Scope and Content Note
The papers of Stuart Elliot Eizenstat (1943- ) span the years 1929-2003, with the majority concentrated between 1976 and 2001. The bulk of the collection relates to Eizenstat's writings, Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II, a book describing his role in the Holocaust restitution negotiations (1995-2001), and President Carter: The White House Years, a book describing Jimmy Carter's presidency from his perspective as Assistant to the President of the United States for domestic affairs and policy. The papers are in English, German, and French and are organized into nine series: Notebooks, Chronological File, Subject File, Speeches and Writings File, Scrapbooks, 2024 Addition, Classified, Sensitive Compartmented Information, and Oversize.
The Notebooks (1976-2001) consist of Eizenstat's handwritten notes compiled while serving as a presidential adviser to Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) and as a public official during the Bill Clinton administration (1993-2001). The majority of the notebooks chronicle meetings Eizenstat attended while serving in these administrations. Some topics featured from the Carter presidency are the economy, energy, civil rights, education, cabinet meetings and cabinet relations, and welfare reform. Although primarily an adviser to Carter on domestic policy, the notebooks also contain references to foreign affairs including Iran, the Middle East, and the Soviet Union. The notebooks also reflect Eizenstat's role in the transition from the Gerald Ford administration to the Carter administration. Subject indexes for some Carter presidency notebooks are filed at the beginning of the Notebooks series.
The Notebooks also document Eizenstat's activities while serving as United States ambassador to the European Union and as a senior official with the Department of State, Department of Commerce, Department of Treasury, as Special Envoy for Property Claims in Central and Eastern Europe, and as Special Representative for the President and Secretary of State on Holocaust Issues. The notebooks chronicle primarily Eizenstat's role as a negotiator in international initiatives relating to commerce and trade and in the restitution of property and related claims of victims of the Holocaust. Filed with the notebooks are a few cables, memoranda, and background papers.
The Chronological File (1976-2002) and the Subject File (1943-2001) complement each other, documenting chiefly Eizenstat's diplomatic and government service during the Clinton presidency, particularly his work on trade and business initiatives promoting America's economic interests internationally and his work in helping to resolve lawsuits seeking compensation for Holocaust victims and their families. The majority of the subject files pertain to Holocaust-era asset claims and related issues, climate change and global warming, and Eizenstat's negotiations with United States allies regarding trade with Cuba. Also represented in the Subject File are items documenting Eizenstat's role in the presidential campaigns of Democratic Party candidates in 1968, 1976, 1980 and 1992. The 1992 campaign is documented primarily in the digital files, which include memoranda from Eizenstat to Bill Clinton and his campaign staff. Eizenstat offers advice about election issues and the presidential debates. He also makes recommendations about the transition to the presidency, particularly the order to staff the cabinet so Clinton can expedite the policies for his administration. The Chronological File and Subject File are comprised chiefly of press clippings and printed matter. For a more comprehensive account of Eizenstat's official activities during the Clinton administration, consult the records of the agencies where Eizenstat served, which are held by the National Archives and Records Administration. Correspondents in the Chronological File include Madeleine Korbel Albright, Bill Clinton, Jesse Helms, Thomas F. McLarty, Binyamin Netanyahu, and Herman Wouk.
The Speeches and Writings File (1929-2003) consists chiefly of material relating to Eizenstat's books about Jimmy Carter and Imperfect Justice.The Library received material about the Carter book many years before its publication in 2018. The files relating to the Carter book consist of almost six hundred interviews Eizenstat conducted with government officials and individuals with insight about the Carter presidency and politics. The files also include correspondence, transcripts, background material, notes, and digital files. Inventories, lists, and “meta indexes” of the interviews are filed before the interview files of individuals. The meta indexes contain an index of subjects of many of the interviews and also provide indexes to individual interviews filed by name of person. The name indexes provide a list of the subjects covered in the interview; sometimes they contain a summary of the interview and an interview transcript. The tapes of these interviews have been transferred to the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Most of the digital files consist of transcripts of interviews and indexes of interviews that are also represented in the analog part of the collection. The research files for the Carter book include photocopies of presidential memoranda, primarily Eizenstat's, files relating to the investigation of Bert Lance, and photocopies from the Jimmy Carter Library, particularly items relating to the administration's legislative agenda and initiatives.
Other papers in the Speeches and Writings File pertain to Eizenstat's book Imperfect Justice. The files include correspondence, drafts, notes, photographs, research material, and digital files documenting Eizenstat's successful negotiation of agreements with the governments of Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, and other European countries concerning the restitution of property, payment for enslaved and forced laborers, recovery of art work and bank accounts, and other claims to compensate Holocaust survivors. There are extensive files, including notes and transcripts, relating to interviews Eizenstat conducted with individuals involved in the negotiations for compensation. The tapes of most of these interviews have been transferred to the Library's National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. Also included in the research files are photocopies of settlement papers and legal documents from the attorneys who represented Holocaust victims and their families, and notes of Eizenstat's meetings with these attorneys and representatives of the European countries involved in these claims. The research files also contain drafts and papers relating to the 1997 report of the investigation directed by Eizenstat of Nazi Germany's looting of $4 billion in gold from banks and other assets ( U.S. and Allied Efforts to Recover and Restore Gold and Other Assets Stolen or Hidden by Germany during World War II: Preliminary Study). A few items relating to this report are also filed in the Chronological File and in the Subject File. The digital files consist largely of drafts of Imperfect Justice including versions for Public Affairs editor Paul Golob and those with Lawrence Malkin, Eizenstat's collaborator for the book. Some speeches, statements, articles, and other writings by Eizenstat are filed in the Chronological File and Subject File series.
Further speeches and writings can be found in the 2024 Addition, which contains articles by or about Eizenstat, press releases from the Department of State and Department of the Treasury regarding German Holocaust compensation negotiations, and speeches written by Eizenstat. Most speeches were written during his tenure as United States ambassador to the European Union, under secretary of State, under secretary of Commerce, and deputy secretary of the Treasury.
The Scrapbooks (1974-1995) consist chiefly of newspaper clippings and printed matter relating to Eizenstat's activities as a presidential adviser to Jimmy Carter, although a couple of the scrapbooks document part of his tenure during the Bill Clinton administration. A few items of correspondence are also filed in the scrapbooks.