Years, generally speaking. the Vice president has ...

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Decembe r 9, 1976

TO: JIMMY CARTE R

FROM: WALTER F . MaNDAl?

RR:

mE ROLE OF TilE VICE PRESIDENT 111 TilE CARTER ADMIN I STRATION

I. Background Defining an appropriate and meaningful role for the Vice

rs ty President has been a problem throughout the history of this country. pe ie While custom and statute have changed the office gt~_ d\lally over 200 Pa oc years, generally speaking . the Vice president has performed a role le l S characterized by ambiguit y, dlsappointment, an d even antagonism . nda rica Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. concludes "history has shown the American o to Vice Presidency to be a job of spectacular and, I believe , incurable . M His frusnation."

r F ta Other co~ntators as well as former Vice Presidents have lte so foc used on partlcular problems of the office . Competition wi th a ne the Presiden~, conflict with the White House staff, lack of meanWMin ingful assignmen~s, lsck of au~ho~ity , and inadequate acceS5 ~o

vital information are most frcquently "",ntioned, I have spoken st length with Vice President Rockereller,

former Vice President Humphrey, and thei r staffs to try to understand maxe (ully the m3ny dimensions of the position, Further, through other conversations and reading what literature is available, I have tried to supplement my understanding.

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Finally, my scaff prepared a Con s t itutiona l history of the office

and .. comparloon of the duties lind staffing of the Humphrey and

Rockefeller Vice Presidencies.

It is my hope in this memorandum that 1 can outline a set o f

relationships , functions and assignments that wil l be workable and

productt"" fo r the administr .. tion. I am cornrnHterl to do everything

possible to lDa ke this administration Ii success . I full y r"al ize

11.

that my persona l an d policical success is totally tied to yours

rs ty an d the achievements of your administration. pe ie Our Basic Relationship -- General Adviser

Pa oc I believe the most importan t cont ribution I can make is to le l S serve 8a a general adviser to you. I would hope my experience in nda rica government and politics would assist me in giving you advice on o to the major questi~ns facing you .

. M is The position of being t he onl y other public official elected r F ta H nationwide , not affected by specific obligations or institutional lte so inter ests of either the Congressional or Executive branch, an d a ne able to look at the governmen t as a ~hole, docs put me in a unique WMin posiCion to advise . Further, my political role around the country

as well as my est"blished relationships in ;,'ashington shoul d allow

me to keep in clos e touch with man y different groups and viewpoints.

The biggest single problem of our recent administrations

has bee!"! the failure of the President to be exposed to independent

analysi s not conditioned by what it is thought he "'?ants to hear or

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often wha t other. want ht~ to heat. I hope to offer Imp~ rt l& l advice and he lp a ??ure that you are not shie l ded from point. of

vb" chat you should hear. 1 .,111 not be the only sou"'c" o f such advice. Yet , [ think lIlY podtion enables 11M! to he lp maintain the

(rpc flow o f 1de.8 ~nd Infor.atlon which I, indispensab l e to a healthy and productive adDint. eratlon.

In order to fulfill the. rol e o f a general advi sor sath("etorlly. I chin k the following arc ncce ??,uy,

rs ty 1. Frequent a nd cOIIpr ehen dva lnte l11genc e bri"finga ape cie rr~ the CI A and othe r intell igence agenei.., of ,i.l1a r P o depth to tho... OU receive. Advance warning of .ajar ale al S h.uel t o be ,lhcU8.od a t lIICot inga of the NSC and other nd ric I ' gnifieant g r oup. 11 "ece'8"ry as well as the abUit y to Mo isto request additional briefing' an d res ponses On areas of . H specisl concern.

r F ta Senator Humphr e y e'"ph"a b;ed the importance of this lte so poin t to me re peatedly . He was not given adeq~te a ne br lofinga and was , therefo re, unable to pa rt icipate WMin e ffec tive ly on the NSC or in t hi s general arena of foreign

and dotense policy. 2, A spec ial r e l a~ i on.hi p with other membe r . of the

Exocut{IIe branc h . 1 would hope tha t 1 could e xpect the 8abe or nea rly the ..... level of r~.pon8 1 vonoss from key administration official. in .o~kt na Information that you

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"""td r eceive. Providing sound "dvlce to you r equire.

from them complete candor and coope ration in providing

info..."...tlon . I do no t belt"".. 1 could evaluate and!o r

asseu key probll!1Ds ... ithoue thh r ... h Uonah tp . 1 think

it woul d be Importan t to ....k" th1. point to th.. Cabinet

and otbe.. key officials at the very b"Sinning of the

"","1I1ia t ..a t 10n ?

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3. PDrttclpation tn Meeting, of Key Group',

rs ty Participation in Cabinet meetings. discussions with the pe ie Congtes.tonal lead"nh1p , Meting. of "10,, Nationa l Pa oc Security Counc il, no.e't ic Council an d the econosic le l S policy group (whalever fO rD it t akea ) wou ld be ext r emely nda rica valuable in ("tUlling the a dvhory role.

o to 4 . A .e'loned, experienced . taff representative on . M His the NSC and Dome.tic Council who I can clIll on to mee t r F ta my n~ ................
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