Tag Archives: online

Lyndon Johnson Library

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The Lyndon Johnson library website hosts numerous fully transcribed and searchable oral history interviews. Topics span Johnson’s full political career, including his time in the House and Senate, as vice president to John Kennedy and as president. Some interviewees themselves had long political careers as civil servants and elected officials. Therefore, researchers interested in regulatory politics of the entire post-war period should search the LBJ library for relevant content.

Unlike some other presidential library oral history projects (see for example the summary of the Carter library), regulation is not a focal point of the LBJ library interviews. Consequently, relevant discussions are scattered throughout the interviews and are often only incidental to any given interview’s general themes.

Nevertheless, some themes of interest do emerge. Interviews that focus on LBJ’s Congressional career include topics pertaining to energy policy and the challenges and opportunities these posed for Johnson as a delegate from Texas. Oil and gas regulation, particularly pertaining to the 1956 “Bill to Amend the Natural Gas Act,” receive attention for its importance of LBJ’s career trajectory and establishment of his position as a national figure. Great Society and Civil Rights legislation, hallmarks of the LBJ administration, also contained regulatory provisions. The follow is a partial list, roughly in descending order of prevalence, of regulatory topics addressed in the transcribed and searchable LBJ library interviews.

  • Oil and Natural Gas (Texas Railroad Commission (in the context of energy policy))
  • Antitrust enforcement though the Justice Department (especially during the Kennedy administration)
  • Regulation of the outdoor advertising industry
  • Lobbying by interest groups and influence on regulatory policy making
  • Kennedy-era attempts to reorganize regulatory agencies
  • Route assignments by the Civil Aeronautics Board
  • Regulatory commission appointments
  • FDA response to the thalidomide tragedy
  • USPS regulations
  • Interviews pertaining to the institution of Medicare and Medicaid and certain provisions of the Civil Rights Act may also have content pertaining to regulation

This list is not exhaustive. It only reflects topics that emerged in an initial survey.  See suggested search strategies for ideas on how to more thoroughly explore this archive’s offerings.

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake

John F. Kennedy Library

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The John F. Kennedy Library provides access to over a thousand fully transcribed and searchable interviews. These interviews are also categorized by subject term, and an initial survey of relevant subject terms revealed 10 interviews with significant regulatory content. There are likely more.

These interviews are most useful for understanding public/private partnerships in utilities markets, especially electrical power and emerging commercial satellite communications. In the realm of environmental regulation, policies under the purview of the Department of Interior such as mining and mine safety, forest management and fire responses, and the use of federal lands and resources to generate and transmit electrical power garner the most attention. Rural electrification and the structure of power “wheeling” agreements in the west receive much discussion.

Researchers interested in the regulation of the communications industries will also find interviews of interest. Some interviews provide extensive discussion of the FCC, the State Department and the development of the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) to provide and regulate multinational commercial satellite communications, as well as the development and regulation of cable television.

Other interviews examine the workings of the Federal Trade Commission and the role of the Council of Economic Advisors is shaping economic policy during the Kennedy Administration.

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake

Jimmy Carter Library

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The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum website hosts an inventory of oral histories created by multiple research projects, and housed in several repositories, pertaining to the Carter Administration and Carter’s post-presidential diplomatic and humanitarian career. Selected interviews have transcripts available online.  The Carter Library’s full inventory of oral histories is available at their website.

A sampling of transcribed interviews identified materials from the Carter Library’s “Exit Interview Project” and the University of Virginia’s Miller Center “Carter Project” (also cataloged at the Carter library) containing significant content of interest to scholars of regulation. These interviews are especially useful for those interested in deregulation and in consumer protection.

National Archives personnel conducted exit interviews with Carter Administration staffers at all levels as they completed their terms in office. The bulk of these interviews occurred during and immediately following the transition between the Carter and Regan administrations. They focus primarily on administrative and legislative process, although they do offer some assessments of the administration’s overall accomplishments. The Miller Center’s interviews took place in the 1980s, and interviewees were high-ranking officials rather than lower-level staffers. These interviews focus on assessments of the administration’s work as well as economic and ideological approaches to regulatory policy.

Interviews pertaining to deregulation cover legislative and administrative processes during the Carter Administration as well as the political and ideological impetus behind the deregulation movement that characterized Carter’s legislative agenda. Topics include the deregulation of the trucking and airline industries.  Interviews, especially those from the Exit Interview collection, place heavy emphasis on the actions of the White House’s Office of Domestic Policy in achieving deregulatory goals. The details surrounding the passage of legislation deregulating the trucking and airline industries receive particular attention.

The Cater years also saw the defeat of a bill that would have created a cabinet-level consumer protection agency within the federal government. Interviews with officials associated with the Office of Consumer Affairs detail the failed attempt to pass the Consumer Protection Act, including negotiations with Congress, the degree to which the Carter Administration supported the bill. Also of interest are interviews that detail the administrative efforts of the Office of Consumer Affairs staff to increase the office’s standing to weigh in on behalf of consumers in the regulatory policy development of other agencies.

Other topics, which received less coverage, include the accident at Three Mile Island, the EPA, FDA, and OSHA.

Suggested Keywords:  Deregulation; Domestic Policy Office; ICC; FCC; Consumer Protection Act; Office of Consumer Affairs; Three Mile Island; NRC; EPA; Clean Air Act; Federal Energy Administration; OSHA

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake

Dwight Eisenhower Library

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The website of the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas, is an access portal for oral histories of the administration that are available through multiple institutions, primarily the Eisenhower Library, the Columbia University Oral History Project, as well as other libraries with smaller collections. The library website provides detailed abstracts of linked interviews, but in most cases researchers must visit the repositories to access transcripts for audio files. (A limited number of transcripts are available online.) The full list of interviews is available at the Eisenhower library’s oral history page.

An initial survey reveals nineteen interviews with abstracts or transcripts available through the Eisenhower library that contain significant content pertaining to regulatory issues. These interviews provide a window on the evolution of the post-war American regulatory state, with particular attention to global contexts, including the Cold War, the Korean war, the development of the European Common Market, and advancements in and proliferation of nuclear energy technologies and weapons. The Atomic Energy Commission, the Federal Reserve, and the agricultural commodities trade (esp. sugar) receive particular attention in these geopolitical contexts. Domestically, post-war economic growth fostered renewed political debate over the federal government’s role in the economy and the continued utility of regulatory policies first instituted during the New Deal. Several interviews discuss the establishment of the Federal Aviation Agency (precursor to the Federal Aviation Administration) and the growth of the airline industry. Changes to the policy structures for the regulation of agricultural commodities are also a prominent themes. Many interviews cover issues related to  U.S. fiscal and economic policies and regulations. Several discuss the activities and internal politics of the president’s Council of Economic Advisors. Others discuss appointments, staffing, and regulatory actions by the Securities and Exchange commission and enforcement of anti-trust policy by the Justice Department.

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake

Integration and Health Care in North Carolina

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Project description: This project deals with the origins and growth of the modern health care system in North Carolina, focusing on integration and its effects on health policy.

Regulatory significance: These interviews highlight the role that federal hospital regulations played in equalizing medical care for African Americans in the South.

Repository: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Interview dates: 1997

Digital access: Transcripts for these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all audio and archived material, visit the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC.

Link: Integration and Health Care in North Carolina

North Carolina Business History Project

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Project description: These interviews are with leaders of traditional and emergent North Carolina industries, such as furniture, banking, tobacco products, textiles, poultry, food and food services, tourism, pharmaceuticals, computers, and steel. Interviewees describe the origins and evolution of their companies as well as the changes and problems they confront. They are also asked about the impact of businesses on the communities in which they operate and about the regional, national, and global developments that will affect their future prospects. [Description from the finding aid]

Regulatory significance: Many interviewees discuss government regulation of their businesses, often in a negative context and as an additional reason for competitive problems during the 1970s and 1980s.

Repository: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Interview dates: 1995 – 1997

Digital access: Transcripts for many of these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all audio and archived material, visit the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC.

Link: North Carolina Business History Project

Tobacco, History, and Memory in eastern North Carolina

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Project description: Twelve interviews, seven of which discuss in some detail the anticipated end (1998 interviews) or actual end (2011 interviews) of the tobacco allotment program or “buy out.”

Regulatory significance: Topics include the mechanics of program implementation and the anticipated effects of discontinuance, and the effects of the buy-out.

Repository: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Interview dates: 1998, 2011

Digital access: Transcripts for these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all audio and archived material, visit the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC.

Link: Listening for a Change: Tobacco, History, and Memory

Florida Growth Management Oral History Collection

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Project description: This project documents issues involved in growth management in Florida, particularly as they relate to planned community design and the environment. Interviewees include a banker, a professor of architecture, lobbyists, and a land developer.

Regulatory significance: These interviews cover a range of regulatory topics related to growth management and the environment, particularly water quality and beach erosion.

Repository: University of Florida

Interview dates: ~2000

Digital access: Transcripts are available online for four of these interviews. One interview is only available as an audio file.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit Pugh Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohfgm

Everglades Oral History Collection

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Project description: This project documents issues involved in the restoration of the Everglades. Discussion topics center on influence of and coordination between environmental groups, lobbying by environmental groups, pesticides and mercury levels, water conservation, growth management, relationship between National Park Service and Army Corps of Engineers, Everglades Forever Act, Save Our Everglades, use of aquatic crops, drought and flood conditions, role of scientists in restoration, obstacles to restoration, sugar industry, various taxes, comprehensive plans and task forces, public education, aquifer storage and recovery, and lessons learned. [Description from finding aid]

Regulatory significance: This collection provides rich insight into environmental regulation, particularly the regulation of water, chemicals, and run-off from agriculture and land development.

Repository: University of Florida

Interview dates: 2001 – 2002

Digital access: Transcripts are available online. Audio for at least one interview is as well.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit Pugh Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohevg

Florida Water Management

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Project description: The St. John’s River Project interviews focus on “ranching families in the greater Orlando area.” However, a broader, ongoing project has grown out of this to “conduct oral history interviews relating to the history of Florida’s water management districts.”

Regulatory significance: This collection sheds light on the creation and operation of water management districts in Florida. According to the Florida Department of State, water management districts “are authorized to administer flood protection programs and to perform technical investigations into water resources. The districts are also authorized to develop water management plans for water shortages in times of drought and to acquire and manage lands for water management purposes under the Save Our Rivers program. Regulatory programs delegated to the districts include programs to manage the consumptive use of water, aquifer recharge, well construction and surface water management.”

Repository: University of Florida

Interview dates: 2003 – 2006

Digital access: Transcripts are available online for 17 interviews on water management.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit Pugh Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohfwm/all

Seven Decades of Planning and Development in the Los Angeles Region

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Project description: Interviews in this series were initiated by the Los Angeles Regional Planning History Group to ensure the preservation of recollections of pioneer planners in both the public and private sectors in the Los Angeles region. [Description from the finding aid]

Regulatory significance: This series captures the origins and development of land use regulation in a major U.S. city.

Repository: University of California – Los Angeles

Interview dates: ~1986

Digital access: Partial. Transcripts for some of these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit UCLA’s Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections.

Links: http://oralhistory.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz00090620&title=Seven%20Decades%20of%20Planning%20and%20Development%20in%20the%20Los%20Angeles%20Region

Water for Los Angeles and California Water Resources Development

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Project description: Interviews in the California Water Resource Development project were conducted to “document historical developments in California’s water resources” with a focus on planning, administration, and policy making. Water for LA interviews are part of the broader California project, but address issues specific to the Los Angeles area and are presented separately on the UCLA website.

Repository: University of California – Los Angeles

Interview dates: 1965 – 1967; ~1986 – 1988

Digital access: Partial. Transcripts and audio for some of these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit UCLA’s Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections.

Links: California Water Resources Development; Water for Los Angeles

Environmental Activism in Los Angeles

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Project description: This collection consists of 19 interviews conducted from the 1970s to the present documenting environmental activism in the Los Angeles area.  Most interviewees were founders or “major participants” in important regional environmental organizations.

Regulatory significance: Interviews touch on both local and federal regulations and provide insight into the development and activities of local environmental groups and national advocacy organizations with substantial presence in the LA area (especially the American Lung Association). These groups’ efforts to influence regulatory policy and participate in negotiated rule making processes are key to several interviews in the project.

Repository: University of California – Los Angeles

Interview dates: 2006 – 2009

Digital access: Transcripts and audio for these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit UCLA’s Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections.

Link: http://oralhistory.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0008zh0f&title=Oral%20History%20Collection

Slaying the Dragon of Debt

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Project description: One of the most recent projects of the Regional Oral History Office at UC – Berkeley, Slaying the Dragon of Debt explores why the national debt has grown so significantly since the late 1970s. Its major focus is on federal budgeting and shifting policy views on debt and taxes.

Regulatory significance: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is discussed extensively, with some attention to its metaregulatory role. The bulk of these interviews, however, are focused on more direct forms of governance.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 2010 – 2011

Digital access: Transcripts for most interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley, California.

Link: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/debt/index.html

Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Era

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Project description: This is the catch all for interviews housed at the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) at UC – Berkeley related to Ronald Reagan’s gubernatorial administration from 1967 – 1975. ROHO also lists relevant interviews housed at other California repositories.

Regulatory significance: Interviews cover a variety of regulatory topics, including consumer affairs, financial regulation, health care, and farm labor conditions.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 1980 – 1989

Digital access: Transcripts for interviews housed at ROHO are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley, California.

Link: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/subjectarea/pol_gov/reagan.html