Department of State and Related Foreign Affairs Agencies.
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. An earlier post described a minor contretemps involving use of the Department of State communications precedence indicator "NIACT" [Night Action]. That problem persisted over the years as demonstrated by a 1978 exchange of telegrams … Continue reading Why Did You Wake Us Up in the Middle of the Night?: Use of NIACT, 1978
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. On January 21, 1963, at the behest of McGeorge Bundy at the White House, the Department of State sent a circular telegram to 14 embassies in Europe and the U.S. mission in Geneva.[i] The … Continue reading Why Did You Wake Us Up in the Middle of the Night?: Use of NIACT, 1963
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The presidential election of 1972 came in the midst of the U.S. rapprochement with the USSR known as detente. Earlier in the year, President Richard Nixon traveled to Moscow for a major summit with … Continue reading The Presidential Election of 1972: Analysis of Soviet Bloc Opinion
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. World War II was not only a war of battleships and bullets. Words, in the form of overt and covert propaganda and psychological warfare, played an important role. See the post Airplanes over France for examples … Continue reading War of Words: Race-Based Propaganda During World War II
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. Several investigations followed the near-disaster at Three Mile Island. The most important was the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island established by President Jimmy Carter in April 1979. The twelve-member panel … Continue reading International Aspects of the Three Mile Island Incident III: Follow Up
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The overseas reaction to the Three Mile Island accident was varied. In most countries the response was muted but there were exceptions. Examples of the different reactions include (All referenced telegrams can be viewed … Continue reading International Aspects of the Three Mile Island Incident II: International Reaction
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. On March 28, 1979, a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, experienced a partial meltdown. While ultimately there was no large-scale release of radioactive materials, the potential for a major disaster … Continue reading International Aspects of the Three Mile Island Incident I: Keeping the World Informed
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. Shortly after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, the U.S. embassy in Great Britain submitted a despatch entitled "The Role of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh" (now in … Continue reading A Look Ahead at the New Queen, 1953
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. On February 6, 1952, King George VI of Great Britain died and his daughter, Princess Elizabeth, ascended to the throne. Formal coronation of the new Queen took place on June 2, 1953. President Dwight … Continue reading The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. Upon assuming the crown in February 1952, the British "empire" led by Queen Elizabeth II consisted of a conglomeration of states and territories bound together in various ways. There were a number of sovereign … Continue reading Queen Elizabeth II: Changing Circumstances, Changing Titles
