(2016-0851-F) Transition Team

20 folders, approximately 1,620 pages

This collection consists of records related to the construction of President Clinton's Transition Team into the White House from August 1992 to February 1993. It contains Office of Personnel Management transition guidance for both 1993 and 1996, and emails that include news articles and press briefings on the topic of Presidential Transition activities.

The materials in FOIA 2016-0851-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. This FOIA request was for material on the construction of President Clinton’s Transition Team from August 1992 to February 1993; the FOIA request specifically asked for material on the organizational structure of the team, campaign and policy influences on structure, and any resulting employment. The vast majority of documents responsive to this request were restricted from public access as Personal Record Misfile (PRM). These PRM documents were “not prepared or utilized for, or circulated or communicated in the course of, transacting Government business.” One folder contains responsive documents that were not restricted as PRM. This folder contains the Office of Personnel Management’s transition guidance for both 1993 and 1996. Both sets of guidance were circulated by Presidential Personnel staff in September 2000. Responsive emails include news articles and press briefings mentioning the Clinton Transition Team and Transition Team individuals who were appointed to positions in the Clinton Administration.

Textual

Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collection areas—Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files, and Clinton Presidential Records: ARMS Emails. Staff and Office files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices and document all levels of administration activity. Staff and Office files are processed at the folder level, that is, individual documents are not selected and removed from a folder for processing. While this method maintains folder integrity, it frequently results in the incidental processing of documents that are not wholly responsive to the subject area. The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email. The ARMS database is comprised of seven sub-series of email records called "buckets." The buckets generally represent a specific White House office. The buckets are titled: NPR for National Performance Review, OPD for Office of Policy Development, POTUS for President of the United States, WHO for White House Office, CEA for Council of Economic Advisers, NSC for National Security Council, and Default for emails not associated with an office. The NPR bucket contains email created or received by an individual with a National Performance Review (NPR) White House user account. The OPD bucket contains email created or received by an individual with an Office of Policy Development (OPD) White House user account. The POTUS bucket was designated for email created and received by the President of the United States (POTUS). Please note that President Clinton never used his POTUS White House user account to send the few emails he wrote while in office. The WHO bucket contains email created or received by individual with an Executive Office of the President White House user account not identified as CEA, NPR, or OPD. The CEA bucket contains email created or received by an individual with a Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) White House user account. The NSC bucket contains email created or received by an individual with a National Security Council (NSC) user account. The Default bucket contains email created or received by unknown or un-recognized email accounts. Email found within the Default bucket often includes email created or received by offices or individuals outside the Executive Office of the President. ARMS email are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date.

Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22, as amended) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions.

Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA).

Staff Archivist, 2019. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released.

The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2016-0851-F:
Box 1
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Chief of Staff
Toback, Paul
Transition Process 11/1992 [1] [OA/ID 5621]
Transition Process 11/1992 [2] [OA/ID 5621]
Transition Process 11/1992 [3] [OA/ID 5621]
Council of Economic Advisers
Subject Files
Transition Support 1992 [OA/ID 24244]
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files [continued]
Counsel’s Office
Lindsey, Bruce
Sub-Cabinet Candidates HHS [Health and Human Services] Veterans, 1992 Transition
[1] [OA/ID 24778]
Sub-Cabinet Candidates HHS [Health and Human Services] Veterans, 1992 Transition
[2] [OA/ID 24778]
Sub-Cabinet Candidates HHS [Health and Human Services] Veterans, 1992 Transition
[3] [OA/ID 24778]
Sub-Cabinet Candidates HHS [Health and Human Services] Veterans, 1992 Transition
[4] [OA/ID 24778]
O’Connor, Mike
Presidential Transition 1992-1993 [1] [OA/ID 13625]
Presidential Transition 1992-1993 [2] [OA/ID 13625]
Presidential Transition 1992-1993 [3] [OA/ID 13625]
Presidential Transition 1992-1993 [4] [OA/ID 13625]
Schaffner, Jane
1993 Transition – Department of Education Tier 1 Candidates [1] [OA/ID 18876]
1993 Transition – Department of Education Tier 1 Candidates [2] [OA/ID 18876]
1993 Transition – Department of Justice, Sub-Cabinet Candidates [1] [OA/ID 18876]
1993 Transition – Department of Justice, Sub-Cabinet Candidates [2] [OA/ID 18876]
1993 Transition – Department of Justice, Sub-Cabinet Candidates [3] [OA/ID 18876]
Presidential Personnel
Dagher, Pete
Transition Guidance 1993 and 1996 [OA/ID 24773]
Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email]
WHO [OA/ID 500000]
[Transition…]
[02/24/1993]
Default [OA/ID 1100000]
[Transition…]
[02/09/1993 – 02/26/1993]