Breadcrumb

Richard C. Tufaro (White House Special Files: Staff Member and Office Files)

Date Start
1972
Date End
1973
Abstract

The Presidential historical materials of Richard C. Tufaro, Staff Assistant of the Domestic Council, are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration under the provision 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 as well as nonhistorical items. These materials have been returned to Tufaro.

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 document has been inserted at the beginning of each 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 A Document Control Record marks the original position of the withdrawn item.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 the Mandatory Review Request (NA Form 14020) submitted by the researcher.

  • Linear feet of materials:   2
  • Approximate number of pages:   2,000
Biographical Note

1944 Born in New York City

1965 A. B., Dartsmouth College

1968 LL. B., Harvard University Law School

1968-1970 U.S. Army, Legal Officer and Assistant Staff Judge Advocate

1970-1971 Law Assistant, Judge Fred J. Munder, Appellate Division, Second Department New York State Supreme Court

1971-1972 Associate Attorney, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, New York City

1972 April 1 Staff Assistant of the Domestic Council with assignments to the Interagency Classification Review Committee and to the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism

1973 July 1 Returned to law practice with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, New York City

Scope and Content Note

Richard C. Tufaro served as a staff assistant of the White House Domestic Council from April 1972 to July 1973. During those fifteen months, he held two principal and concurrent assignments to other organizations. The initial detail was to the Interagency Classification Review Committee (ICRC), in which he was concerned with the problems of expediting the declassification of security classified documents, and, in the second, the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism (CCCT). Tufaro performed his duties with the ICRC under the supervision of John S. D. Eisenhower; and while engaged with CCCT activities, he represented Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Executive Director of the Domestic Council.

The materials are arranged into two series:

  1. Subject Files
  2. Chronological Files

The first series is larger than the second and covers the period between July 1972 and June 1973. These subject files reflect in some detail Tufaro's active participation in the working sessions of the CCCT. The correspondence, memoranda, notes, telegrams, cables, and reports of the CCCT in Tufaro's files also indicate the White House's deep concern and determined efforts to combat international terrorism. Significant topics and subjects in the series consist of highly classified and sensitive information contributed by the members of the CCCT, who provided a diverse and broad base of information and expertise in developing, evaluating, and coordinating the government's counter-response and procedures against both domestic and international terrorist attacks. Airplane hijacking and political kidnapping and assassinations are recurrent topics in this series. Approximately 200 pages of security classified and sensitive information, relating primarily to terrorism and its containment, have been withdrawn from the Subject Files.

The Chronological Files almost exclusively pertain to Tufaro's tenure with the ICRC, between September 1972 and June 1973. As the principal assistant to the Director of ICRC, he was responsible for coordinating the administration's government-wide effort to implement the provisions of Executive Order 11652, concerning declassification of national security information. A small portion of Tufaro's chronological files also shows his efforts to revise that section of the United States Criminal Code on espionage and related offenses. In keeping with the administration's policy of attaching more stringent penalties on the unauthorized disclosure of security classified information, Tufaro considered the revision necessary to prevent a repetition of what had occurred in the so-called Pentagon Papers controversy. Despite any importance the administration may have placed on the code revision, Tufaro left the administration before it was completed.

Series Description

Boxes:   1-3
Series:   Subject Files
Spans:   1972 - 1973
Description:   Incoming original letters, tissue, and electrostatic copies of telegrams, cables, memoranda, minutes of meetings, and reports dated between July 1972 and June 1973. Virtually all of the materials relates to international terrorism and to the activities of the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism. Arranged by subject and thereunder in reverse chronological order.

Boxes:   4-5
Series:   Chronological Files
Spans:   1972 - 1973
Description:   Electrostatic and carbon copies of outgoing letters, memoranda, and reports signed by Tufaro between September 1972 and June 1973. Almost all of these materials deal with the activities of the Interagency Classification Review Committee. Arranged in reverse chronological order.

Folder Title List

SUBJECT FILES, 1972-73

Box 1

Secret Attachments [Folder # 1]
Secret Attachme nts [Folder # 2]
Day-At-A-Glance--1973 [red spiral bound appointment calendar belonging to Richard C. Tufaro]
CCCT [Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism] Working Group [Folder # 1]
CCCT Working Group [Folder # 2]

Box 2

Scenarios
FBI Jurisdiction
Terrorism [Folder # 1]
Terrorism [Folder # 2]
Terrorism [Folder # 3]
Terrorism [Folder # 4]

Box 3

Terrorism Weekly Sitreps [Situation Reports]
Presidential Statement--Montreal Convention and HR 15883
Press--Terrorism
Cables on Terrorism [Folder # 1]
Cables on Terrorism [Folder # 2]
Suspense File--Terrorism
Terrorism Legislation
Terrorism--Domestic Working Group
Intelligence Reports
Jewish Defense League
Terrorism--FBI Jurisdiction
Special Access Systems

CHRONOLOGICAL FILES, 1972-73

Box 4

Chronology [sic] File--Richard Tufaro (September 28--November 30, 1972)
Chronology [sic] File--Richard Tufaro (December 1, 1972--January 31, 1973)

Box 5

Chronology [sic] File--Richard Tufaro (February 1--March 30, 1973)
Chronology [sic] File--Richard Tufaro (April 1--June 30, 1973)