OVERVIEW
Minnesota Historical Society
Welsh, William B., 1924-.
Hubert H. Humphrey vice-presidential
files.
1966-1992 (bulk 1966-1969).
Files kept by Welsh while he was
Administrative Assistant to Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey.
2.5 cu. ft. (3 boxes).
See [Detailed Description](a9) section for shelf
locations.
BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM B. WELSH
William (Bill) B. Welsh was born in 1924.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Reports, memoranda, speeches, correspondence, and other materials kept
by William B. Welsh in his capacity as Administrative Assistant to Vice
President Hubert H. Humphrey during the late 1960s. Major topics include
Humphrey's 1968 presidential campaign, the Vietnam War, and the response to the
urban riots of the late 1960s. Also included are extensive files on Humphrey's
role in the effort to eliminate the Senate's filibuster rule.
ARRANGEMENT
These records are divided into the following three sections:
- 1968 Presidential Campaign Files.
- Vice-Presidential General Office Files.
- Special Files.
RELATED MATERIALS
The Hubert H. Humphrey mayoral, senatorial, and vice-presidential
papers are separately cataloged in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript
collections.
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Topics:
Civil rights -- United States.
Electoral college -- United States.
Filibusters (Political science).
Presidential candidates -- Minnesota.
Presidents -- United States -- Elections -- 1968.
Riots -- United States.
Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975.
Places:
Detroit (Mich.) -- Riot, 1967.
United States -- Race relations.
Persons:
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973.
Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968.
McCarthy, Eugene J., 1916-.
Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978.
Organization:
United States. Congress. Senate.
Occupation:
Vice-Presidents.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series
here]. William B. Welsh. Hubert H. Humphrey Vice-Presidential Files.
Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional
examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 15,252
Processing Information:
Processed by: Lara D. Friedman-Shedlov, July 1998
Catalog ID number: 09-00320171
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
1968 Vice-Presidential Files
Welsh's files on Humphrey's 1968 campaign for the presidency.
Materials include reports, notes, memoranda, and other correspondence. Of
particular interest are documents on Humphrey's main opponents for the
Democratic endorsement - Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy - and preliminary
transition planning materials, prepared by Welsh and Charles Tyroler, in the
event Humphrey won the election. Much of the Welsh's material concerns the
campaign in Michigan, the delegates to whom Welsh was assigned.
144.E.18.6F
1
Humphrey Announcement Notes, April 1968.
Notes taken by Welsh regarding Humphrey's announcement to staff
that he would run for the presidential nomination.
Miscellaneous campaign notes and memoranda, April -
August 1968.
"Voter Opinion on Campaign Issues." Report, August
1968.
Campaign speech suggestions, 1968.
Includes suggestions submitted to Humphrey from J. Edgar Hoover,
Ramsey Clark, and others.
"Eugene McCarthy: The Liberal Myth,"
undated.
Document on the McCarthy record.
"Bobby Kennedy: The Uncrowned Prince,"
undated.
Document on the Robert Kennedy record.
Michigan Campaign:
Welsh was assigned to the Michigan delegates.
Michigan convention delegation working file, April -
June 1968.
2 folders.
144.E.18.6F
1
Quayle Survey: "A Survey of the Race for President in
Michigan," September 1968.
Transition Planning:
Welsh and Charles Tyroler were assigned to initial transition
planning.
Notes on transition plan for 1968-1969.
Presidential appointees: Suggestions for retention in
Humphrey administration, September 1968.
A list of presidential appointees marked by John Macy (Lyndon
B. Johnson's personnel chief) with suggestions for retention in Humphrey's
administration.
Electoral College: Legal implications and strategies,
October - November 1968.
Issues in the event of an indecisive outcome and alternative
strategies.
Electoral College: Reports and memoranda on unfaithful
electors, November - December 1968.
Humphrey recommendation for National Democratic
Convention, October - December 1968.
Recommendations for reform of the delegate selection process and
Democratic Party Rules.
Vice-Presidential General Office Files
This group of files, selected by Welsh, represents major issues
dealt with by the Vice President's office during Humphrey's term. The files are
organized in chronological order and include reports, memoranda, analyses, and
other planning documents, as well as some correspondence and press clippings.
Most of the files concern Humphrey's position on the Vietnam War, and
strategies for responding to the urban riots of the late 1960s.
144.E.18.6F
1
1966 VP General Office
Files:
Report of the National Committee Against
Discrimination in Housing and related notes, 1966.
Implementation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act. Memoranda and notes, January - September 1966.
Assistance to Black Colleges Under Title III of the
Higher Education Act. Report, October 1966.
Election results analyses and reports, November
1966.
Meeting with civil rights leaders. Notes and planning
documents, December 1966.
Includes Department of Justice memoranda on legislative
planning.
1967 VP General Office
Files:
CIA national security liaison procedures, January -
February 1967.
Urban Riots and Violence:
Creation of Kerner Commission on civil disorders,
July 1967.
Humphrey's copy of White House materials (with his notes)
from President Johnson's announcement of the creation of the Kerner
Commission.
Vice-Presidential visit to post-riot Detroit, July -
August 1967.
Memoranda from black leaders in federal agencies,
August 1967.
Memos written in response to VP office request for
suggestion actions in response to urban riots and violence.
144.E.18.7B
2
"The U.S., The Fidelista Guerrillas in Latin America,
and the Radical Negro Left." Report, September 1967.
Report from the Office of Policy Planning with Welsh's notes
on Roger Wilkins's reactions.
Manpower training projects, 1967.
Roy Innes Meeting and CORE. Notes, 1967.
Notes on meeting arranged in New York City by Jay Kennedy.
Fair housing materials, 1967.
Twenty-fifth amendment and vice-presidential
succession. Notes and memoranda,1967.
Ghetto business opportunities. Background materials,
proposals, and project, 1967.
2 folders.
Project ideas and memoranda, 1967.
Vice-presidential administrative memos to Welsh,
1967.
Year-end report to the Vice President, December
1967.
1968 VP General Office
Files:
Leo Kramer Memos to Welsh, January 1968.
144.E.18.7B
2
Black power. Memoranda and reports, 1968.
Includes a Jay Richard Kennedy memo to Welsh regarding Black
power and predictions of riots at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, along
with a report from James Farmer on problems and progress in the civil rights
movement, a memo on Jay Kennedy's evaluation of public figures connected with
civil rights for campaign purposes, a memo drafted by Roger Wilkins at the
Department of Justice on understanding civil rights and the black community,
and notes and background memos on vote counting for the 1968 Civil Rights Bill.
Civil rights legislation, 1968.
Mississippi delegate selection, 1968.
Concerns Mississippi compliance with Democratic Convention
rules regarding openness of delegate selection and party processes.
George Carroll memoranda to the Vice President,
September 1968.
Ed Welsh Space Council Memorandum on ZOND 5, September
1968.
Special Files
This additional group of files, selected by Welsh, is arranged
chronologically. Of particular interest are an extensive series of drafts of
Humphrey's major speech on Vietnam, given in Salt Lake City in early October
1968, and files used in the vice-presidential ruling on constitutional
challenge to U.S. Senate Rule XXII concerning filibusters.
144.E.18.7B
2
Constitutional challenge to Senate Rule XXII
(filibusters), 1967, 1969.
4 folders.
Secret Service protection, 1968.
Miscellaneous Memoranda, 1968.
International Study Project, November 1968-June 1970.
Correspondence and interviews relating to the origin of the
International Study Project staffed by Norman Holmes, W. Price McLaughlin, and
others. The project was initially referred to as the Peace Foundation.
144.E.18.8F
3
International Study Project, November 1968-June 1970.
2 folders.
Vietnam:
Vietnam speeches and position proposals, August -
September 1968.
Vietnam-related campaign memoranda and positions,
September - October 1968.
Salt Lake City Vietnam speech. Drafts, September
1968.
Press reaction to Salt Lake City speech on Vietnam,
October 1968.
Solberg correspondence regarding Humphrey biography,
1982-1983.
"Not-so-Imperial Vice-Presidency." Article and
background research files, 1992.
3 folders.
Stewart article and related notes, 1992.