When Conable became President, he appointed J. William Stanton to serve as Counselor to the President. Stanton held that post throughout Conable's term.

The records of Stanton's office focus on two of the major administrative issues of Conable's Presidency: the 1987 reorganization of the Bank, and the acquisition and retrofitting of the Bank's Washington buildings. They must be read in conjunction with the President's Administrative files and the files of Special Assistant Marianne Haug; for example, the Haug and Stanton records both have series on the 1987 reorganization, which does not appear in the President's files, but the President's Administrative files have the records of the 1989 fine-tuning of the reorganization. Taken together, the entire picture emerges.