Breadcrumb

David R. Young, Jr. (White House Special Files: Staff Member and Office Files)

Date Start
1969
Date End
1973
Abstract

The Presidential historical materials of David R. Young, Jr., a special assistant to the National Security Council and who served on special detail to the Domestic Council, are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration under the provisions of Title I of The Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-526, 88 Stat. 1695) and implementing regulations. In accordance with the act and regulations, archivists reviewed the file group to identify personal and private materials and nonhistorical items; none were found.

Materials covered by the act have been archivally processed and are described in this register. Items which are security classified or otherwise restricted under the act and regulations have been removed and placed in a closed file. A Document Withdrawal Record, GSA Form 7279, with a description of each restricted item, has been inserted at the beginning of the folder from which material has been removed. A Document Control Record marks the original position of the withdrawn item.

Employees of the National Archives will review periodically the unclassified portions of closed materials for the purpose of opening those which no longer require restriction. Certain classified documents may be declassified under the authority of Executive Order 13526 in response to a Mandatory Review Request (NA Form 14020) submitted by the researcher.

  • Linear feet of materials:   9
  • Approximate number of pages:   21,000
Biographical Note

1936 November 10 Born in Jersey City, New Jersey

1959 B.S., Wheaton College, Illinois

1963 B.A., Oxford University, England

1964 LL.B., Cornell University, New York and admitted to New York State Bar

1965 Associated with law offices of Millbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCoy, New York

1970 January 5 Appointed Special Assistant to the National Security Council

1971 July 1 Detailed to the Domestic Council at the White House

1973 April 30 Resigned from National Security Council (and detail to the Domestic Council) and departed from the White House

1974 August Accepted for graduate studies at Oxford University, England

1982 July 1 Continues residence in Oxford, England; associated with Oxford Analytica Ltd.

Scope and Content Note

Except for a few items dated in 1969, the materials of David R. Young, Jr., cover the period from January 5, 1970, to April 30, 1973. During that time he held two major, consecutive assignments within the Executive Office of the President with the National Security Council and with the Domestic Council.

Shortly after his appointment to the Federal service, as a Special Assistant to the National Security Council, Young became an administrative assistant to Henry A. Kissinger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. For the most part, his duties for the next year and a half involved arranging Council staff meetings, handling Kissinger's office appointments, taking part in a detailed study of the Brookings Institution, and assisting with briefing sessions for Kissinger prior to his meetings with the President, with news correspondents, and before his public speaking engagements.

At the beginning of July 1971, Young was permanently detailed to the Domestic Council, where he worked with Egil Krogh, deputy to Presidential Assistant John D. Ehrlicliman. In his new duties, Young became concerned with domestic and external security matters, and he worked with them for the most of the remainder of his tenure at the White House.

At the Domestic Council, Young was closely involved with the writing of Executive Order Number 11652, subsequently promulgated on March 8, 1972. This directive established a new government-wide system that provided improved and progressive rules and procedures for the classification and the accelerated declassification of government documents relating to national security information and matters.

To assist in providing the means by which the United States government could better protect against the violence practiced in 1972-73 by international terrorist organizations, Young served as the Domestic Council's representative to the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism. This agency became an effective interdepartmental intelligence evaluating group which provided American guidance, cooperation, and assistance in an international cooperative effort relating to combating and containing international terrorists and their violence.

While working with these governmental organizations and as a result of the appearance in the media of sensitive and frequently classified security information, Young was directed to lend his abilities toward investigating and helping stop information leaks within the Nixon administration. This was in direct response to the publication by The New York Times of "The Pentagon Papers," which comprised some 7,000 pages of classified material assembled from sensitive and classified files belonging to the Departments of State and Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency. Toward the end of stopping the unauthorized release of government information, the White House Special Investigations Unit was formed and included, under Egil Krogh and Young's co-direction, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy.

Better known subsequently as "The Plumbers," this group participated in clandestine activities–the 1971 attempted burglary of the office of "Pentagon Papers" defendant Daniel Ellsberg's former psychiatrist and of the 1972 attempted burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters located in The Watergate Hotel. The discovery of both attempted burglaries lead directly to "The Plumbers" resignations from government service and, except for Young, prison sentences. Young was spared jail through the grant of limited immunity on the motion of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (the "Senate Watergate Investigation Committee") and the approval of United States District Judge John J. Sirica on July 5, 1973.

There is one folder of additional material in the Names Files of the National Security Council Files which bears Young's name.

The materials are arranged into three series:

  1. Chronological Files
  2. Subject Files
  3. Files of the Working Group of the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism
Series Description

Boxes:   1-2
Series:   Chronological Files
Spans:   1970 - 1973
Description:   Electrostatic and carbon copies of memoranda, letters, and reports drafted, coordinated, or signed by Young between January 1970 and March 1973, when he was initially assigned to the National Security Council and then to the Domestic Council, concerning the matters described in the Subject Files. Arranged in chronological order.

Boxes:   3-24
Series:   Subject Files
Spans:   1969 - 1973
Description:   Originals, drafts, tissue, and electrostatic copies of incoming and outgoing letters, memoranda, minutes of meetings, telegrams, cables, and reports. These materials relate to Young's duty assignments and represent his contributions to the National Security Council and the Domestic Council. Principal subjects include: a government-wide system for uniform classification of security information, schedules for its accelerated declassification, and arbitration procedures by the Interagency Classification Review Committee; American activities related to combating and containing international terrorists and terrorism; and the investigation of security information leaks within the Nixon administration.

Boxes:   25-28
Series:   Files of the Working Group of the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism
Spans:   1972 - 1973
Description:   Publications, pamphlets, posters, and reports (many biographical and with photographs) of individuals and groups known and suspected of acts of international terrorism and violence. The material within this series relates to the Palestine Liberation Organization and other Arab commando groups as well as to some other foreign dissident groups not only operating within the United States but also in other countries. There are weekly summary reports of terrorist activities by country and geographical region. Virtually all of these publications were produced by and for the intelligence community and contain classified security information.

Folder Title List

CHRONOLOGICAL FILES: 1970-73

Box 1

D.R.Y. Personal Chron File, Part I [January-May 1972] [1 of 2 folders]
D.R.Y. Personal Chron File, Part I [January-May 1972] [2 of 2 folders]
D.R.Y. Personal Chron File, Part II [June-October 1972]
D.R.Y. Chron File, [January 1970-April 1971] [1 of 3 folders]
D.R.Y. Chron File, [January 1970-April 1971] [2 of 3 folders]
D.R.Y. Chron File, [January 1970-April 1971] [3 of 3 folders]

Box 2

Young Chron [File], [January-July 1971]
Memoranda--Chronological--[File], David R. Young, [July-November 1971]
D.R.Y. Chronological Memoranda File [December 1971-July 1972] [1 of 2 folders]
D.R.Y. Chronological Memoranda File [December 1971-July 1972] [2 of 2 folders]
D.R.Y. Chronological File, Part II, [July-December 1972]
Chron Memos [File]--D.R.Y., [January-March 1973]

SUBJECT FILES

Box 3

Beecher Leak--10/1/72
NSC Intelligence Committee
United States vs. Marchetti
Press---United States vs. Marchetti [1 of 2 folders]
Press---United States vs. Marchetti [2 of 2 folders]
TV Licensing
Credibility and the Election
Meeting w/ Franks, 3/21/72
Pincus Article on Secrecy, 4/16/72
Non-Reproducible Paper Documents--IBM
Classification/Declassification and Unauthorized Disclosure
Meeting w/Agnew-Unauthorized Disclosure Legislation
[Oversized Item] Dept. of State List by Category--Original Classification Authority
Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence--Original Classification Authority; Adds and Deletes

Box 4

Office, Secretary of Defense [Subtitles]: Top Secret Authorities; Secret and Confidential Authorities
Navy [Subtitles]: Top Secret Authorities; Secret and Confidential Authorities
Organization, Joint Chiefs-of-Staff [Subtitles]: Top Secret Authorities; Secret and Confidential Authorities
Air Force [Subtitles]: Top Secret Authorities; Secret and Confidential Authorities
Army [Subtitles]: Top Secret Authorities; Secret and Confidential Authorities
[Dept. of Transportation-Original Classification Authorities]
[Canal Zone Government-Original Classification Authorities]
[Export-Import Bank-Original Classification Authorities]
[National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Original Classification Authorities]
[Federal Communications Commission-Original Classification Authorities]
[Federal Maritime Commission-Original Classification Authorities]
[Dept. of Labor-Original Classification Authorities]
[Dept. of Commerce-Original Classification Authorities]
[Dept. of Justice-Original Classification Authorities]
[Arms Control and Disarmament Agency-Original Classification Authorities]
[General Services Administration-Original Classification Authorities]
[United States Information Agency-Original Classification Authorities]
[Dept. of Treasury-Original Classification Authorities]
[Executive Office of the President-Original Classification Authorities]
[Civil Service Commission-Original Classification Authorities]
[Miscellaneous Agencies-Original Classification Authorities]
[AID and Overseas Private Investment Corporation-Original Classification Authorities]

Box 5

Dept. of Defense-Original Classification Authorities
[Dept. of State: Overseas-Original Classification Authorities] [Folder 1 of 3]
[Dept. of State: Domestic-Original Classification Authorities] [Folder 2 of 3]
[Dept. of State-Original Classification Authorities] [Folder 3 of 3]

Box 6

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission: Classifying Officials-July 1, 1972
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Authorized Classifiers (Quarterly Report of October 1, 1972)
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Authorized Classifiers (Quarterly Report of Jan. 1, 1973)

Box 7

Press Reportage
Temporary Ellsberg File
"J.F.K. In Retrospect"
Miscellaneous
Memoranda [file divider]
Briefing Clearance-Warnke
Rather Report-NVA/CIA-9/16/72

Box 8

General [file divider]
State-General
Defense-General
United States vs. The New York Times Company, et. al.
U.S. vs The Washington Post Company, et. al.
Defense Department Investigation: Volume I

Box 9

Defense Department Investigation: Volume II
CIA-General
SALT
Legislation
Krogh Security Study-1969
Organizational Charts

Box 10

Think-Tank-General
Opinion-Outside Experts
The President's Daily Briefing [empty file]
FBI Raw File Material
Atomal Documents [empty file]
Congressional
In-House--General
Justice--General
Diem Coup Background
SEATO [Southeast Asia Treaty Organization] Documents [empty file]
CENTO [Central Treaty Organization] Documents [empty file]

Box 11

NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] Documents [empty file]
Cosmic Documents [empty file]
Security Clearance Info-Leslie Howard Gelb
Security Clearance Info-Morton H. Halperin
Early Drafts
Key Figure Interview Reports
Rehnquist Committee/NSSM 113
Press Reportage
Press Regulations and Guidelines in Departments and Agencies
In-House Security Clearance Data

Box 12

Material re Ehrlichman Memo of 9/15/71 re: Status of Security Clearance Reviews by Department and Agency Heads
What Ellsberg Knows
Leak Data Assessment
Ellsberg-Miscellaneous
Diem Coup, et al. [Folder 1 of 2]
Diem Coup, et al. [Folder 2 of 2]

Box 13

Ellsberg Behavioral
FBI-General
Memos to Ehrlichman--General
Lead Material
[Two loose pages found between folders "Lead Material" and "Office Chron File of GGL" [G. Gordon Liddy] Memos]
Office Chron File of GGL [G. Gordon Liddy] Memos
Ellsberg Financial [Reports]

Box 14

Status Memoranda
J. Edgar Hoover's Reports to the President
Leak Chronology

Box 15

Attorney General's Daily Briefing
Anderson--Presidential MFR [Memorandum for Record]
[Press Leaks-Pentagon Papers-Ellsberg]
Security Investigation [Ellsberg]
E/S [Electronic Surveillance: Charles Radford]

Box 16

[Chronology of Daniel Ellsberg--From Birth to August 20, 1971]
[Miscellaneous: CIA document receipt, 3 memos, and 2 CIA cover sheets, list of CIA Documents]

Box 17

Anderson/Kuwait Cable
Ashbrook vs. Laird
Establishment of White House Security Staff
Delouette Case
FBI Leak Problem
Friday/Lillie/Supreme Court
Non-White House Telephone & [Washington] Post Article
Poff/Supreme Court
Supreme Court Nomination
Press-Supreme Court Nomination
Espionage Cases
Anderson--Memoranda to be Filed [empty file]
Anderson--Notes/Drafts

Box 18

Meeting with Bromley Smith--12/29/71
Anderson--Daily MFR's [Memoranda for Record]
Memoranda Not Divided [empty file]
Anderson Papers--Damage
Anderson--Back-up Material
Anderson--General
Anderson--General Press
Investigations
Robinson/Ehrlichman/Young [Two reel-to-reel audio tapes removed for preservation. Listen to reel one HERE and reel two HERE. See also: Finding Aid for David R. Young Staff Member and Office Files Audio Reels]
Welander/Ehrlichman/Young [One reel-to-reel audio tape removed for preservation. Listen to the reel HERE. See also: Finding Aid for David R. Young Staff Member and Office Files Audio Reels]

Box 19

NSC Security Check/Charles Sither
Previous Anderson Leaks
Anderson Article--December 13, 1971
Anderson Article--December 14, 16, 1971
Anderson Article--December 17, 1971
Anderson Article--December 20, 1971
Anderson Article--December 21, 1971
Anderson Article--December 24, 1971
Anderson Article--December 27, 1971
Anderson Article--December 30, 1971
Anderson Article--January 1-3, 1972
Anderson Article--January 4, 1972
Anderson Article--January 5, 1972

Box 20

Anderson Article--January 6, 1972
Anderson Article--January 10, 1972
Anderson Article--January 11, 1972
Anderson Article--January 12, 1972
Anderson Article--January 14, 1972
Anderson Article--January 16, 1972
Anderson Article--January 17, 1972
Anderson Article--January 18, 1972
Anderson Article--January 21, 1972
Anderson Article--January 22, 1972
Anderson Article--January 23, 1972
Anderson Article--January 28, 1972
Anderson Article--February 1, 1972
Anderson Article--March 12, 1972
Leak Chronology
Attorney-General's Daily Briefing [empty]
SALT
In-House--General

Box 21

In-House Security Clearance Data
Think-Tank
Congressional
Hoover--Spook
CIA--General
Federal Employment/Civil Service [Folder 1 of 4]
Federal Employment/Civil Service [Folder 2 of 4]
Federal Employment/Civil Service [Folder 3 of 4]
Federal Employment/Civil Service [Folder 4 of 4]
FBI--General
State--General

Box 22

Justice--General [Folder 1 of 3]
Justice--General [Folder 2 of 3]
Justice--General [Folder 3 of 3]
Defense--General [Folder 1 of 5]
Defense--General [Folder 2 of 5]
Defense--General [Folder 3 of 5]
Defense--General [Folder 4 of 5]
Defense--General [Folder 5 of 5]

Box 23

[Notes taken by Charles R. Breyer, 12-18-73] [Copies of annotations made by Breyer and Buzhardt that date]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Memorandum for the Record
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #1-18 [Folder 1 of 11]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #1-18 [Folder 2 of 11]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #1-18 [Folder 3 of 11]]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #1-18 [Folder 4 of 11]

Box 24

Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #1-18 [Folder 5 of 11]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #19-39 [Folder 6 of 11]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #19-39 [Folder 7 of 11]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #19-39 [Folder 8 of 11]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tabs #19-39 [Folder 9 of 11]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tab #40--E/S Reports [Folder 10 of 11]
Special Report for the President from David R. Young, Tab #40--E/S Reports [Folder 11 of 11]

FILES OF THE WORKING GROUP OF THE CABINET COMMITTEE TO COMBAT TERRORISM

Box 25

[Prominent Members-Palestine Liberation Organization and Other Major Arab Commando Orgs--November 1972]
Intelligence Evaluation Committee Reports
[Reports on Terrorist Activities, Folder 1 of 4]
-"Arab Terrorist Activities"
-"Terrorism: It's Tactics and Techniques"
-"Arab Terrorist Documentation" (1/73)
-"Libyan Support for Arab Terrorists" (1/73)
-"Yugoslav Terrorist Organizations" (2/14/73)
-"Fedayeen International Connections: Turkey-December 1972"
-"The Seizure of the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok" February 1973
-"Letter and Parcel Bombs" March 1973
-"Fedayeen Terrorism"
-"International Representation of Al Fatah"
[Reports on Terrorist Activities, Folder 2 of 4]
-"International Representation of Al Fatah" March 5, 1973
-"The Impact of Khartoum on Arab Reactions to Palestinian Terrorism"-April 2, 1973
-"The Use of Diplomatic Protection for Transmitting Arms, Ammunition and Explosives"-March 22, 1973
-"International Representation of Al Fatah, The Palestine Liberation Organization and the Arab League"-March 21, 1973
-"Terrorism and the Black September Organization"-October 6, 1972
-"A Chronology of Significant Non-Arab Terrorist Acts: 1969-1972" (October 9, 1972)
-"Arab Terrorist Activity in the United States"-September 15, 1972
[Reports on Terrorist Activities, Folder 3 of 4]
-"Terrorism and the Black September Organization"-October, 1972
-"Fedayeen Reaction to Expose on the Black September Organization"
-"The Fedayeen-Politics of Spoiling"-October 26, 1972
-"Hijacking and Subsequent Release of Arab Terrorists"-October 29, 1972
-"Black September Organization Letter Bombs"-December 1972
-"Foreign Dissident Groups"-October 1972
-"Yugoslav Emigre Terrorism in the United States"-December 6, 1972
-"Ethiopian Airline Hijacking: 8 December 1972"-December 1972
[Reports on Terrorist Activities, Folder 4 of 4]
"Fedayeen Handbook" April 1973

Box 26

[Persons Known or Suspected to be Involved with Fedayeen]--Index to Volumes I and II
[Persons Known or Suspected to be Involved with Fedayeen] Volume I
[Persons Known or Suspected to be Involved with Fedayeen]--Volume II
[Foreign Dissident Groups--April 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--April 11, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--April 25, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--May 2, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--May 9, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--No Date]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--March 7, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--March 14, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--March 21, 1973]

Box 27

[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--March 28, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--April 4, 1973]
[Intelligence Evaluation Committee Reports Numbers 1-15, 18]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--November 22, 1972]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--November 15, 1972
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--November 9, 1972]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--November 1, 1972]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--February 28, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--February 21, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--February 14, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--February 7, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--January 31, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--December 13, 1972]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--November 29, 1972]

Box 28

[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--December 9, 1972]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--January 3, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--December 20, 1972]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--January 10, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--January 17, 1973]
[Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism--January 24, 1973]
["Arab Terrorist Activity in the United States"--September 15, 1972]
["The Black September Attack at the Munich Olympic Games"--January 16, 1973]
[Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism--Table of Contents and Agenda]