The series includes material accumulated by McPherson in his role as Special Assistant to the President and, after 1966, his role as Special Counsel to the President. The files cover a broad legal issues and topics related to
McPherson’s work, including appointments to positions in the Executive Branch, agriculture, the arts and humanities, preservation of Egyptian temples, banking, business and industry, anti-trust cases, labor issues, tax policy, trade, the United States economy, the balance of payments, the national budget, consumer protection, national defense, education and training, youth and opportunities for youth, the East-West Center in Hawaii, civil rights and discrimination, human rights, domestic disturbances and violence, crime and delinquency, urban affairs, housing, urban and rural poverty, humane treatment of animals, communications, transportation, international air travel, the airlines, natural resources, beautification, national parks, drought, flood control, national politics, the 1968 campaign, polls, election reform, government reorganization, the District of Columbia, veterans, legislation and the legislative process, Presidential powers, use of executive privilege, Presidential speeches and messages, the development of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, the White House Fellows program, and McPherson’s contacts with the press. The series also includes material relating to actions by a variety of federal departments, agencies, and governmental bodies, including the Civil Aeronautics Board; the Atomic Energy Commission; the Agriculture Department; the Justice Department; the National Council on the Arts and the National Endowments on the Arts and Humanities; Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; the Smithsonian Institution; the Office of Economic Opportunity; the Council of Economic Advisers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Federal Power Commission; the Interstate Commerce Commission; the General Services Administration; the Department of Health, Education and Welfare; the Department of the Interior; the Corps of Engineers; the Peace Corps; the Post Office Department; the United State Information Agency, the State Department; the Agency for International Development; the Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Veterans Administration; and the President’s Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. The series includes material on the exhibitions Hemisfair and Interama, The series also contains material related to Robert F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Eliot Janeway, Eugene McCarthy, and many others.
The series includes material related to United States territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, the Virgin Islands, and the Ryukyu Islands. It covers a broad range of foreign policy topics and countries, including foreign aid, Food for Freedom, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, the Panama Canal, the Philippines, Russia and the Soviet Union, Vietnam and the Vietnam War, world law, the Asian Development Bank, Human Rights Conventions, international youth programs, and International Cooperation Year. The series contains a large volume of correspondence, including letters, memorandums, telegrams, and a variety of attachments to the correspondence.
The series also contains reports; statements and speeches; drafts, strategy and position papers; copies of legislation; publications, including articles, clippings, booklets, pamphlets, and information packets; press releases; event programs; schedules; statistical information; lists; resumes; forms; and photographs.
