The Files of Douglass Cater reflect his responsibilities as an advisor to the
President on domestic matters. The files include memoranda, correspondence,
press releases, news conferences, newsletters, clippings, magazines, White House
guest lists, statistical data, telegrams, charts, computer printouts, maps,
speeches, message, book drafts, executive orders, bills and hearings,
photographs, and printed material.
Cater's role in planning and coordinating the
President's program, preparing education and health messages, his service on the
task forces, and follow-up on Presidential programs. In education the files
include material on the Higher Education Act and amendments, student loans,
international education, overseas dependent schools, public broadcasting,
educational uses of communications satellites, Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, federal aid to education, White House Conference on Education,
impacted areas program, research, books for international and domestic use,
programs for the handicapped, mentally retarded and the mentally ill, and
programs such as Reading is Fundamental, Teacher Corps, Volunteers to America
(exchange Peace Corps), Veterans in Public Service. In health the files include
material on nursing homes, medicaid and medicare, health manpower and medical
schools, White House Conference on Health, occupational health, research, Social
Security bills, and hospital modernization.
Cater was also involved in the task
forces on education (1965-67), nursing homes, educational television in
less-developed countries, international education, child development, population
control, Urban Educational Opportunities, Networks for Knowledge, Health,
Nursing Homes, and Health, Education, and Welfare Manpower Requirements and
Training Programs.
In addition to his major work in health and education
programs, the files contain information on highway beautification, the Great
Society, poverty, White House Fellows, population control, cultural affairs,
creative federalism, federal aid to the states, compliance with the civil rights
provisions of the Hill-Burton Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
library developments and the 1964 Presidential campaign.
The files also contain
some personal material of Cater's including a small portion of his daily diary
(August-December, 1965), telephone lists, personal invitations, and his daily
calendar. In conducting his work on domestic affairs, Cater worked closely with
HEW, the Office of Education, Harold Howe II, Francis Keppel, BOB, AID, State
Department, the Bureau of Education and cultural Affairs (CU), and the Office of
Science and Technology. He also worked with the White House aides Joe Califano,
Bill Moyers, Marvin Watson, Jack Valenti, Larry O'Brien, James Gaither, and
Harry McPherson.
Addendum: In February, 1975, a box of materials from the files of Jean
Robinson an Kathy Andrews, secretaries in the office of Douglass Cater and Ervin
Duggan, was located. It was decided to put this material at the end of the Files
of Douglass Cater. Of particular interest to researchers are the daily
appointment calendars and a notebook listing incoming and outgoing telephone
calls for August, 1968-January 1969.
