Key Information
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1983 (Creation)
- 1947-1981 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent
71 reels and five published guides
Scope and content
Public Statements by the Secretaries of Defense, 1947-1981 are microfilmed copies of official statements, press releases, speeches, announcements and memoranda released by successive US Secretaries of Defense, 1947-1981. Compiled by the US Department of Defense at the Pentagon, Washington, DC, the material reflects US government national security concerns during the height of the Cold War. Arranged chronologically, the series includes statement before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan), 1948; statement before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives on aid to Greece and Turkey, 1948; memoranda relating to Civil Defense Planning, 1948; statement on biological warfare potentialities, 1949; statements relating to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1949-1981; remarks at the unveiling of the memorial to British FM Sir John (Greer) Dill, 1950; testimony relating to the military situation in the Far East and the Balkans; statements relating to the Mutual Security Pact, 1952 and the Mutual Security Program, 1953; statement regarding the deployment of nuclear weapons for air defence, 1957; statement before the Senate Committee on Armed Services relating to satellite and missile programs, 1958; testimony regarding the Foreign Assistance Act, 1962; press conferences relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962; joint statements with Gen Maxwell Davenport Taylor, Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff, relating to the situation in the Republic of Vietnam, 1963; press conference regarding Gulf of Tonkin 'incident', 1964; statement regarding the appointment of Gen William Childs Westmoreland as Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, 1964; press releases relating to the increased commitment of US ground troops to Vietnam, 1966; testimony regarding US operations in Cambodia, 1970; press conferences relating to US-Soviet Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests, 1970; statements regarding US arms sales to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, 1974; statements regarding the fall of Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, to the North Vietnamese Army, Apr 1975; testimony relating to nuclear technology, including the Minuteman II nuclear missile, 1976; statements regarding Stealth technology and its application, 1980.
System of arrangement
The collection is arranged chronologically: Part 1, the Truman Administration, 1947-1953; Part 2, the Eisenhower Administration, 1953-1961; Part 3, The Kennedy and Johnson Administrations; Part 4, the Nixon and Ford Administrations; Part 5, the Carter Administration.
General Information
Repository
Custodial history
University Publications of America, Inc., Bethesda, MD, with published fully indexed guides edited by Paul Kesaris.
Conditions governing access
Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies may be printed off the microfilm/microfiche for research purposes and are charged at cost.
Enquiries concerning the copyright of the original material should be addressed to University Publications of America Inc.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Finding aids
This collection level description. Further finding aids may be available in the Reading Room.
Existence and location of originals
Historian's Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, DC, USA
Note
Compiled Jul 1999
Alternative identifier(s)
Subjects
- Alliances
- Arab-Israeli War (1973)
- Arms sales
- Central government
- Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
- Defence
- East West relations
- Foreign relations
- Government
- Government departments
- International conflicts
- International relations
- International tensions
- Military engineering
- Military equipment
- Missiles
- Nuclear warfare
- Nuclear weapons
- Public administration
- State security
- Vietnam War (1945-1975)
- War
- Warfare
- Weapons
- Wars (events)
People and Organisations
Genre access points
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.