northwest of Baltimore. From 1969 to 1976
he was Administrative Assistant for Glenn Beall Jr.,
a Republican Congressman and Senator from Maryland. After Beall
was defeated for reelection in 1976, Thomas became Administrative Assistant to
Senator William Roth (R-Delaware).
When
Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, he appointed Mr. Thomas Assistant
Secretary for Legislative Affairs in the Department of the Treasury. In this
position Thomas worked with Congress, and Treasury Secretary Regan, as the
Administration tried to enact its economic agenda into law. Thomas moved to the
White House staff in December 1983, as the Deputy Assistant for Legislative
Affairs in charge of relations with the House of Representatives. He left in
April 1985 for a position with the professional service organization Touche Ross, but returned to the White House in July as
Regan’s assistant.
Thomas
left the White House staff for the second time in May 1987, about three months
after Regan’s departure. He soon joined the firm International Paper, rising to
the position of Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications. He
has served on the Boards of Directors for various corporations. He is a member
of the Council on
American Politics for the George Washington University Graduate School of
Political Management.
Thomas’
files are arranged in six series. The files contain many handwritten draft
memos, draft speeches, notes, and marginalia from Thomas, Regan, and others in
the White House Office. Copies of the same documents are often filed in more
than one series.
SERIES I: CHRONOLOGICAL FILE,
1985-1987 (0.6 l.ft., Boxes 1-2)
This
series contains: copies of memos and notes exchanged between Dennis Thomas, Donald
Regan, and others on the White House staff; unsolicited personnel
recommendations, scheduling proposals, and event invitations; published
articles and reports sent to Thomas; draft and final versions of presidential speeches,
Administration statements, and White House press guidance; requests for
birthday and anniversary greetings; handwritten and typed thank-you notes; and
notes on telephone calls made to Thomas or Regan. Topics include the proposing
and scheduling of Presidential trips and events, tax and budget policy
(including the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the Gramm-Rudman Act), the federal
deficit, planning and public relations work for summit meetings with Mikhail
Gorbachev, the White House’s public response to the Iran-Contra affair, and
antidrug policy. Arranged chronologically by month.
SERIES II: GENERAL FILE,
1985-1987 (1.0 l.ft., Boxes 2-5)
This alphabetically arranged
series contains material pertaining to Thomas’ and Regan’s correspondence with
units within the White House Office, on topics such as the drafting of
Presidential speeches, long-range policy planning, unsolicited personnel
recommendations and requests for Presidential events, the selecting of a new
Secretary of Health and Human Services, and White House staff personnel. The
series also has material pertaining to White House administrative matters such
as staff travel and gift handling, and correspondence with friends and
acquaintances of Mr. Thomas.
SERIES III: MEETING FILE, 1985-1987
(2.1 l.ft.,
Boxes 5-10)
This series contains material
pertaining to the planning and execution of various meetings and trips. Much of
the material pertains to President Reagan’s foreign trips, including the summit
meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva (1985) and Reykjavik (1986), the
trips to the annual G7 meetings in Tokyo (1986) and Venice (1987), and the 1987
visit to Ottawa, Canada. Records pertaining to these travels may include
Advance Office site reports and trip books, draft and final schedules, draft
and final versions of Presidential speeches and statements, reports and
published articles on the issues and foreign leaders involved, and schedules
for post-meeting public events. Other material in this series consists of
agendas, notes, press guidance, and other records pertaining to meetings that
included senior White House staff (particularly the Senior Staff Planning
Group), members of Congress, and the public. Such meetings involved several
issues of the day, including antidrug efforts, tax and budget issues, the State
of the Union Address, White House public relations (including reaction to
Iran-Contra), the proposed new Air Force One aircraft, and the allocation of
White House office space. Arranged alphabetically.
SERIES IV: ISSUES FILE,
1985-1987 (2.7 l.ft., Boxes 11-17)
This series contains folders
pertaining to specific issues, including: the federal budget (including
proposed budgets and spending, the national debt, and the Gramm-Rudman Act);
federal antidrug policy; tax policy, including the Tax Reform Act of 1986;
Central America policy; reaction to the Iran-Contra affair by the
Administration, Congress, and the media; the drafting of the 1986 and 1987
State of the Union Addresses, and public reaction to the Addresses; US trade
policy, including trade sanctions against South Africa; the space shuttle Challenger explosion; the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant accident; and the assigning of offices within the White
House. Arranged alphabetically.
SERIES V: REGAN MEMORANDUM
FILE, 1985-1987 (0.7 l.ft., Boxes 17-19)
This series contains memos from
Donald Regan to Dennis Thomas. Many of the memos have attachments, which
usually consist of memos and related documents involving other White House
staff or OMB personnel. Topics include long-range scheduling and policy
planning, Presidential scheduling for the Geneva and Reykjavik summits, the
federal budget, the State of the Union Address, strategy for public handling of
Iran-Contra, the 1986 US attack on Libya,
South Africa policy, antidrug policy, relations with Congress, trade
policy, and the division of responsibilities among White House staff. Arranged chronologically by month.
SERIES VI: DISKETTE FILE,
1985-1987 (0.2 l.ft., Box 19)
This series contains material
printed from 8-inch IBM Displaywriter diskettes, the
word processing system used widely by the Reagan White House. The material
includes meeting agendas, responses to unsolicited personnel recommendations,
general planning material for the 1986 Reykjavik summit, working papers and
talking points regarding Iran-Contra, address and telephone lists, and
documents apparently created by Thomas’ secretary for use in her course work.
The series also includes lists of document file names, instructions for
printing the diskettes, and general formats for schedules and other documents. Arranged alphabetically, mostly by diskette name.
At this time, the Reagan
Library staff has been able to print out only some of the material from the
diskettes. The staff has transferred the diskettes to preservation storage.
CONTAINER LIST
SERIES I: CHRONOLOGICAL FILE, 1985-1987
Box 1
Chron October [July] 1985 – May 1986
(1)-(7)
Chron June 1986 – July 1986 (1)(2)
Chron August 1986 (1)-(4)
Chron September 1986 (1)-(3)
Chron October 1986 (1)-(3)
Box
2
Chron October 1986 (4)
Chron November 1986 – December 1986
(1)-(3)
Chron January 1987 (1)-(5)
Chron February 1987 (1)-(3)
SERIES II: GENERAL FILE, 1985-1987
Box 2, cont.
Administration
(1)-(3)
[Administrative:]
Emergency Notification Procedures
[Administrative:]
Gifts (1)-(4)
Box
3
[Administrative:]
Scheduling (1)-(3)
[Administrative:]
Special Messages (1)(2)
[Administrative:]
Travel (1)-(6)
Advance
(Henkel) (1)-(3)
Cabinet
Affairs (1)(2)
Communications
(Buchanan) (1)-(3)
Box
4
[Correspondence,
General A-C]
[Correspondence,
General D]
[Correspondence,
General E-F] (1)(2)
[Correspondence,
General G-H]
[Correspondence,
General I-K]
[Correspondence,
General L-M]
[Correspondence,
General N-R]
[Correspondence,
General S-V]
[Correspondence,
General W-Z]
Counsel
First
Lady
Legislative
Affairs
Memorandum
– Miscellaneous
[Military
Office]
NSC
Personnel
– General Correspondence
Personnel
– HHS Secretary (1)(2)
Box
5
Personnel
– HHS Secretary (3)
Personnel
– Individual Cases
Personnel
(White House Staff) (1)-(3)
Policy
Development (Svahn)
Political
Affairs (1)-(4)
Press
(1)(2)
Public
Affairs (Maseng)
White
House Staff Information
Wirthlin (1)(2)
SERIES III: MEETING FILE,
1985-1987
Box 5, cont.
Canada
[President’s Trip 04/05/1987-04/06/1987]
Drug
Meetings
DTR
Planning Group Meetings (1)-(3)
Box
6
Economic
Summit – Venice (1987) (1)(2)
[Geneva]
Dennis Thomas – Geneva Trip (1)(2)
[Geneva
Events – Participants]
[Geneva]
Hold for Summit Meeting (1)(2)
Geneva
Oversight Group
Geneva
Oversight Group – Dennis Thomas (1)-(5)
Box
7
[Geneva
Planning]
Geneva
Planning Meeting Agenda
[Geneva]
President Reagan's Trip to Geneva, November 16-21, 1985 – Background
Book [Dennis Thomas Copy]
Geneva
– Safe (1)-(3)
Gorbachev
Visit [US-USSR Summit Planning, 1986]
Iceland
[Pre-Reykjavik Planning Meeting 10/03/1986]
Jordan
Arms
[South
Korea: Dinner with Ambassador Kim 03/15/1986]
Meetings
(Miscellaneous) (1)-(6)
Morning
& Evening Agenda Items (1)
Box
8
Morning
& Evening Agenda Items (2)
Notes
(1)-(5)
[Notes
(Photocopies)] (1)-(8)
[Planning]
Air Force One (Meetings) (1)-(4)
Box
9
[Planning]
Air Force One (Meetings) (5)-(9)
Planning
Meeting (1985)
[Planning]
September 1985 Plan
1986
Planning Group Meetings (1)-(6)
[Planning
Group] Agenda 1987 (1)-(4)
Planning
Group Meetings 1987
[Planning
Meeting Follow-up:] Beyond the Beltway
Box
10
[Reykjavik]
Background Book – President's Trip to Iceland (1)(2)
[Reykjavik]
Iceland (1)-(5)
Summer
Summit [Second US-USSR Summit] (1)(2)
Tokyo
Economic Summit: NSC Briefing Book (binder) (1)(2)
Tokyo
Economic Summit: Packet I
Tokyo
Economic Summit: Packet II
Tokyo
Economic Summit: Preparations (1)(2)
Tokyo
Economic Summit: Trip Scheduling (1)(2)
Tokyo
Summit Meeting Planning Meetings
SERIES IV: ISSUES FILE, 1985-1987
Box 11
Agriculture
(1)-(3)
[Budget]
(1)-(11)
Budget
Meetings 1986
Drug
Abuse Prevention 07/02/1986 (1)(2)
Box
12
Drug Initiative I (1)-(7)
Drug
Initiative II (1)-(4)
Energy
Gramm-Rudman
#1 July 1985 – August 1985 (1)-(3)
Gramm-Rudman
#2 September 1985 (1)(2)
Box
13
Gramm-Rudman
#2 September 1985 (3)
Gramm-Rudman
#3 October 1985 – November 1985 (1)-(8)
Gramm-Rudman
December 1985
Gramm-Rudman
January 1986
Gramm-Rudman
February 1986 (1)-(3)
[Homeless:]
Mitch Snyder (1)(2)
Iran
[Iran-Contra] (1)-(3)
Box
14
Iran
[Iran-Contra] (4)-(8)
Miscellaneous
Issues [AIDS]
Miscellaneous
Issues [Nuclear Energy]
Miscellaneous
Issues [Sequoia (Presidential Yacht)]
Miscellaneous
Issues [Space Shuttle]
MIA
(Missing-In-Action)
Nicaragua
(1)-(3)
OMB
Appropriations
OMB
General Correspondence, 1985 (1)(2)
OMB
General Correspondence, 1986 (1)-(3)
OMB
General Correspondence, 1987
Oil
– Issues
South
Africa
Box
15
Space
[White House] (1)(2)
State
of the Union 1986 I (1)-(8)
State of the Union 1986 II (1)-(3)
1987
State of the Union Background Materials [and Final Version] (1)-(6)
Box
16
1987
State of the Union Background Materials [and Final Version] (7)-(11)
1987
State of the Union [Draft] (Khachigian) (1)(2)
1987
State of the Union [Draft] (Speechwriters) (1)(2)
1987
State of the Union [Draft] (Thomas) (1)-(9)
Box
17
1987
State of the Union [Draft] (Thomas) (10)
1987
State of the Union – Memorandum/Meetings (1)-(5)
Tax
Reform (1)-(4)
Textiles
Trade (1)(2)
SERIES V: REGAN MEMORANDUM
FILE, Dec. 1985 – Feb. 1987
Box 17, cont.
Regan Memorandum July 1985 – December 1985 (1)(2)
Regan
Memorandum January 1986 – March 1986 (1)-(3)
Box
18
Regan
Memorandum April 1986 – June 1986 (1)(2)
Regan
Memorandum July 1986 – August 1986 (1)-(3)
Regan
Memos September 1986 (1)-(4)
Regan
Memorandum October 1986 – December 1986 (1)-(4)
Regan
Memorandum January 1987 (1)(2)
Regan
Memorandum (Routine) (February 1987) (1)
Box
19
Regan
Memorandum (Routine) (February 1987) (2)-(5)
Regan
Memorandum (Sensitive) (1)-(3)
SERIES
VI: DISKETTE FILE
Box 19, cont.
[Diskette
Box] (diskettes transferred to preservation storage)
[Diskette:
KLM2 Backup Documents]
[Diskette:
KLM3 Correspondence/Documents] (1)(2)
[Diskette:
KLM6] (1)-(3)
Diskette
Maintenance (1)-(4)