European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 21, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Doil Magazine preserving the by Mike Feinsilber United press International m m. M Hen a president left office he used to cart11 a m his White House papers with him to do a Mew with them As he liked. Luf maj Chester Arthur destroyed most of his. W w John Tyler s were lost when Union forces burned Richmond a. It is believed William g. Har Ding s widow chucked some of his papers in the fireplace hoping to cover up the scandals of his administration. Franklin d. Roosevelt changed the system. He could t find any place in the basement or attic at Home Large enough to hold the Mountain of papers generated in the new Deal. Before for took office citizens infrequently wrote presidents. Herbert Hoover got 400 letters a Day on aver age Roosevelt got 4,000.now presidents create records by the ton. Some 35 Mil lion pages Are on file at the Texas sized Lyndon b. John son Library in Austin Tex. Nearly As Many As the 40 million pages in the records of 23 Early presidents in the Library of  set the tradition for presidents to arrange for libraries to be built at private expense with the government paying to maintain them forever after giving tourists new places to visit across the american land scape. Historians used to mutter about the need to go from one Distant place to another to do research but lately the complaints have died , the Library of Congress used to Scurry around after a chief executive left office trying to get his papers. Often it had to buy them from ancestors and what it got often was t  ago a citizen would sometimes write an sex pres ident for a Sample of his handwriting and be Given a Page from an old letter. Sometimes signatures were Cut off for autograph Hunters. Sex presidents did t regard their paperwork As valuable raw material for historians. But Daniel Reed does. Reed assistant archivist at the National archives is in charge of five existing presiden tial libraries holding the papers of Hoover , Harry Truman Dwight d. Eisenhower and Johnson and two under development John f. Kennedy and Gerald r. Ford. Reed a White haired historian has devoted his life to the subject. From 1959 to 1985, he supervised the indexing and microfilming of the Library of Congress presidential collection. Reed s chief worries these Days Are coping with the Richard Nixon papers and a Bill wending through con Gress making sure presidential papers become govern ment property. During watergate Nixon As had All presidents claimed the papers As his personal possessions and Congress passed a Bill taking custody of them from him. As approved by the House government operations committee the new Bill would make All presidential papers created after 1980 government property to be opened 10 years after the president leaves office. Reed fears the effect will be to cause presidents and their staffs to avoid putting some things in writing and to purge their files before they leave to the detriment of  said the Ford White House left behind a thin record and he s heard from a senior staff member in a very important position in the Carter White House that the carte rites Are careful about what goes into the files. Philip Buchen Ford s counsel and Friend testified that to keep secrets from coming out too soon they were not writing things if they could manage to get by without writing and if they had to have it in writing for a while they gave another thought to whether it would be kept in files Reed said. Reed said future presidents Are Likely to purge Daniel Reed of the National archives is in charge of the presidential libraries. Their files before leaving office or to circumvent the Law by calling some papers purely personal and taking them Home even if they Deal with sensitive matters of state. Journalists and contemporary historians generally favor Quick Access to presidential records. They argue popular government demands Public knowledge of what High officials have done. But other historians say a late record is More important to democracy s future than an incomplete  would give presidents 20 years of secrecy More if they wanted  conservatives say give the historical figure plenty of time so they Don t get nervous and Start destroying papers he said. We want the record to survive in the fullest possible  As for Nixon s papers they repose in the archives on Pennsylvania Avenue 5,000 hours of tape recordings and 36 million pages of documents. A Small staff is putting them in order at a Cost of $111 000 this year. The archives has asked Congress for $1.5 million next year to hire 50 people to Speed up the Cata Loging work. Even then it might take six years. The libraries reflect the Man presidential libraries seem to acquire som of the flavor and character of the president  Roosevelt s Library on his stately family Homestead at Hyde Park n.y., reflects the patrician president and the country House life in which he grew up. Until shortly before his death the Down to Earth former haberdasher Harry Truman reported to work every Day at his Library in his Hometown of Independence mo., and loved taking visitors on Tours. Lyndon Johnson built his Texas sized Library at Austin Tex. Eight stories High it draws More tourists in the Southwest than any site except the Alamo. On the grounds of the Dwight d. Eisenhower Library at his Birthplace in Abilene kan., is the Eisenhower Home a simple boxy Structure typical of the Midwest where Eisenhower and his five Brothers grew to Man Hood. All told the six presidential libraries Drew 1,623,245 visitors last year. Johnson s outdraw All others with 656, 654 visitors. Here s a rundown on the existing presidential libraries and four in the planning stages Rutherford b. Hayes opened in 1916 and operated bythe Ohio historical society and the Hayes foundation at Fremont Ohio Hayes Birthplace it is the Only one not run by the government. It is a Center for the study of the reconstruction period in . History. Herbert Hoover after the Franklin Roosevelt Library was opened Hoover s papers were moved from Stanford University to a Library and museum erected at his Birthplace West Branch Iowa. On the grounds too is the cottage where Hoover was born and a replica of the Blacksmith shop his father operated. Franklin d. Roosevelt for an Amateur historian established the Federal presidential Library system at his family Home after consulting with historians Charles a. Beard and Samuel Eliot Morison. Among his papers Are his pencilled designs for the building. An Annex honors his wife s humanitarian projects. Harry Truman in a replica of the Oval office Visi tors hear a tape recording made by the former president describing his Job. An imposing fireplace mantel re moved from the White House during a renovation or dered by Truman carries these words written by president John Adams i Pray heaven to bestow the Best of blessings on this House and All that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and Wise men Ever Rule under this  Dwight d. Eisenhower in addition to the Library and family Home Are a Chapel where Ike is buried and a museum housing 22,000 mementos of his military career including cases full of foreign decorations. A 1914 electric automobile owned by Eisenhower s in Laws is also on display. Lyndon b. Johnson built on the University of Texas Campus it is the biggest presidential Library holding 35 million pages of documents and such Memorabilia As the thursday september 21, 1978 dresses Lynda and Luci Johnson wore at their weddings and another Oval office replica. The Library is an hour s drive from the lbs ranch his boyhood Home and birth place and the lbs state Park where Bison still roam. Gerald r. Ford it will be built on the University of Michigan Campus at Ann Arbor Ford s Alma mater with a museum to be built in his Hometown of grand rapids. John f. Kennedy ground was broken in 1977 for a Library overlooking Boston Harbor on the Campus of the University of Massachusetts because of a dispute Over building it at Harvard his Alma mater. Completion of the . Pei designed museum and Library is expected by late 1979 or Early 1980. In the meantime Kennedy papers Are available to researchers at a Federal building in Val Tham mass. 0 Richard Nixon although plans were announced before Nixon resigned for a presidential Library at the University of Southern California Campus no funds have been raised and nothing done for years about planning the Library. Congress passed a Law in 1974 seizing his papers and ordering that they be kept in Washington. It would have to be repealed or amended for them to be transferred to California. Jimmy Carter president Carter who pleased archivists by carefully preserving his papers when he was governor of Georgia already has announced he will give his papers to the government for a Library presumably to be built in Georgia. Three staff members of the National archives work in the White House advising aides what papers to preserve for the historical record. Up the stars and stripes Page 13