Poindexter, John M: Files, 1981-1986

National Security Affairs

Military Assistant to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, 1981-1983; Deputy to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, 1983-85; Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, 1986

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 Some folders may still have withdrawn material due to Freedom of Information Act restrictions. Most frequently withdrawn material is national security classified material, personal privacy, protection of the President, etc.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

Scope and Content Note

The John Poindexter collection consists of six series. The series are as follows: SERIES I: Subject File; SERIES II: Name File; SERIES III: Public Affairs File; SERIES IV: Administrative File; SERIES V: Suspense File; and SERIES VI: Chron File. The collection covers the full range of defense and foreign policy issues from Poindexter’s six years in the NSC. Many documents pertain specifically to U.S. Navy issues and personnel.

A few documents predate Poindexter’s time in the NSC. These are mostly reference materials used by Poindexter in his NSC work, or material that he retained from his earlier Navy career.

Many folders and documents have notations showing that they were checked for relevance to Iran-Contra. Some folders contain records that were compiled during the investigation of Iran-Contra, after Poindexter left the NSC.

See “Lebanon Crisis Material from Poindexter – 06/04/1982-07/06/1982” in the Philip Dur Collection for more Poindexter work product.

Series List

SERIES 01: SUBJECT FILE

This series consists of material relating to meetings of the NSC, White House staff, and Cabinet officials; the U.S.-Soviet summit meetings at Geneva (1985) and Reykjavik (1986); U.S. policy toward Iran; the Iran-Iraq War; U.S. policy toward Libya; U.S. involvement in Lebanon; the Poindexter - 3 2/6/2020 1983 invasion of Grenada; the 1981 sale of AWACS aircraft to Saudi Arabia; the 1986 G-7 economic summit in Tokyo; the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847; responses to terrorism; the nuclear freeze movement; hunger in the developing world; the redesign and upgrading of the White House Situation Room; administrative matters, such as procedures for handling policy issues, organizing NSC Executive Secretariat records, and purchasing automation equipment; the forming and staffing of NSC subgroups and White House foreign policy groups; the disposition of pre-Reagan foreign policy directives; the drafting of Administration statements on foreign policy issues; White House emergency preparedness; Poindexter and McFarlane daily schedules; summaries of Administration foreign policy accomplishments; and public opinion polls. The folders are in alphabetical order by subject. Some schedules and related documents are also in Poindexter’s Administrative File (Series IV).

SERIES 02: NAME FILE

This series consists of correspondence, memos, and meeting notes involving high-level Reagan Administration figures and other prominent people. Topics include U.S.-Soviet relations (including the Nicholas Daniloff case), the Middle East, personnel issues, and the former presidential yacht Sequoia. The folders are in alphabetical order by name.

SERIES 03: PUBLIC AFFAIRS FILE

This series consists of material relating to public relations aspects of foreign policy. Topics include U.S.-Soviet relations, the 1985 Geneva Summit, the Strategic Defense Initiative, western Europe, Latin America, terrorism, U.S. hostages in Lebanon, U.S. arms sales to Iran, space policy, the space shuttle Challenger explosion, Vietnam POWs/MIAs, President Reagan’s meetings with foreign leaders, Congress and foreign policy, NSC organization, and biographic information on NSC staff. There are magazine and newspaper articles, publications from the State Department and other Government agencies, press conferences, transcripts of interviews and news programs, speech texts, and White House media guidance. The folders are in alphabetical order by name or topic.

SERIES 04: ADMINISTRATIVE FILE

This series consists of material pertaining to a wide variety of administrative, personal, and policy matters. Topics include: the scheduling of Admiral Poindexter’s meetings, appointments, trips, social events, and speaking engagements; schedules for Poindexter, President Reagan, and Vice President Bush; Poindexter’s telephone logs; Poindexter correspondence with the public, members of Congress, Administration staff, relatives, friends, and fellow Navy flag officers; Navy policies and staff guidance; lists of Navy flag officers; speeches by high-ranking Navy officers and Administration staff; personnel matters, such as resumes and lists of appointees; administrative matters, including leave forms, travel forms, invoices, receipts, and gift reports; NSC staff organization and meeting procedures; rules for using White House meeting rooms, the White House Mess, and White House transportation; the defense budget; arms control; the 1986 Reykjavik Summit; Latin America; the Strategic Defense Initiative; the “Food for Progress” program; and reaction to news reports of U.S. arms sales to Iran. Some materials, such as daily schedules, are also in Poindexter’s Subject File (Series I). The folders are in alphabetical order by name.

SERIES 05: SUSPENSE FILE

This series consists of material pertaining to Iran, Libya, and other Middle East countries; U.S.- Soviet relations; Central America; terrorism; emergency planning and the Crisis Management Center; Joint Chiefs of Staff reorganization; long-range foreign policy planning; NSC staffing and personnel; meetings with foreign leaders; schedule requests; lists of Poindexter’s files; and policy for using Poindexter’s autopen signature. Most files involve matters that were still awaiting action or completion when Poindexter left the NSC in November 1986. The folders are in alphabetical order by name.

SERIES 06: CHRON FILE

This series consists of chronologically arranged correspondence and action items. Topics include U.S.-Soviet relations, arms control, Western Europe, Poland, Lebanon, Iran, the Iran-Iraq War, Libya, Central America, South Africa, the 1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada, NSC routing and meeting procedures, NSC staff organization, foreign travel by Administration staff, international economic and trade policy, the Crisis Management Center, boilerplate thank-you responses, and draft presidential speeches and statements. There are letters, memos, and other items sent to Admiral Poindexter, and copies of his typed or handwritten responses. In some cases, his response was to forward the matter to other NSC staff for handling or clarification.

Biography

Biography

John Marlan Poindexter was born in Washington, Indiana on August 12, 1936. He was high school valedictorian and class president. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy on an ROTC scholarship, graduating at the head of his class in 1958 with a degree in engineering. The Navy awarded him one of its first Burke Scholarships, which he used to enroll at the California Institute of Technology. He studied under Nobel laureate Rudolph Mossbauer, earning an M.S. degree in physics (1961) and Ph.D. in nuclear physics (1964).

Poindexter rose through the ranks of the Navy, alternating between postings on ships and Pentagon-based office assignments. The latter included work as a Systems Analysist in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (1966-69), a member of the Secretary of the Navy’s personal staff (1971-74), and Executive Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations (1976-78). After two years as commander of a destroyer squadron (1978-80), he was named Chief of Staff of the Naval Education and Training Command in Pensacola, Florida. He was promoted from Captain to Rear Admiral in March 1981.

Admiral Poindexter joined the National Security Council (NSC) staff in June 1981. He served as Military Assistant to two National Security Advisors, Richard Allen and William P. Clark. When Robert (Bud) McFarlane became National Security Advisor in November 1983, Poindexter was named his deputy. Poindexter received a temporary promotion to Vice Admiral in May 1985. He was named National Security Advisor when McFarlane resigned in December.

In November 1986, it was revealed that the U.S. government had secretly been selling arms to Iran, in the hope that Iran would put pressure on Iranian-backed terrorist groups in Lebanon to release their American hostages. On November 25, President Reagan announced the Justice Department’s conclusion that NSC staff had secretly used funds from the Iran arms sales to support the Contra forces fighting against the Nicaraguan government. Reagan also announced Poindexter’s departure from the NSC.

As the Iran-Contra scandal began dominating the news, Poindexter reverted to Rear Admiral rank and was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He refused to cooperate with the investigation of Iran-Contra until he was granted limited immunity from prosecution in April 1987. In July, he testified in televised Congressional hearings that he had helped divert Iranian arms profits to the Contras without informing President Reagan. Poindexter retired from the Navy effective December 1, 1987.

In March 1988, Iran-Contra independent counsel Lawrence Walsh won grand jury indictments of Poindexter, Oliver North, and two others involved in the affair. Poindexter was charged with obstructing the Government’s investigations of Iran-Contra. He was convicted on all five counts in April 1990, in a trial that featured seven hours of videotaped testimony recorded by former President Reagan in Los Angeles. However, the conviction was reversed on appeal in 1991, on the grounds that several prosecution witnesses had been influenced by Poindexter’s immunized testimony before Congress.

Poindexter held various defense contractor and technology jobs in the 1990s and 2000s. In 2002 he returned to Government service as a member of the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA). Poindexter was named head of the Information Awareness Office (IAO), a DARPA pilot program investigating the use of computer technology to gather and analyze information for the George W. Bush Administration’s “war on terror.” The IAO was disbanded in 2003, following widespread concern that its work would lead to intrusive Government surveillance of U.S. citizens. Poindexter retired from DARPA a few months later. He currently lives in the Washington, DC area.

Poindexter married Linda Goodwin two days after he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1958. Mrs. Poindexter began studying for the Episcopal priesthood after their five sons were grown. She served as a priest from 1986 to 1999, when she converted to Roman Catholicism.

Record Type

Textual

Last Modified Date

2025-01-03

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Poindexter, John M: Files, 1981-1986

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