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Records of the Office of the President Séries

Travel files

This series contains individual files on Rajagopalan's trips as Special Adviser to the President during 1993. The files include correspondence, agendas and background papers for meetings he attended during these journeys.

Chronological [outgoing] files

This series consists of copies of the outgoing letters and memoranda of George D. Woods and correspondence handled for President Woods by his personal assistants George C. Wishart and Rainer B. Steckhan. It includes correspondence sent on substantive issues of development assistance, memoranda to files, internal memoranda of the Bank and social and public relations messages.

Letters to foreign heads of state, government officials, banks, development institutions and academics regarding particular loans and projects, missions, technical assistance, bond issues and other sources of financing, and development policy issues are found in the series. Memoranda to files, usually written by Wishart, make a record of Woods' meetings with high-level government and business executives, focusing on important remarks and outcomes. Occasional Bank-internal memoranda, usually addressed to Vice Presidents and other high-level managers, concern such issues as staffing of the Economic Development Institute (EDI), defining the competencies of the technical operations and regional departments of the Bank with regard to project preparation, and procedures for establishing consultative groups.

The social and public relations letters express appreciation for invitations, hospitality, and for letters, publications and gifts received; express regret regarding invitations; offer congratulations; discuss arrangements for meetings and itineraries for travel; and provide letters of introduction.

Briefing papers

The majority of this series consists President George D. Woods' briefing papers for the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Boards of Governors. The briefing papers for each annual meeting are organized by geographical region and thereunder by individual countries. The country sections contain background information on each country's economic and political situation (including occasional economic reports), the country's relations with the Bank, and lists of each member country's delegates at the annual meeting and the topics they are likely to raise. In the case of Africa and Latin America, there are also memoranda concerning the caucuses held by the countries in these regions and texts of remarks the President intended to deliver to them.

Also part of the series is a briefing file on the 57th session of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in July 1965. Two small files contain briefs for visits to Argentina and Brazil.

Travel files

The travel files are for foreign trips exclusively. They include both trips undertaken for specific operational purposes, such as raising funds for IDA and promoting bond issues in Part I countries and encouraging the establishment of development funds, banks and agencies, and trips undertaken for ceremonial activities, such as the groundbreaking ceremony of an Aluminum Smelter in Ghana. Individual trips files may include handwritten notes President Woods took during meetings with heads of state and other dignitaries, speeches, and frequently memoranda to files summarizing the purposes and highlights of important meetings, as well as invitations, acceptance and thank you letters, background or formal briefing papers on the politico-economic situation of the countries visited, itineraries, agendas, programs, flight schedules, information on lodgings and tourist attractions, maps, and newspaper clippings.

Chronological [outgoing] files

This series consists of copies of President Clausen's outgoing correspondence during his entire Presidency. Correspondents include government heads and officials, heads of the United Nations, international agencies, banks, development banks and other corporations, U.S. government officials, the Governors of the Bank, the Bank's Executive Directors, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and Bank staff members.

The files document the views of the President on the economic situation, theproblems faced by the Bank and the IDA in securing resources, debt management, Bank-Fund collaboration, the Bank's poverty oriented lending programs, the energy program, and other specific Bank operations. A number of circular letters are included on topics such as subscriptions to the General Capital Increase of the Bank, requests for IDA contributions, the establishment of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency ( MIGA ) and the establishment of a special facility for Sub-Saharan Africa. The correspondence also contains more routine letters, invitations, congratulations and condolences. The thank-you letters include correspondence following official trips and thanks for aid, particularly for contributions to IDA replenishment. Invitations include invitations to Annual Meetings, to special panels, to senior staff retreats and meetings, and to luncheons.

Letters to staff regarding personnel matters, including welcomes to new positions and farewells on retirement, and general administrative matters such as the implementation of the Performance Planning and Review (PPR) Program, are also in the file.

Senior Management Council official files

This series consists of the official files of the Senior Management Council maintained by its secretary. In 1982 the Senior Management Council replaced the President's Council, which had been created in 1965 by George Woods. Occasionally the Senior Management Council and the Managing Committee met jointly, and some records of the joint meetings are included.

The official records contain agendas, minutes, memoranda to the Senior Management Council, reports and studies for review, and some correspondence. Also included are materials concerning the annual dinner gatherings and retreats of the Executive Directors and members of the Senior Management Council, including drafts of the President's remarks at the dinners. A photograph of the Senior Management Council members in 1984 is included.

Correspondence

This series contains a fragment of President George D. Woods' correspondence, both private and official. Notable among the official correspondence is a letter to Hector Prud'homme, University of Hartford, Connecticut, on education projects; an exchange of letters with the President of Pakistan, Marshall Ayub Khan, on the political situation for Pakistan in July 1965; a letter to Antonio Montero, a banker from the Bahamas, on external financing of local currency components of public projects; and a report from World Bank Vice President J. Burke Knapp on his talks with the President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, on the situation in Rhodesia in December 1965.

President's Council files

This series consists of the records of meetings of the President's Council that were maintained by Anapum Khanna, Special Assistant to the President. The files contain agendas and minutes of the meetings, Khanna's handwritten notes taken during meetings, talking points for the President, and papers for discussion by the Council. The series is not a complete record of all President's Council meetings for the period covered, and not all records of meetings contain an agenda or minutes.

This series is a useful supplement to the official records of the Council in WB IBRD/IDA EXC-11-32S. Not all of the official records include minutes, and Khanna's handwritten notes may fill in gaps in the official files. Furthermore, this series includes talking points for the President, all of which may not be included in the official files.

Subject files

The files in this fragmentary series contain primarily memoranda and reports on a few administrative topics. Some of the items in the files had been accumulated by Khann's predecessor as Special Assistant, Josue Tanaka. Some files are useful because they continue a subject found elsewhere; for example, the environment file in this series complements and extends the environment file found in the Haug subject files. The private sector development file postdates the Conable Presidency.

Subject files

This series provides an unusually good overview of the scope of issues handled by staff assistants in the Office of the President. Unlike the Stanton files in WB IBRD/IDA 03 EXC-11-02 which are focused on reorganization and space needs, the Haug files cover a very wide range of administrative matters and program topics. The Bank's increasing emphasis on environmental and social issues is reflected here, in such files as environment, forestry, population, and women in development. The monitoring of program operations can be traced in such files as annual sector reviews and strategy papers from Bank entities. Haug also had special interests in staff issues, reflected in files on outside interests and activities, the staff association, the staff retirement plan and staff compensation.

Haug brought some files with her to the President's office, including those on the Joint Committee on Staff Compensation and the Outside Interests Committee, from which she resigned when she joined the President's staff. In addition, a few documents from 1991 in the U.S. estate tax file post-date her tenure and presumably were filed by the President's office staff into Haug's subject file after she departed.

Working files - Conable/Camdessus lunches

This series contains records of President Conable's meetings with Michel Camdessus, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, between June 1989 and July 1991. The records consist of meeting agendas, briefing notes, talking points, and minutes of the meetings. The topics include Bank and Fund collaboration and operations involving debt reduction, country matters, environmental issues, and preparations for Annual Meetings issues, among others.

The file was maintained by Jennifer Volk, an Executive Assistant to the President. The official file on the lunches is missing from the Liaison files - Non-governmental and international agencies; consequently the working file provides the existing information on the meetings of these two executives.

President's Council files

Shortly after assuming the Presidency, Barber Conable discontinued the Managing Committee that, during the Clausen years, had provided overall administrative control of the Bank. In its place Conable created an advisory body made up of the Bank Vice Presidents who reported directly to the President (some vice presidents reported to other vice presidents; they were excluded). This body was originally known as the Policy Committee, then renamed the President's Council in May 1988. It advised on policy decisions for consideration by the Executive Directors, on strategic objectives, resource mobilization and allocation, manpower strategies, and other managerial issues. A staff member in the President's office served as the secretary for the Committee/Council.

This series contains the official records of the Council, from May 1987 to July 1991, grouped in two subseries. The files in the first subseries, amounting to 10 linear feet, are the records of the weekly meetings of the Council, including agendas, minutes, reports, and documents discussed. The second subseries, 2 linear feet, is the set of papers distributed to the Council members for background information; the first seven files (of a total of nine) include a list at the beginning of the file providing the title of each document in the file, the originator, and the date. The files include a few pieces of correspondence and a few annotations and comments from Council members.

These records are an essential source for a researcher who wishes to understand the internal discussions in the Bank during the Conable years.

Photographs

This series consists of four photograph albums of President and Mrs. McNamara's visits to Niger (March 5-6, 1972), Bolivia (March 7-9, 1976), Bangladesh (November 3-6, 1976), and Sri Lanka (November 20, 1978). The photographs arein black and white.

Executive Committee minutes

This series contains the minutes of the informal Executive Committee that started meeting weekly with the President on February 9, 1981. It was composed of the Senior Vice-Presidents, the Secretary and the General Counsel. Mattersdiscussed by the short-lived committee include the 1982-1986 lending program, the IBRD general capital increase, the IDA Sixth replenishment, the energy program, the PLO observers issue and staff compensation.

Liaison files - U.S. Government

This series contains the records of President Preston's interaction with both Congressional and Executive branches of the U.S. Government. The files include information on legislation affecting the Bank or its staff, briefing notes and minutes of the meetings with the Members of Congress and senior officials in the Executive Branch, and correspondence with the White House. The file on the White House contains mostly records from the Conable Presidency.

Annual Meetings

This series consists of President Preston's files for the Annual Meetings and the records of the logistical arrangements made by his office staff. The general organization of the Annual Meeting is the responsibility of the Corporate Secretary, so the records in this series are those of the President himself and the arrangements made by and for his immediate office.

The records consist of agendas, background material, briefings, speeches, correspondence, and related records regarding the Annual Meetings. The 1993 and 1994 files include briefings on commercial banks and financial institutions and the 1993 files include a Reference book. Market that has briefings on the Bank's FY94 funding plan, official borrowings, and country briefs. The briefings provided to the President for these meetings give a useful snapshot of the state of the particular country or institution as of the date of the meeting.

Speeches

This series contains both draft and final copies of Mr. Preston's speechesm, opening remarks, and addresses given to the Board of Governors and at Annual Meetings, United Nations' conferences, official luncheons, and farewells. The series is incomplete.

Travel files

The files in this series contain Mr. Preston's travel itinerary; briefing books that include background on the country's economy, the Bank's lending program, projects under execution, country profile and map of the country; schedules; meetings with Heads of States and representatives of member countries; minutes of meetings; arrival and departure statements; press statements; and outgoing letters to the government subjects.

The series contains both the files that the President used on the trip and the administrative files created by the President's office, most often by Gisu Mohadjer, an Executive Assistant to Preston, during the preparation for the trips. In some cases, there are Gisu Mohadjer files for a trip as well as files that appear to be the President's copy for use during the trip. Often the Mohadjer file will contain some briefing materials as well as logistical information.

The records include photographs from Mr. Preston's trips to Tanzania, Venezuela, Morocco, and India.

Chronological files

This series contains President Preston's outgoing correspondence, principally letters, between December 1990 and May 1995, as well as some incoming correspondence addressed to Preston, and other correspondence originating in the Office of the President. The first file predates Preston's tenure at the Bank. As the series covers the entirety of Preston's term, records created during his leave of absence by acting President Stern and other Office staff are included.

Because the Preston records are scant, this series of formal outgoing letters provides an important overview of the external liaison activities in which the President engaged.

Records of the Portfolio Management Task Force (Wapenhans Report) and follow-up

In February 1992, Lewis Preston ordered a study of the Bank's basic portfolio management and evaluation process for loans and credits. Headed by Willi Wapenhans, who was assigned to the President's office for the study, the Portfolio Management Task Force produced a report in September 1992 that is one of the most famous in the Bank's history. It argued that the Bank did not pay enough attention to the implementation and supervision of loans and that sustainable development impact is the true measure of success. The Wapenhans Report, as it came to be known, was presented to the Board of Executive Directors in November 1992. In January 1993 Preston assigned Visvanathan Rajagopalan, who as a vice president who had been a member of the advisory council to the Task Force, to coordinate discussions regarding the implementation of the recommendations in the Task Force report.

The files are in 2 parts. The first part is the files of Wapenhans as the chair of the Task Force. These files were inherited by Rajagopalan as he worked on the implementation of the report during 1993. The second are the files of Rajagopalan, both a file regarding the work of the Task Force that he had maintained while he was the Vice President, Sector and Operations Policy, and files that he created during the follow-up period.

This series is the central source for information on the work of the Task Force. It includes the record of the discussion of the Executive Directors at the time the Task Force was formed and the background documents for the meeting of the Executive Directors after the report was issued, the minutes of the meetings of the Task Force from March through June and the audio tapes and the transcripts of a 2 day meeting with partner organizations (cofinancers), and feeder studies on topics ranging from the Bank's internal culture to the use of information technology.

Records regarding the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)

This series contains records compiled by Visvanathan Rajagopalan in his capacity as Chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The records include his correspondence, agendas and travel plans for meetings, copies of papers presented at meetings or circulated prior to meetings, copies of his introductory remarks delivered at meetings, his briefing books for International Centers Week (the annual meeting of the international agricultural research centers that form the CGIAR network), and scattered reports of the CGIAR Oversight Committee and its Technical Advisory Committee. Correspondence covers meeting arrangements; appointments, salaries, and other personnel matters affecting staff; and resource allocations. The series includes a small amount of the correspondence of Wilfried Thalwitz, Rajagopalan's predecessor as chair of CGIAR.

Speeches

This series contains transcripts of speeches and remarks Visvanathan Rajagopalan delivered as Chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and as Vice President and Special Adviser to PresidentPreston. Most of the speeches concern CGIAR, but other topics range from the engineer's role in sustainable development to safe motherhood; food security; the Bank's activities in environment and infrastructure; integrating women's issues in project, sector, and economic work; the World Conference on Education for All; and malaria control. The series includes Rajagopalan's remarks at his retirement party.

Subject files

Visvanathan Rajagopalan maintained a series of subject files during his period as Vice President, Operations, and as Special Adviser to the President. Some of the files contain information spanning both periods, while others contain information from only one. Some files are purely topical (environment, for example) while others are on a specific meeting (for example, the file on Bellagio III) or a particular type of meeting (Bank senior staff retreats from 1987 through 1992).

Rajagopalan's files on development effectiveness provide useful background to the Wapenhans report controversy. Finally, during his tenure as Special Adviser Rajagopalan served briefly as the manager of the Information, Technology and Facilities Department, and a number of files deal with ITF management issues.

Space Files

The series concerns the expansion, retrofit and reconstruction options for buildings occupied by the Bank in Washington, DC (known as Buildings A, B, C, D, E, F and I). It is the most complete set of records in the President's office on space issues facing the Bank.

More than half of the files are reports submitted to the Bank by architects, real estate appraisers, and real estate developers. The internal memoranda and external correspondence cover such topics as the space needs of the Bank, real estate values, and the acquisition and sale of properties, in particular the agreement between the Bank and the IFC regarding the transfer of the responsibility for the IFC building. The International Monetary Fund's expansion is the subject of one file.

Budget files

The series consists of FY88 budget appeals and the effect of reorganization on the budget, budget policy and discussions, planning and budget guidelines; a budget framework paper; records of midyear budget reviews, the FY89 work program, and budgets for regional offices. The records also include the initial budget guidelines provided to the senior management group by President Conable.

Chronological file

This chronological file consists of copies of the outgoing letters and memoranda, both those handled for President Conable by Marianne Haug and Haug's own correspondence. The records begin in July 1985 when Haug was the Assistant Director of the Industry Department, continue through her service as Assistant Director, West Africa Projects, and conclude in May 1990 at the end of her stay in the President's office. A few incoming letters are included. The files for the periods mid-October 1985 through March 1986, October through December 1986, and mid-March through June 1989 are missing.

The files are useful both for their window onto the issues handled in the president's office and also for the glimpse they give of Haug's work as the first woman to serve as an Executive Assistant to the President of the Bank.

Reorganization files

This series consists of the records maintained by J. William Stanton concerning Bank's 1987 reorganization. They include internal Bank correspondence, presentations, and follow-up reports describing the successes and weaknesses of the 1987 reorganization efforts. The files also include correspondence and reports from management consultants in connection with the 1987 reorganization, memos of Stanton's discussions with President Conable, and reorganization reports of the Steering Committee and the Support Units Task Force.

Personnel inquiries

This series of consists of correspondence and copies of curricula vitae from people interested in employment with the Bank. The records also include thank you letters and letters of recommendation from applicants.

Correspondence

This series contains fragments of John J. McCloy's correspondence with political leaders and prominent businessmen during his time as President of the World Bank from March 1947 to May 1949. The most substantial bodies of correspondence are with Emilio G. Collado, U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank, 1946-1947; Russell C. Leffingwell, Chairman of the Executive Committee of J.P. Morgan and Co. Inc.; and Bernard H. Baruch, American financier and stock investor.

The correspondence with Emilio Collado consists of letters and memoranda to McCloy regarding World Bank activities, including excerpts from memoranda Collado prepared for U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson and a document entitled "Note Relating to a Debt Limit" dated May 1947. McCloy's correspondence with Russell C. Leffingwell includes substantive comments on topics related to the Bank and its operations, such as money stabilization, sterling devaluation, the Bank's lending philosophy, and the prospects for European recovery under the MarshallPlan. Letters to and from Bernard H. Baruch include: a letter related to an Export Import Bank loan to England; a letter sent by Baruch to John Snyder, U.S. Treasury Secretary, on how to stimulate production in the world; and a copy of McCloy's memoranda to Snyder on lending.

Also included are McCloy's answers to questions from U.S. House of Representatives member Howard Buffet and U.S. Senator Leverett Saltonstall. Finally, a letter from Secretary of the Treasury John Snyder forwarding an August 1947 memoranda by U.S. President Harry Truman is also included. It concerns U.S. Ambassador to Chile Claude Bowers' complaint about Wall Street control over the operations of the Bank.

Daily scheduling

Contains records related to the daily scheduling of President Wolfensohn's activities. Schedules cover activities related to both his roles as World Bank Group president as well as a private citizen, although in the case of the latter less detail is included. World Bank Group business and personal activities often overlap.

Records include daily schedules for President Wolfensohn and indicate travel, meetings, meeting participants, and other activities. Daily schedules are available for nearly every day of President Wolfensohn's presidency. In some cases when President Wolfensohn was on extended travel, a separate schedule bundle was created in place of, or in addition to, regular daily schedules and these are included as well. In a small number of cases, briefing material accompanies the travel schedule.

Other materials include long-term monthly calendars printed off monthly or bimonthly for the following six months.

Audio-video documentation

Series contains video and audio recordings of internal and external speeches, appearances, interviews, and other events participated in by President Wolfensohn or otherwise related to the activities of the Office of the President (EXC). Documentation of these events was usually undertaken by the Bank's general services staff at the request of the Office of the President or was done externally after which physical copies of the recording were shared with the World Bank Group (WBG).

The materials in this series document a variety of appearances made by President Wolfensohn during his tenure as WBG president. These can include President Wolfensohn's participation at both meetings and events organized by the WBG and those organized externally. Internal events range from Spring and Annual Meeting addresses to town halls and internal meetings with senior managers, country directors, individual units (i.e. Operations Evaluation Department [OED], Middle East and North Africa Vice Presidency [MNAVP]), internal events (CEO Day, the unveiling of the river blindness statue), and so on.

External events include those held at various forums, events, colleges and universities, conferences, etc. Addresses are documented from various forums, events, and conferences held around the world.

Media appearances and interviews with members of the media are also included. These are generally with television news networks and shows. Examples include interviews with Nova Mova (a Ukrainian television program), the Korean BroadcastingSystem (KBS), and Pamela Wallin Live, a Canadian journalist. News coverage of President Wolfensohn's visits to other countries is also included as are recordings of press conferences participated in by President Wolfensohn.

Footage from President Wolfensohn's mission travel is also included, including materials from travel to Vietnam, Indonesia, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Korea, and many more.

Note that some items in this series are accompanied by print outs of record filing logs which indicate the existence of accompanying briefing materials for the event or appearance documented in the audio-visual item. See the "Related units of description" for the location of these related materials.

A small number of externally produced television programs with which the World Bank Group and/or President Wolfensohn participated or had a connection are also included, such as We Are the Future (2004) and Dobri Duh Starog Mosta (2004).

Chief of Staff and Middle Office files

This series consists of records created and received by the Office of the President's (EXC) Middle Office. The Middle Office was responsible for managing the president's activities, including mission travel, meetings, and appearances; this included confirming trip dates, planning trips, and planning briefing books and pre-trip briefings. The office also supported the president's participation in speaking engagements and press conferences, including speechwriting. It also received and managed photographs, press clippings, and other memorabilia. The president's chief of staff, who headed the Middle Office, played an advisory role to the president.

Series consists of chronological files of Rachel Lomax who served in the role of President Wolfensohn's chief of staff from September 1995 to August 1996. Records primarily date from September and October 1995. A small number of materials date from July 1995. Lomax's chronological files primarily consist of incoming correspondence addressed directly to Lomax or received by her as courtesy or for her information. Lomax organized her chronological folders according to recipient and/or broad groupings of WBG organizational entiti