(2006-1015-F) Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. - PFIAB

The materials in FOIA 2006-1015-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., also known as Bud, was appointed to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) in September 1998. Zumwalt served on the Board until his death in January 2000. Admiral Zumwalt led a distinguished career in the United States Navy. Zumwalt was born November 29, 1920 in San Francisco, CA. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1942 and began service as an Ensign on the USS Phelps (DD-360). Zumwalt spent World War II in the Pacific theatre of the war rising to the rank of Lieutenant in 1944. Following the war, he served as prize commander of a Japanese gunboat working to disarm Japanese Army units in China. He was soon reassigned to destroyer service and then to the Naval Officer Reserve Training School at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where he was an Assistant Professor of Naval Science. In 1951, the United States Navy made Zumwalt Commanding Officer of the Destroyer USS Tillis. During the later years of the Korean War, Zumwalt served as Navigator on the Battleship the USS Wisconsin. Assigned to several Commanding Officer posts on Destroyers, with intermediate terms at the Naval War College and at the Pentagon, Zumwalt achieved the rank of Rear Admiral by July 1965. The rise in rank to Rear Admiral corresponded with Zumwalt’s appointment as Commander of Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla SEVEN. However, Zumwalt was soon chosen to start, and be the first Director, of the Chief of Naval Operations, Systems Analysis Group. In September 1968, Zumwalt became Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam. President Richard M. Nixon selected Zumwalt to be Chief of Naval Operations in April 1970 and elevated Zumwalt from Vice Admiral to Admiral. Admiral Zumwalt served as Chief of Naval Operations from May 1970 to his retirement in July 1974. Following retirement, Zumwalt was a visiting lecturer at Vanderbilt University and ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate for the Senate from Virginia in 1976. During the late 1970s and into 1980s Zumwalt served as President of the American Medical Building Corporation and as board member of a number of other organizations. Zumwalt was author of two books. On Watch: A Memoir which detailed his years of service in the U. S. Navy and My Father, My Son which was co-authored with his son, and fellow naval officer, Elmo Zumwalt, III and discussed their experiences in Vietnam. Elmo Zumwalt, III died of cancer as a result of being exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Though the elder Zumwalt never regretted ordering the use of the chemical agent that would cause his son’s death, he worked diligently on efforts to determine the exact cause of chemical exposure related diseases, how they could be prevented, and what could be done to develop effective treatments. Zumwalt founded the Marrow Foundation and was director of the National Marrow Donor Program, the Vietnam Assistance to the Handicapped Foundation, and a member of the International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation. Along with being named to the PFIAB, President Clinton also appointed Zumwalt as a member of the Special Oversight Board for the Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical and Biological Incidents. Zumwalt was the winner of a significant number of awards and commendations including the Navy Unit Citation, the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V", the Bronze Star with Combat "V", the Legion of Merit with one Gold Star, and the Distinguished Service Medal with two Gold Stars. In 1998, President Clinton awarded Zumwalt with the Medal of Freedom (the U.S.'s highest civilian award). Zumwalt died unexpectedly on January 2, 2000. He was buried at the U. S. Naval Academy on January 10, 2000. The President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Executive Order 10656, signed February 6, 1956, created the President’s Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities. Eisenhower believed that this board of respected and knowledgeable citizens could provide him with unbiased and candid appraisals of United States’ intelligence activities. President John Kennedy, by the signing of Executive Order 10938 on May 4, 1961, renamed the Board of Consultants, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Though the name was changed, the board continued to operate in much the same fashion. Executive Order 11460, signed by President Richard Nixon on March 20, 1969, again changed the name of the PFIAB to the President’s Advisory Intelligence Board. President Jimmy Carter abolished the board in March of 1977. Carter did however, retain the Intelligence Oversight Board. The IOB was created by President Gerald Ford in 1976 following a post Watergate investigation by Congress into potential illegal activities of the intelligence agencies. The IOB was tasked with reporting potential illegal activities to the Department of Justice for review. As Ford told Congress in 1976, “I believe [the changes] will eliminate abuses and questionable activities on the part of the foreign intelligence agencies while at the same time allowing them to get on with their vital work of gathering and assessing information.” President Ronald Reagan modified the role of the IOB in 1981 and re-established the PFIAB in 1985 by signing Executive Order 12537. President William Jefferson Clinton combined the IOB and the PFIAB, making the IOB a committee rather than an independent organization. President George W. Bush radically modified the role of both the IOB and the PFIAB following the creation of a Director of National Intelligence. The newly named President’s Intelligence Advisory Board was designated to oversee the intelligence collection activities of any Federal agency engaged in the collection of intelligence or the production of intelligence policy. President Barack Obama more clearly defined the role of the PIAB and strengthened the IOB with the passage of Executive Order 13516. Under President Clinton the PFIAB had between eleven and twelve members, by law it could be no more than sixteen, whose terms were established by the President. Members were chosen for their independence, knowledge, and experience. The members of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board serve as unpaid observers of United States intelligence community. Much of their work is highly secret in nature though Presidents have chosen on occasion to make the Board’s reports, or portions thereof, public. The members of the Board are appointed by the President and the Director serves at the leisure of the President. Clinton Presidential Records relating to Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. consist of White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) Subject Files, White House Staff and Office Files, Automated Records Management [Email], and Tape Restoration Project [Email]. The White House Staff and Office Files contain materials related to Zumwalt’s appointment to and service on PFIAB. In the Counsel’s Office and the Security Office, the files of Stacy Reynolds, Jennifer Schaffner, and Charles Easley consist of personnel forms and vetting documents for Zumwalt. The files of National Security Council staffers Richard Schifter and David Peterman primarily contain correspondence between Zumwalt and White House Staff regarding the Special Oversight Board, Agent Orange, and other issues related to the Vietnam conflict. These files also include copies of editorials submitted by Zumwalt to major newspapers, as well as a copy of the 1999 Agent Orange Task Force report. Additional materials in this collection area include forms, letters, memoranda, press, profiles, and resumes concerning Admiral Zumwalt’s appointment to the PFIAB. Automated Records Management System [Email] (ARMS) and Tape Restoration Project [Email] (TRP) e-mail records responsive to this FOIA originate in the following agencies: Office of the White House (WHO), and Default e-mails belonging to no specific agency. These e-mails are primarily administrative in nature relating to Zumwalt’s appointment and service on the PFIAB.