Garrick, Robert M.: Files, 1981

Office of the Counselor to the President

This collection is available in whole for research use. Some folders may still have withdrawn material due to Freedom of Information Act restrictions. Most frequently withdrawn material is national security classified material, personal privacy, protection of the President, etc.

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Scope and Content Note

Garrick worked with Roger Hearn on personnel placement in the early part of the administration as part of his work on the President-Elect’s transition office. Hearn appears to have been working in conjunction and assisting Garrick on other issues. Some of their work product is intermingled in this collection.

Garrick’s short tenure in the Reagan administration is reflected in his material as it is small in volume and does not contain many specifics on policy issues. His interests were in placing Reagan “people” in Executive branch jobs; speaking on the Reagan agenda, especially the economic agenda, to outside groups; maritime, navy, and Naval Reserve issues, coordination with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and disaster declarations; support for the Office of Planning and Evaluation and the Office of Cabinet Affairs; and waste and fraud issues especially regarding audio-visual products from the federal government. Currently there is very little material on FEMA within this collection.

At the White House, Garrick was responsible for the Heritage Foundation reports (part of the Mandate for Leadership publications) and the Transition Reports. The Heritage reports mapped out the way conservative policy would be reflected in Reagan Administration actions. The Transition reports summarized how White House offices and federal agencies would be organized and staffed to best execute the plan of action for the first Reagan Administration. The transition reports were created by relevant staff from the Office of the President-Elect. Garrick kept all this material confidential and controlled access to the various reports at the White House. The reports kept at the White House appear to have been photocopies. The originals were placed in the Hoover Institution as documented in SERIES V: Transition Material.

The material within the Transition series contains just a few of the Transition reports and none of the Heritage reports. The Library is unclear on where the copies retained by Garrick are now located. It is possible the material was transferred to our Transition material located within the 1980 Campaign material and will be made available for research use at a later date.

This collection consists of five series. The series are as follows: SERIES I: Subject File; SERIES II: Speech Material; SERIES III: Outgoing Memoranda; SERIES IV: Chronological File; SERIES V: Transition Materials, 1980-1981.

Series List

SERIES I: SUBJECT FILE (2.7 l.ft.; Box 1-7)

This series consists of material on particular subjects or actions by Admiral Garrick. Material within this series is related to efforts to place known conservatives and “Reaganites” in agency and White House positions; controlling and booking media access to Edwin Meese, Counsellor to the President; assisting requests from California local government officials with large projects such as the Century Freeway project, the Navy Regional Medical Center in San Diego and other similar projects; day-to-day requirements such as monthly reports and assignments competed; maritime matters; and waste, fraud, and abuse issues especially regarding federal audio-visual products. The material is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

SERIES II: SPEECH MATERIAL (0.2 l. ft.; Box 7-8)

This series consists of material regarding speeches given by Robert Garrick to various groups from April 1981 to August 1981. Material includes other speeches from Reagan Administration officials; drafts for a “general” speech; and requests to speak to various groups and the speech delivered to those groups. The largest amount of material concerns Garrick’s speech to the National Rifle Association’s annual convention held in Denver, Colorado in early May 1981. Garrick was filling-in for the recovering President Reagan, after the assassination attempt of March 30, 1981. The material is arranged by general speech material and then chronologically by speech date.

SERIES III: OUTGOING MEMORANDA (1.2 l.ft.; Box 8-11)

This series consists of outgoing memoranda from Robert Garrick to Martin Anderson, James Baker, Richard Beal, James Brady/Larry Speakes, Michael Deaver, Craig Fuller, Edwin Gray, Edwin Harper, Pendleton James, Edwin Meese, Gregory Newell, Mitch Stanley, Edward Thomas, the Office of Presidential Personnel, and a number of other individuals. The material is primarily about placing Reagan-Bush campaign personnel and members of the Office of the President-Elect within the Reagan administration. It also contains requests for information or follow-ups to individuals; sending information, passing on articles and correspondence from individuals or groups about fixing the economy, the health system, fraud and waste issues; and crime issues. The material is arranged by addressee and then chronologically.

SERIES IV: CHRONOLOGICAL FILE (1.4 l.ft.; Box 11-14)

This series consists of material, very often duplicates, similar to material found in Series I and Series III: outgoing memoranda from Robert Garrick in response to incoming attached letters or information. The topics are concentrated within Garrick’s area of work and/or interests including Navy issues and the Naval Reserve; applications for federal employment by Reagan supporters; and federal waste incidents especially regarding audio-visual materials and publications. It also reflects Garrick’s past duties in the campaign and transition – passing information on from media sources, and personal correspondence to members of the Reagan Administration for action of some sort. There are often follow up requests for information and Garrick’s responses to the sources of information.

SERIES V: TRANSITION MATERIALS, 1980-1981 (0.9 l.ft.; Box 14-16)

This series consists of material regarding the functioning of the transition, including organization, budgeting, and personnel; placement and recommendations for personnel in the Reagan administration; coordinating with the President Carter White House on specific functions; and coordination with Ken Khachigian and other speechwriters on the 1981 Inaugural Address. Garrick's position was Deputy Director of the Transition for Public Affairs where he was the overall head of information - including the research library, transition reports, press inquiries, requests for interviews, speechwriting, and responses to the public. In addition, Garrick was assigned the transition work on the Office of the Cabinet (Cabinet Secretary) and wrote the internal Transition reports on this function. Some of the material within this series is from the Reagan-Bush Campaign. It was brought with Garrick to the transition. Transition specific folders all contained "Transition" at the front of folder titles. The material is arranged first by the campaign material and then the Transition folders, in alphabetical order by folder title.

This material is not presidential records and was reviewed for public access using President Reagan's Deed of Gift. This material is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

Biography

Biography

Rear Admiral Robert M. Garrick served in the U.S. Navy as a combat correspondent, stayed in the Naval Reserve after World War II, was a public relations expert and an active Republican campaigner for Ronald Reagan in the California governor's races and his runs for President. He was appointed in early 1981 as the Deputy Counsellor to the President, serving as the chief assistant to Counsellor to the President, Edwin Meese.

Admiral Garrick was born in 1920 in New Jersey. His family relocated to Los Angeles, California where he attended Los Angeles City College, the University of Southern California and the University of Hawaii where he majored in journalism, radio and aeronautical engineering. During World War II, Garrick served as an enlisted combat correspondent inn the U.S. Navy on the staff of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and was awarded multiple medals for his combat service. Post World War II, he remained in the Naval Reserve eventually earning the rank of rear admiral, as the Naval Reserve's first public affairs flag officer. He retired from the Naval Reserve in 1980 and was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Following World War II, he returned to the Los Angeles Times-Mirror Corp. and served as assistant director of public relations. In 1947 Garrick became director of public relations and advertising for the A. F. Gilmore Co. and the Hollywood Farmer's Market. He founded Robert M. Garrick Associates, a public relations consulting firm, in 1951, serving industrial and commercial firms and associations. In 1973 the firm was incorporated as Garrick Associates, Inc., and in 1975 the corporation merged with Doremus & Co. As a member of the Public Relations Society of America, he was awarded the Society's Silver Anvil, the highest award in the public relations field.

Garrick took a leave of absence for a year from his Doremus position to volunteer with the Reagan, then Reagan-Bush 1980 Campaign. After the election, Garrick became an official at the President-elect's transition office. At the transition, Garrick was a sort of "information manager" supervising the research teams and information at the transition. He continued to serve as an information conduit while at the White House.

Garrick was selected as a Deputy Counsellor in the Office of the Counsellor to the President (Edwin Meese III). For the eight months Garrick was at the White House, he worked closely with Meese on scheduling appointments and meetings, assisting in speech writing for Meese, and working to place loyal Republicans in appointed federal positions.

Garrick had committed one year of public service to the Reagan campaign, transition and early days of the administration. He resigned in September 1981 to return to his public relations position in Los Angeles. In October 1981, Reagan nominated Garrick to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT). Eventually, Admiral Garrick and his wife retired to their avocado and orange ranch in Bonsall, California. Garrick died in December 2003.

Record Type

Textual

Last Modified Date

2025-03-31

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Garrick, Robert M.: Files, 1981

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