This series contains the briefings prepared for President McNamara's official trips. It includes notes by McNamara, some handwritten; correspondence with senior staff and government officials; and staff reports on visits.

The briefings consist of schedules, airport statements, government lists and biographies, lists of topics for discussion, basic data and maps, background information on the political and economic situation and the Bank's operations in the country visited and, for Part II countries, aid programs and IDA contributions. Schedules, statements, biographies, and topics for discussion are often annotated by McNamara, some heavily. If the trip included more than one country, the first file may include general information on the region. While most files contain a full briefing, a few files include only the list of persons visited or a schedule.

The 1980 files on an African trip include a file of Mrs. McNamara's activities. The series includes one photo from McNamara's trip to Peru in 1976.

These files are valuable for any researcher looking at the Bank's relationship with a country. The rich analytical material in the briefing file pulls together the Bank's information on a country at a particular date which, when supplemented with McNamara's notes, give a snapshot of the country's stage of development and its political climate.