Scope and Content Note
The papers of Sol Myron Linowitz (1913-2005) span the years 1778-1999, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1946-1995. The collection covers virtually every phase of Linowitz's career as an attorney, executive for Xerox Corporation, ambassador to the Organization of American States, co-negotiator of the Panama Canal treaties, and presidential representative to Middle East peace negotiations. The papers are organized in ten series: Diaries, Correspondence File, Government Service, General Office File, Haloid Xerox, Inc., Speeches and Writings File, Miscellany, Addition, Classified, and Oversize.
The Diaries are a key component of the papers and provide an account of Linowitz's activities as an attorney, executive for Xerox Corporation, ambassador to the Organization of American States, and consultant and international negotiator in the administration of Jimmy Carter. The most detailed entries recount the period 1974-1981 and reveal Linowitz's increasing influence in national and international politics. After a long career with Xerox Corporation and service as ambassador to the Organization of American States, he joined in 1969 the Washington office of the international law firm Coudert Brothers working closely with public service organizations, corporate leaders, statesmen, and politicians. Recognized for his range of interests and negotiating insight, he moved into Washington's inner circles of national and international politics. The diaries recollect in detail formal and informal talks with leading statesmen and businessmen and include observations on politics, politicians, government, presidential elections and appointments, international relations, and national and international events. Most notable are entries regarding his work as co-negotiator for the Panama Canal treaties and his service as President Jimmy Carter's representative in Middle East peace talks. As a significant member of Carter's administration, his diaries are replete with meetings and discussions with the president, administration officials, State Department personnel, members of Congress, and members of the diplomatic community.
The Correspondence File contains letters received and copies of letters sent and primarily documents Linowitz's public service career after leaving the Xerox Corporation. The letters are generally personal and include correspondents from government, public service, business and industry, and foreign service. Topics include Linowitz's service in the Carter and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations, Latin America, the Middle East, and presidential elections. Linowitz's activities regarding Jewish concerns are revealed in correspondence with religious leaders and other members of the community. His personal recapitulations of formal and informal discussions with Alexander Meigs Haig, Henry Kissinger, Robert S. Strauss, and other prominent individuals are scattered throughout the file and are generally filed under the person's name. In 1975 Linowitz recounted a candid talk with Nelson A. Rockefeller regarding his role as Gerald R. Ford's vice president and other members of that administration. The file also contains letters exchanged with these individuals. Other correspondents include Menachem Begin, Peter G. Bourne, Ellsworth Bunker, Joseph Epstein (1937- ), Henry A. Grunwald, Lee Hamilton, Edward Moore Kennedy, David E. Lilienthal, Peter G. Peterson, George Shultz, and Earl Warren.
The Government Service series documents Linowitz's accomplishments as ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), co-negotiator of the treaties transferring control of the Panama Canal to Panama, and Jimmy Carter's special representative for Middle East peace negotiations. Linowitz honed his international relations skills guiding the Xerox Corporation into global markets and promoting international development through private and government public service institutions. These activities and others moved President Johnson to name Linowitz ambassador to the OAS and representative to the Alliance for Progress in 1966. Correspondence and State Department memoranda depict his participation with Johnson in the first ever gathering of American hemisphere presidents at Punta del Este, Uruguay, for a Latin American summit conference in 1967. Notable also are Linowitz's letters to Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978) proffering political advice and tactics regarding Humphrey's presidential candidacy in 1968. Other correspondents include Hubert H. Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson, Galo Plaza, Dean Rusk, and various Latin American government officials.
In 1977-1978, Linowitz and co-negotiator Ellsworth Bunker secured the politically sensitive Panama Canal treaties that set in motion the eventual transfer of control of the canal to Panama. Related material in the Government Service series describes the negotiation process from Linowitz's appointment as co-negotiator to Senate ratification of the treaties. Correspondence and memoranda exchanged with President Carter, administration and State Department officials, members of Congress, and opponents of the treaties outline the issues and negotiation tactics. In the wake of the Camp David agreements, Carter appointed Linowitz in 1979 as his special representative in the Middle East regarding talks on Palestinian autonomy. Correspondence, memoranda, and reports treat this phase of Linowitz's diplomatic career and provide insight into the actions of Carter and White House staff, State Department officials, and representatives of Middle Eastern countries. Especially interesting are Linowitz's reports to Carter regarding the progress of negotiations and memoranda in the general correspondence file depicting the evolving strategies of the negotiators. Memoranda recounting meetings with Menachem Begin and Henry Kissinger are key items in the general correspondence. Transcripts of press conferences and interviews, copies of diaries and personal reflections, articles, and speeches are also significant documents concerning Linowitz's mission.
The General Office File contains correspondence, speeches, articles, reports, organizational records, and related material and is organized in two parts. Part A represents Linowitz's early career in Rochester, New York, as an attorney and executive with Xerox Corporation. Importantly, though, the file demonstrates his commitment to public service through organizations and institutions devoted to local community service, education, and international development. As a successful and grateful beneficiary of the private enterprise system, Linowitz advocated corporate responsibility and counseled businessmen on their obligation to repay their good fortune through public service and community activities. Material related to the International Executive Service Corps, which he cofounded with David Rockefeller as an international service organization for retired executives patterned on the Peace Corps, constitutes a prime expression of this vision. His contributions to international aid through government agencies are documented in material related to the State Department's Advisory Committee on International Organizations and the President's General Advisory Committee on Foreign Assistance Programs. The Rank Xerox file reflects Linowitz's activities as an executive for Xerox and his part in its expansion into the global marketplace through agreements with the Rank Organisation in London. Overseas trips for Xerox during this period are documented in travel files that include notes and observations on journeys to Europe, Israel, and Japan. Linowitz's law practice as well as his numerous local community activities are represented including client files and records of service organizations, educational institutions, clubs, and Jewish associations. His nascent interest in international issues is reflected in material related to memberships in local and national groups affiliated with the United Nations and in the topics addressed on his public affairs television show Court of Public Opinion. A personal file contains correspondence with Xerox president Joseph C. Wilson (1909-1971), material related to a contemplated candidacy for governor of New York, biographical material, and clippings.
Part B of the General Office File chiefly relates to Linowitz's career after he left Xerox in 1966 and documents his expanded activities in public service and as consultant to government, politicians, and corporations. Material related to his membership on the boards of various organizations and corporations demonstrates Linowitz's public service in their behalf. Prominent are records of the Inter-American Dialogue, where he served as founding chairman; Cornell University; Council on Foreign Relations; National Urban Coalition; and Federal City Council in Washington, D.C. Government commissions he headed or assisted include the Commission on United States-Latin American Relations, Presidential Commission on World Hunger, and Special Committee on Campus Tensions. Records of the board of directors of the Pan American Airways Corporation document its acquisition of National Airlines as a domestic carrier and cover the period of the deregulation of the airline industry. Other corporation boards represented include Marine Midland Banks and Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. Political files reveal Linowitz's advisory role in the presidential campaigns of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Edmund S. Muskie. Travel files include his notes and observations on journeys to Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. A set of files primarily from the 1980s relates to his work with the Coudert Brothers international law firm, where he worked as partner and counsel from 1969 to 1994.
The Haloid Xerox, Inc. series includes correspondence, contracts, agreements, and related material pertaining to Linowitz's work for Haloid Xerox, later renamed the Xerox Corporation, as an attorney for patents and licensing and in executive management. In the late 1940s, Linowitz advised Haloid, a photographic paper supplier, in negotiations to acquire the patent and licensing rights to a new electronic reproduction process devised by Chester Floyd Carlson and later marketed as xerography. The executive management file relates the patent acquisitions from Carlson and his sponsor, Battelle Memorial Institute, and includes correspondence with Carlson and Haloid officials Joseph C. Wilson (1909-1971) and John H. Dessauer. The series also contains a general office file, material relating Linowitz's part in the expansion of Xerox products into foreign markets, and patent and licensing agreements with government and private industry.
The Speeches and Writings File includes various drafts and printed copies of articles, speeches, statements, interviews, reviews, book proposals, and book files grouped in two parts. Part A contains material generated prior to his resignation from Xerox Corporation in 1966. The articles and speeches are filed by topic including antitrust issues, civil rights, education, government, Israel, law, the United Nations, and Xerox. Part B covers the period after his resignation from Xerox and includes a chronological arrangement of articles, interviews, and speeches. Topics include corporate responsibility, education, Latin America, the Middle East, law, the Panama Canal, and urban issues. Part B also includes drafts and other production files associated with the publication in 1985 of Linowitz's memoir, The Making of a Public Man, and an oral history from 1982-1983.
The Miscellany series includes biographical material, clippings, legal files, notes, photographs, and scrapbooks. Files pertaining to Linowitz's legal practice in the early 1940s with Sutherland and Sutherland in Rochester, New York, and his work for the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D.C., during World War II form the largest part of the series. Opinions, briefs, memoranda, transcripts of oral arguments, notes, and background material pertaining to rent control and other issues are included. Photographs relate primarily to his activities in the Johnson and Carter administrations. Scrapbooks with clippings and photographs span most stages of his career including the Organization of American States, the Panama Canal treaties, and Latin America.
An Addition contains material assembled after Linowitz’s death and covers many facets of his career. The bulk consists of speeches and writings by Linowitz, most of which are organized in a series of binders. The earliest binders contain topically organized speeches and articles from 1946 to 1966. Later binders cover the period 1966-1987 in a chronological arrangement. Loose speeches and articles, 1940-1999, are filed at the end. Another significant feature of the addition are files relating to Linowitz’s Washington connections in the mid-1960s. Included are letters from prominent public officials filed in general correspondence; a subject file on the Lyndon B. Johnson administration including copies of letters from the president and his staff; and a separate file on Washington, D.C., containing notes, meeting schedules, and appointments. Other phases of Linowitz’s career are also documented in the series including his oversight of rent control cases for the Office of Price Administration during World War II and his exploration into a possible run for governor in New York in 1966. Also present are memoranda describing meetings and travel (1955-1957, 1966, 1975-1981), notes from a tour of the Middle East hosted by Time, Inc., in 1975, and descriptions of Anwar Sadat’s funeral in 1981. A small personal file contains biographical material, college and high school ephemera, news clippings, photographs, and a eulogy delivered on his mother’s death.