White House Diary

1977

I began keeping this diary in part due to an offhand comment by Richard Nixon. Rosalynn and I first met Nixon when we attended the National Governors’ Conference in 1971. The president walked up to us at a White House reception, turned to Rosalynn, and asked, Young lady, do you keep a diary? Rosalynn replied, No, sir. Nixon then said, You’ll be sorry! Since this was our first conversation with a president, it made a lasting impact.

Within a day or two of my inauguration, I began making written notes of my thoughts and activities on the pages of a legal pad, and on February 26 I began dictating into a small tape recorder more frequently and currently.

January 20

A couple months before the inauguration, I got a letter from Senator [William] Proxmire, who is very interested in physical fitness. He suggested that I walk from the Capitol to the White House on Inauguration Day. I responded without making any promise, and about three weeks before the inauguration I informed the Secret Service that I would do so. I later told my wife, my son Chip, and no one else until the night before inauguration, at which time I told Vice President Mondale and a couple of staff members, including Jody Powell.

I thought it would be a good demonstration of confidence by the new president in the people of our country as far as security was concerned, and also would be a tangible indication of some reduction in the imperial status of the president and his family. We were gratified at the response. Many people along the parade route, when they saw that we were walking, began to weep, and it was an emotional experience for us as well. I was surprised at the enormous attention this act received from the news media and believe it was a good decision.

I think the inauguration speech itself, perhaps one of the briefest on record for the first inauguration of a president, was quite compatible with my announcement speech in December 1974, and also with my acceptance speech at the Democratic convention. It accurately expressed some of the major themes of my administration. Even though I had been preparing to be president, I was genuinely surprised when in the benediction by the bishop from Minnesota, he referred to blessings on President Carter just the phrase President Carter was startling to me.

I would say that the quarters at the White House are quite similar to those we enjoyed as the governor’s family in Georgia, but I have been constantly impressed—I almost said overwhelmed—at the historical nature of the White House, occupied for the first time by our second president, John Adams. When I see a desk or a writing cabinet or a book or a sideboard or a bed that was used by Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt or Truman or Kennedy, I have a feeling of almost unreality about my being president, but also a feeling of both adequacy and determination that I might live up to the historical precedents established by my predecessors.

That night we had our first of what has been a very relaxed and informal series of meals with our family. Early on, when Rosalynn was visiting the White House, some of our staff asked the chef and cooks if they thought they could prepare the kind of meals which we enjoyed in the South, and the cook said, Yes, ma’am, we’ve been fixing that kind of food for the servants for a long time. The meals in general have been superb. The only shock was that for the first ten days our food bill in the White House was six hundred dollars! Part of this was carelessness because we didn’t let the cooks know when some of our family members would not be present; part of it was because of the excessive amount of company that we had the first few days. We quickly discovered that the president himself pays for all personal meals, gifts, and travel—for himself and for other family members as well. All official expenses are, of course, paid by the government.

January 21

We had a series of receptions for people that we cared about, the first one of which was for seven or eight hundred Americans with whom we had spent the night during the long campaign. In some instances this was an emotional meeting because they had meant so much to us when no one knew or cared who I was, and we had formed such close personal friendships with them and had not had a chance to thank them adequately. I was genuinely surprised at how deeply moved I was to see these people. We gave each one of the families a small brass plaque stating that a member of my family had stayed with them during the campaign.

The first couple days we shook hands with literally thousands of people in receiving lines. Quite important to do this—to thank people who had helped us, to cement ties with the members of Congress, the diplomatic officials, and also with the members of the Armed Forces. I was particularly impressed as the leaders of the military branches came by and shook hands with me and Rosalynn to find the extraordinary number who made some reference to their prayers for us or God be with you—statements of that kind—much more than had been the case with others during those two days.

My normal, almost unvarying routine is to get up at 6:30, sometimes earlier if I have special work to do, get to the office at about 7:00. Most mornings I spend an hour to an hour and a half by myself reading the paper, writing memoranda to my staff members, and then I have a security briefing by Dr. [Zbigniew] Brzezinski [my national security advisor], read the CIA’s Intelligence Report to the President, meet with Hamilton Jordan and Frank Moore [my liaison officer with the Congress] to go over the day’s business with the Congress or other matters, and then I start my regular appointments.

For the first couple of weeks I did all this work out in the Oval Office, but later moved into a more private small office on the west side of the West Wing. The Oval Office is quite impressive, and I’ve noticed that many of my long-standing friends, quite self-assured and sometimes cosmopolitan, are not urbane when they come into the Oval Office; they become almost completely inarticulate, get nervous and unsure of themselves, impressed greatly by the fact that this is the center of our government. One of the almost routine problems I have is to put them at ease so we can continue with the conversation that brought them there.

January 22

We continued our series of receptions but had our first National Security Council meeting to get organized. This was an organization that in the past had consisted of, I think, seven different committees, and we cut this down to two different committees.

I’ve been determined to have Dr. Brzezinski be a constant source of stimulation for the Departments of Defense and State, but always work in the role of a staff person to me. In fact, I’ve pledged that none of the members of my staff would dominate members of the cabinet. Zbig agrees completely with this, and because of his constant access to me several times each day, perhaps second only to Hamilton Jordan in frequency, his influence over my own thinking and judgment, ultimate decisions, is certainly adequate.

As a college student, Hamilton had volunteered to help me in my campaign for governor in 1966; four years later, after serving in Vietnam, he became my top political leader. He was my executive secretary in the governor’s office and the primary strategist in planning and conducting our presidential campaign. In the White House, he continued to be one of my key advisors; although he did not want any title, he effectively served as my chief of staff. Everyone in my administration—and in Congress—recognized Hamilton as the most influential of my advisors in Washington.

In the inner White House office we established a high-fidelity sound system, and for eight or ten hours every day I listen to classical music. Records are changed by Susan Clough, my secretary.

In the evening we watched our first movie in a long time, All the President’s Men. I was impressed with the insistence of the press in uncovering information about Watergate and also felt strange occupying the same living quarters and position of responsibility as Richard Nixon, who had brought such disgrace on the White House and the presidency itself. And of course I was determined all anew not ever to let the same thing happen while I was president.

January 23

We had an early send-off for Vice President Mondale, who was asked by me to visit our major democratic allies and friends in Europe and Japan. I particularly wanted an early demonstration of our friendship for them. I believe the best way to deal with problems in the world is to have a sound basis of consultation and mutual trust among the developed democracies, and also, of course, I was glad to show that Vice President Mondale will be carrying out important missions for me—both domestic and foreign. He was received well by the leaders of other nations, and I think the substance of his discussions with them was equivalent to what it would have been had I been there myself.

Even before my inauguration, Brzezinski, Mondale, Cyrus Vance (my secretary of state), and I decided to launch a program to visit as many key nations as possible. We agreed, in very general terms, that my personal focus would be on western Europe and the Middle East, while Cy would concentrate on Russia and Japan. Andrew Young, the congressman and civil rights hero who became my ambassador to the United Nations, played a key role in maintaining and improving relations with African nations and other countries that were susceptible to Soviet enticement. Later, Rosalynn assumed a major role in Latin America, and Zbig developed a valuable rapport with the Chinese. These visits permitted intimate, detailed conversations that led to personal relationships with leaders, ascertained their primary goals and problems, and helped us learn how the United States could be of help. Our inherent advantage wherever we competed with the Soviet Union was our strong emphasis on peace and human rights.

We decided to join the First Baptist Church, primarily because [my son] Chip and [his wife] Caron, during the pre-inauguration days, had attended several of the churches and found this one to be both warm and friendly, even when the people there didn’t know who our children were. Also, Amy decided to become a member of the church and to be baptized there.

My daughter, Amy, who was born fifteen years after her youngest brother, Jeff, was three years old when I became governor and nine when we moved into the White House. She had attended a racially integrated school in Plains, and we enrolled her in a similar public school in Washington. Thoroughly engaged in politics, she joined in our often heated family discussions during mealtimes. Amy was naturally shy and always wanted to avoid the limelight.

Monday, January 24

I instructed the director of the Secret Service to limit their coverage of me and my family within the White House. When we got there we found that all the doors and stairwells going from the first, second, and the third floor were locked permanently, and that we could only move vertically by the elevator. Also, as soon as I came out of the mansion part of the White House, I was surrounded by Secret Service agents. I told them to stay discreetly distant from me. They unlocked all the doors except just during public visiting hours, and the White House is much more an informal living quarters now than it was before.

I found out quickly that the animosities and distrust that had been prevalent during the eight years of Republican administration between the White House and Congress were still present, and I’ve decided to stay as close to the key members as I can, with a breakfast every week or two weeks on Tuesday morning, and with frequent visits to me by the key chairmen of committees when we deal with welfare or health or the budget or with economics, defense, or foreign affairs.

January 26

The oath of office [for Attorney General Griffin Bell] was administered at the Department of Justice, and my intention is to visit all the major departments of the federal government, not only to shake hands and let them know I’m interested, but also to speak and answer questions from them.

Griffin Bell had served for fourteen years on the Fifth Circuit Court before becoming my attorney general. He carried out my orders to professionalize the FBI and create an independent Justice Department, which created some conflicts with the White House staff. He made public all contacts he or his top assistants had with any third parties that might affect judicial decisions.

January 27

I participated in the annual Prayer Breakfast and intend to pursue as much as possible a normal religious schedule.

I was determined to have a complete separation of church and state, compatible with my personal beliefs. This included a departure from the custom of some other presidents, who invited Billy Graham and other Christian leaders to hold services in the East Room of the White House. I still had strong ties in those days to the Southern Baptist Convention, and on occasion I worked with SBC president Jimmy Allen and other leaders on some denominational affairs, either in our private living quarters or in a room at First Baptist Church.

The last thing Rosalynn and I do every day is read a chapter in the Bible in Spanish, and we’ll have prayer at all our meals and attend regular church services wherever we are. When we had the first meeting with congressional leaders for breakfast, afterward [House Speaker] Tip O’Neill and [Senate Majority Leader] Bob Byrd both told me that was the first time they’d ever had prayer at such a meeting and they hoped that I would continue it.

We have tried to hold down drastically the ceremonial events that presidents ordinarily attend and to let my sons and their wives and Rosalynn and Amy and others substitute for me. The time pressures are so tremendous that every minute is valuable and it’s hard to draw the line once this habit is established.

In the past, two formal dinners were held during each visit of a head of state, one in the White House and one in the foreign embassy. I ended the visits to the dignitary’s embassy and had a difficult time explaining to my first few visitors that it was not a slight.

January 28

I decided to set up the Diplomatic Selection Commission and called Reubin Askew [governor of Florida] to see if he would be the chairman of it. He agreed to do so.

During the election, I had made no promises to anyone about specific appointments, so I was free to select judges, ambassadors, and other top appointees strictly on a merit basis. Before I filled each ambassadorial vacancy, a blue ribbon commission of about twenty members gave me a list of the best five people for the post, from which I made my choice. I maintained a high proportion of professional diplomats but also chose distinguished Americans from business, professional, and academic life when it was more appropriate. I initiated the same screening process in choosing more than two hundred federal judges.

February 1

Had my first meeting with [Soviet ambassador Anatoly] Dobrynin for about an hour. He was remarkably frank and unstructured and covered a wide range of interests, and I was favorably impressed with him. He seems to have direct communication with the Politburo, and he’s a member of the Central Committee.

Charles Kirbo was up and looked over the operation of the White House staff. His basic opinion is that Hamilton Jordan is overworked, bogged down with the dozens of personnel appointments, and that he needs some help returning his calls. We agreed to let Chip go by several hours a day and return some of the calls for Hamilton. It always is a great help to me to talk to Kirbo and listen to him. He has a way of absorbing complicated questions, and although he seems to talk about unimportant issues at times, the cumulative summary of his conversations is always one of guidance toward the right strategic objectives. He and I agreed before the inauguration not to talk about any business matters that relate to my own affairs, and, of course, we will adhere to that restriction.

Kirbo had been my friend and advisor when I was elected to the Georgia Senate and served as governor. With the exception of Rosalynn, he was my most trusted advisor throughout my presidency. He refused an appointment by me as U.S. senator when Richard Russell died, in January 1971, and always preferred to maintain his unofficial status. He was the final person with whom I consulted before choosing my vice president or any members of my cabinet. When he came to Washington, my top advisors and all members of Congress considered him to be the ultimate link to me. He was also the trustee of my private affairs concerning our family farms and warehouse business. Everyone who knew him respected his quiet, unobtrusive manner and his sound judgment. Although a partner in one of Atlanta’s largest and most prestigious firms, he retained such genuinely folksy ways that we all considered him to be a country lawyer. Before and after I was president, Kirbo and I spent many days together hunting, fishing, or just visiting on our respective farms.

February 2

When I woke up I thought immediately about naming Admiral Stansfield Turner to be director of [the] Central Intelligence [Agency], and Secretary of Defense Harold Brown agreed that he would be an outstanding person. I asked him to bring Stan Turner back to the United States from Naples.

Harold Brown had been secretary of the Air Force and president of Caltech, and was a noted physicist. I wanted him to bring scientific and technical innovations to the military forces. Stan Turner, my U.S. Naval Academy classmate, had been commander of the midshipman brigade, a famous football player, and later a Rhodes Scholar. I always knew he was destined for a top leadership position in the military service.

February 3

Although Stan was not enthusiastic about it at first, he said he would be glad to do anything I wanted him to, and I decided right then that he would be the best director.

We began a detailed study of the SALT issues both quickly for SALT II and ultimately for SALT III. This is being done by the National Security Council Special Coordination Committee.

SALT—which stands for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks—established some limits on nuclear armaments; they were negotiated between President Gerald Ford and Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev in 1974. My agreement with Brezhnev to limit warheads was called SALT II, and we also contemplated a third treaty, called SALT III, which would have mandated a much greater reduction.

I talked to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt about holding down the sale of reprocessing equipment for plutonium to Brazil and also asked him to stimulate the West German economy more than he had planned. He was quite reluctant to agree to either one of these proposals.

Germany was supplying Brazil’s nuclear program with fuel and technology, and Switzerland was providing the same to Argentina. I wanted both Latin American nations to comply with the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which was designed to keep the region free of nuclear weapons.

We’ve had a hard time getting enough women and minority groups in the various departments. [Secretary of Commerce] Juanita Kreps told me today that of the ten top people in the Department of Commerce, half of them would be women.

Monday, February 7

One of the biggest headaches I have ever run across is personnel appointments that the president has to make. Hamilton does a good job in screening these appointments, but all the controversial cases eventually get to me and there’s no way to win.

February 8

I had my first press conference. I felt completely at ease and leveled with the press as best I could, describing frankly some of the crucial issues that face our country. The major emphasis was on SALT talks and human rights. I spelled out in general terms our positions on these issues and intend to keep the press conferences on schedule and not evade issues any more than necessary for national security.

February 9

Later I asked Dr. Frank Press to be scientific advisor to the president. In the past most of them have been physicists—in fact, the first six recommendations that I got were for physics majors—but I wanted to get an earth science professor to help me in a more general way to assess some of the questions raised by the first report of the Club of Rome [regarding the fragility of the environment]. I believe Dr. Press will be a good man.

Began my first visits to the different departments today with the Labor Department. They tell me that since the Department of Labor was founded, fifty years ago, no president had ever been there. I generally make a short speech, then answer questions from the workers. Then we went to the Commerce Department, where we did the same thing.

February 10

Also went to the Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development. While I was there [at HUD] I was asked a question, What are you going to do about the families? And I said, humorously—half-humorously—that I think everyone who’s living in sin ought to get married, that all the husbands that left their wives ought to go home, and all the parents who didn’t remember their children’s names ought to get reacquainted with their children.

February 11

The president of India died, and I called Mama to ask her to leave that afternoon for India to represent me there. Chip decided to go with her. When she answered the phone I asked her what she was doing. She said she was sitting around the house looking for something to do, and I said, How would you like to go to India? She said, Love to go someday. Why? And I said, How about this afternoon? She said, Okay, I’ll be ready.

My mother had a special affection for India: in 1966, at the age of sixty-eight, she went there as a Peace Corps volunteer. A registered nurse, she had worked quietly and without notice among the untouchables in Vikhroli, a small village near Mumbai (Bombay). Before traveling to India, she had been deeply involved in local politics, serving as county chair of Lyndon Johnson’s campaign in 1964 and as a delegate that year to the Democratic National Convention. While Rosalynn’s mother cared for Amy, Mama campaigned almost full-time for me in 1976 and 1980, and never hesitated to let me have her advice, especially with respect to the interests of poor or neglected people. Mother became quite well-known when I was governor and then president, and took full advantage of her fame to become friends with notable people, enjoy worldwide travel, appear as a frequent guest of Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and on other TV talk shows, and attend as many major sports events as possible.

We went home in the afternoon for the first time since we came to Washington. When we arrived in Warner Robins Air Force Base, there was a large crowd, and I had instructed the Secret Service that we would go by motorcade to save money instead of a helicopter. But I discovered that because of the tremendous amount of effort that has to go into traffic control for intersections, it’s much less expensive to go by helicopter, which we will do in the future. Saturday morning I went down to the warehouse early and took an almost two-hour stroll down the Plains main street, stopping to talk to the storekeepers. The press stayed very close and could overhear everything I said, but I enjoyed the walk and the talks very much.

There is no way to describe the relationship that Rosalynn and I have with the small town of Plains. Both our families have lived in the community for five generations, and when I was four years old and she was a baby we were next-door neighbors. Plains has been a haven for us, drawing us back when I left the navy, the governor’s office, and the White House. This is where our families have worked, worshipped, been educated, intermarried, and are buried. Whenever we are away, there is always a quiet yearning to come back home. Returning here while president was like taking a vacation—except when we walked or drove along the only downtown street, which was always packed with tourists when we came to visit.

February 13

After arriving back in Washington I met with Vance, Brzezinski, and Andy Young, since Andy had just returned from a trip to the southern African region and he wanted to make a report. The South African situation is very confused, of course, but I think there is some possibility if we are forceful enough to bring about some sort of solution; we’ve got to put a lot of pressure on [Rhodesian president] Ian Smith and [South African] prime minister [John] Vorster to accept the proposition of majority rule. The British have practically no remaining influence, but my inclination is to keep them in the forefront for a while and to give them strong backing. We have had indications from Vorster that Ian Smith is ready to accept the majority rule concept, but I still have my doubts until we exert more pressure.

We were all determined to bring an end to apartheid in Africa, and I was destined to spend as much time on this issue as bringing peace to Israel and its neighbors. For tactical reasons, we decided to start with Rhodesia, and making any significant progress required cooperation with black African leaders, positive influence from South Africa, and a clear procedure. The country was to be a constantly festering sore until 1980, when it became the Republic of Zimbabwe and a reasonably honest election was held, with fair treatment for the minority white citizens. (Within fifteen years, however, Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, degenerated into an abusive and corrupt leader.) At the time, it was clear to everyone that the end of apartheid in Rhodesia would set an example for future action in South Africa. The first free election in South Africa came in 1994, with the election of Nelson Mandela as president.

Monday, February 14

I was able to send my second letter to Secretary General Brezhnev, much more substantive than the first one. I hope and believe that this exchange of confidential messages will lead to a better understanding between the Soviets and us. It’s important that he understand the commitment I have to human rights preservation first of all, and secondly that he understand I’m sincere about my desire to reduce nuclear armaments. If he’s willing to cooperate, we’ll get something done before four years goes by.

February 15

I met with Clark Clifford, who is preparing to go to the Mediterranean area to meet with the Greeks, the Turks, and also to visit Cyprus in hopes that he might bring back some prospect for a settlement of that very difficult question.

Clifford was an influential Washington lawyer and lobbyist who had served as secretary of defense under President Johnson and advised my Democratic predecessors and me. We labored for my entire tenure to end the conflict between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus, and to improve relations between the two countries. Thirty-three years later, however, the division in Cyrus is unresolved. In 2008, after several nations and the United Nations had failed to make progress, I joined a group of elders in a continuing effort to reduce tensions in a divided Cyprus.

Cy Vance left last night on a trip to the Middle East to meet with the leaders of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran on a fact-finding trip just to see if there was some common ground on which we might predicate a meeting in Geneva the second half of this year to help solve the Mideast problem.

Seeking peace between Israel and its neighbors had become a major interest of mine long before I became president. Beginning in 1973 with an extended visit to the Holy Land as a personal guest of General Yitzhak Rabin and Prime Minister Golda Meir, I made an intensive and ongoing study of the area. One of the commitments I made during my campaign was to meet with all the leaders mentioned above as soon as possible, and this trip by the secretary of state was designed to prepare for this effort.

I was informed that The Washington Post had information that over a period of twenty years our country had had an agreement with Jordan’s King Hussein, to pay him a certain amount of money each year for intelligence information and to induce his tribal chieftains to be loyal to our country. This was initiated in the early stages of King Hussein’s reign when Jordan was just an embryonic nation, and it was very doubtful if it would survive. They called Jody to ask if we would confirm the story, and, of course, we would not.

Everyone understood that in this and all other issues, foreign or domestic, Jody Powell could speak with my full confidence and complete understanding of my position. Jody had been my constant traveling companion and, except for Rosalynn, the closest person to me for many years. He was never excluded even from the most sensitive discussions, and his judgment about how much could be revealed was impeccable.

February 16

[Executive Editor] Ben Bradlee and his reporter [Bob Woodward] came by to talk to me about it. I told them, without confirming or denying the story, I wanted to let them know how sensitive the negotiations were in the Middle East at this point and asked that they put themselves in my position, think about what was best for the country, and if possible refrain from publishing the story until Cy Vance can return from the Middle East. They did agree to give me a notice ahead of time before the story was published, and that night they called and said they would publish it the following day. We immediately notified Cy Vance and King Hussein of this development. I did not ask the editor not to publish this story. I think this is something that the news media should always decide themselves. But I thought it was quite irresponsible, at least before Cy Vance could return to our country from the Middle East.

February 17

Mama returned from India, and I had a brief meeting with her early this morning. I think the trip was a superb diplomatic effort, and the State Department later said that we have the best relationship since 1960, to a large degree because of Mother’s visit there and her obvious concern about the Indian people. She got along well with Mrs. Indira Gandhi, by the way, whom she formerly had not liked or admired as a political figure.

Got my first haircut up in Rosalynn’s little beauty parlor next to the dining room. The barber is from Puerto Rico, and he and I spoke Spanish during the haircut. I think he might take over the regular barbershop in the West Wing shortly since the present barber is a strong Nixonite.

Amy and I went swimming for the first time. The temperature was freezing, and the outdoor pool had been slightly heated. We enjoyed it, though, and I’m going to try to do as many things as possible with Amy. I see her at least for supper every night, and quite often, I’d say two or three times a week after supper, we have some time together, either bowling or going to a movie or going swimming; and then the weekends we have always several hours together. She seems to like her school fine, but she still prefers Plains, which she has known all her life.

Since I first entered politics as a member of our county board of education, one of my interests was in the public school system. At least in the South, a number of competitive segregation academies had sprung up after the public schools were racially integrated, so this was a factor in our decision to enroll Amy in a public school. Most of her classmates were children of janitors and other workers in foreign embassies, so she had friends from many different countries. They visited often for weekends in the White House and enjoyed the movie theater, swimming pool, and a bowling alley that Harry Truman had installed in the basement.

February 18

Had a brief meeting with [U.S. diplomat and defense expert] Paul Warnke to give him some advice on how to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee, most of whose members consider him too much of a dove to be a good arms negotiator, but I think we’ll get some votes on the committee, at least for his serving as ACDA [Arms Control and Disarmament Agency] director and a fewer number for him to serve as the actual arms negotiator. I’ve been calling a number of senators to ask them to vote for Warnke and believe we now have his confirmation assured. The attacks on him, which have been fairly rough, are primarily from those who don’t want to see substantive reductions in nuclear weapons achieved on a mutually advantageous basis with the Soviet Union. They distrust any move by the Soviets, and I hope they’re not right.

We began to notify members of Congress that I was deleting nineteen water resources projects that had previously been approved by Congress, the Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Interior. I know this is going to create a political furor, but it’s something that I am committed to accomplish. These projects ultimately would cost at least $5.1 billion, and the country would be better off if none of them were built. It’s going to be a pretty touchy legislative fight to get these projects removed permanently.

This would evolve into the most long-lasting and bitter dispute that I would have with the Congress. The main problem was that many members would identify a site in their district for a dam and lake that would be politically attractive and put it on the long list of pending Corps of Engineers projects. With highly distorted estimates of costs and benefits, the project would slowly but inexorably rise to the top, so that those eventually approved would belong to the most senior legislators—often committee chairmen—and would be slated to be fully financed by the federal treasury. Ultimately, I was able to block many ill-advised projects, as well as bring significant reforms to the system.

Dr. Brzezinski has, I think, fit in well with Cy Vance and with me and Harold Brown. He’s inquisitive and innovative, and I think has not been a problem in attempting to repeat what [Henry] Kissinger did, and that was to run the major departments from the position of advisor to the National Security Council.

Zbig had been my primary foreign affairs advisor during my presidential campaign and continued in this role as national security advisor. He and I were in close contact throughout each day and had an excellent personal relationship.

Tim Kraft, Rick Hutcheson, and Susan Clough have been doing a good job in analyzing how we might cut down on paperwork. I would say now I get sixty or seventy different papers coming onto my desk every day which I have to handle before and in between my other meetings and appointments. This is excessive, and there’s a constant inclination to circumvent the obstacles we place in the path of this stream of memoranda coming to me.

I like both the domestic and foreign aspects of the job so far. The working conditions here, my own family’s life, have been pleasant. The personnel assignments and paperwork are the most disagreeable parts of the presidency. I enjoy the studying. Rosalynn’s taking Spanish lessons. Most of my family members and I have begun a speed-reading course. When these have been completed maybe I can cut down on the amount of time I have to spend each day reading newspapers, magazines, and reports on weapons systems, foreign affairs, relationships, proposed legislation, and so forth.

My staff estimated that I was having to read about three hundred pages of official documents every day. Evelyn Wood offered us a series of free weekly instructions (with no advertising benefits), and about thirty of us derived great benefit from them.

I think I can sense a general alleviation of tension around the nation—a more positive attitude among American people toward government and business and labor. My sense is that most people wish me well, and so far the news coverage has been fairly objective. But, as always, the reporters are searching for some signs of discontent or disharmony, and when a slight incident does occur and is quickly resolved, it’s greatly exaggerated in the news media.

I very seldom watch television, but read a news summary late each night of all the television news programs, and then early in the morning read two or three newspapers (The Washington Post, The New York Times always, The Washington Star, sometimes The Wall Street Journal, most of the time The Atlanta Constitution and/or The Atlanta Journal) and news-magazines (mostly Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report).

I would guess that the energy policy that we will pursue this year—the creation of a new department and a comprehensive energy program—will perhaps be the most important domestic challenge and, I hope, accomplishment. I intend to make my first appearance before a joint session of Congress to describe the new proposals by the twentieth of April.

February 20

Amy’s been much happier since Mary Fitzpatrick got out of prison and came up to be with us at the White House. She likes her school, has fit in well, and after a few days of sorrow about leaving Plains I think now she’s become happy again.

In 1970, while visiting some friends in Lumpkin, Georgia, Mary Fitzpatrick, a young African American, had been falsely accused of a murder, indicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. She never saw her court-appointed attorney until they were entering the courtroom, and he told her just to plead guilty and he could get her off with a light sentence. Instead, she was sent to prison for life. As a prison trustee, she served our family in the governor’s mansion, beginning when Amy was three years old. Convinced of Mary’s innocence, I had myself designated as her parole officer, and she moved into the White House with us. Later, the trial judge in her case (who by then was chief justice of Georgia’s supreme court) ordered a new examination of her case, and she was found completely innocent and granted a full pardon. For all practical purposes, she is still a member of our family.

Rosalynn is overworked, has too small a staff, and is called on to do an enormous amount of entertaining for official visits. She’s also formed the Commission on Mental Health, is taking Spanish lessons three hours a day, the speed-reading course, and has an almost unbelievable amount of press coverage and requirements for her appearances at special events. A lot of that work would be on my shoulders if she were not willing and confident to take it.

Monday, February 21

One of the most difficult problems we face is maintaining the confidentiality of memoranda and other discussions within the White House office structure, and at the same time having key staff members conversant with what issues are being assessed. So far we’ve not been able to resolve this question. Everyone wants to be considered a member of the top staff. I think frequent meetings of the staff themselves when appropriate matters can be discussed, the weekly cabinet meeting where discussion is unrestrained, and my press conference every couple of weeks all help to present accurate assessments of issues. The more secrecy that surrounds important matters, the more distortion is likely to be engendered.

Constant leaks of sensitive information—much of which was often distorted—were to plague us during the entire term. Government officials with special interests—the awarding of defense contracts or the political status of Taiwan, to name just two examples—were eager to use their knowledge of inside information to further their causes.

Rosalynn has been extremely successful so far even in the most formal circumstances to make people feel at home, and I think both the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Canada have enjoyed having Amy, for instance, at the ceremonies, although Amy proceeded with her Carter family habit of reading at the table during the banquets.

February 22

I’ve enjoyed the advantage of having selection commissions choose a small group of highly qualified people for controversial appointments. This will include federal court judges, ultimately Supreme Court justices, the director of the FBI, major diplomatic appointees. It gives the accurate image of merit selection, and it also removes from us part of the onerous task of personnel selection.

In the first budget message I have sent to Congress, signed today, we made some fairly substantial changes and initiated programs or policies that will be of significance in the future: a much more careful assessment of long-range commitments on expensive projects, including military weapons, new social programs, the construction of dams and other water projects, and so forth. I may not win on all these deletions and revisions from the budget this first time around, but I intend to be persistent about them. Many people who want to see the budget balanced before I go out of office don’t want to have their own pet projects removed. I’m determined to go to the public with these issues if necessary in order to prevail.

I worked assiduously throughout my tenure to control the national debt, with some success. The best yardstick for measuring the debt is to calculate the total national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product. The year I left office, this debt-to-GDP ratio was 32.5 percent, the lowest it has been at any time since World War II. Under Ronald Reagan it increased to 53.1 percent; after the end of George W. Bush’s term, the ratio was 83.4 percent. The accumulated debt for fiscal year 2009 is thirteen times greater than in 1980 and is projected to be 100 percent of GDP in 2011.

February 23

My inclination is to alleviate tension around the world, including disharmonies between our country and those with whom we have no official diplomatic relationships, like China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Cuba, and I’ll be moving in this direction. I think the country’s ready for it, although in some instances like Cuba it’s going to be quite controversial to do so. If I get an equivalent response from these countries, then I would be glad to meet them more than halfway.