Harper, Edwin L.: Files, 1982-1983

Policy Development, Office of

Assistant to the President

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Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note

In March 1982, Edwin Harper officially succeeded Martin Anderson as the Assistant to the President for Policy. This position, which is free from political constraints and the Hatch Act, oversaw the Office of Planning and Evaluation, the Office of Policy Development and the Office of Policy Information. Harper was already at the White House/Old Executive Office with the Office of Management and Budget when he was appointed. It appears he brought much of his material from his OMB position and his post as Director of Policy Coordination for the Reagan-Bush Transition with him into his new position. His collection has been arranged to create specific series reflecting this material from previous offices.

The Edwin L. Harper collection consists of 11 series: SERIES I: Subject File; SERIES II: Mid-Term Planning, 1982, SERIES III: Economic Background Book, SERIES IV: President's Weekly Updates, 03/01/1982-12/06/1982; SERIES V: Chronological Files, March 1982; SERIES VI: Speeches; SERIES VII: Schedules/Meetings; SERIES VIII: Harper Travel; SERIES IX: Office of Management and Budget Material, 1981-February 1982; SERIES X: Publications; and SERIES XI: Reagan-Bush 1980 Transition Material.

Series XI has six subseries: Subseries A: Transition Reports, Subseries B: Briefing Manuals, Subseries C: Cabinet Briefing Material, Subseries D: Task Forces/Advisory Groups, Subseries E: Policy Staff Meeting Agenda, and Subseries F: General Issues.

Series List

SERIES 01: SUBJECT FILE

SERIES 02: MID-TERM PLANNING 1982

SERIES 03: ECONOMIC BACKGROUND BOOK

SERIES 04: PRESIDENT'S WEEKLY UPDATES, MARCH 1982-DECEMBER 1982

SERIES 05: CHRONOLOGICAL FILES, MARCH 1982

SERIES 06: SPEECHES

SERIES 07: SCHEDULES/MEETINGS

SERIES 08: HARPER TRAVEL

SERIES 09: OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET (OMB) MATERIAL, 1981-FEBRUARY 1982

SERIES 10: PUBLICATIONS

SERIES II: REAGAN-BUSH 1980 TRANSITION MATERIAL

SUBSERIES A: TRANSITION REPORTS

SUBSERIES C: CABINET BRIEFING MATERIAL

SUBSERIES D: TASK FORCES/ADVISORY GROUPS

SUBSERIES E: POLICY STAFF MEETING AGENDA

Biography

Edwin L. Harper is a former academic, American businessman and former government executive in the Nixon Administration and the Reagan Administration.

Harper was born in Belleville, Illinois on November 13, 1941. He is a 1963 graduate of Principia College, a Christian Science institution based in Elsah, Illinois. He has been actively involved. with his alma mater, as a member of the Board of Trustees, a commencement speaker and honored in 2012 as the David K. Andrews Distinguished Alumni Awardee.

After finishing his undergraduate degree at Principia, Harper earned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Virginia in 1968. From 1965-1968, Harper was associated with the Brookings Institute and was a lecturer in the history of the American presidency at Rutgers University.

In 1968, Harper joined the Nixon Administration in the Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) as a Special Assistant to the Director for Resources Planning. In 1969, Harper was asked by John Erlichman to assist him in creating a formal domestic policy apparatus called the Domestic Council. Harper was appointed a Special Assistant to the President and Assistant Director of the Domestic Council. All these experiences at the Domestic Council and the Bureau of the Budget allowed Harper a working knowledge of the United States budget process.

After leaving the Nixon Administration, Harper began working in the corporate world which would occupy him in the late 1970s When approached by the Ford and Reagan campaigns in 1976, he declined involvement due to his corporate duties at the INA Corporation. He was involved with the 1976 Republican Convention as the neutral arbitrator between the Reagan and Ford campaigns on disputes regarding the party platform for that year.

Harper had met Governor Ronald Reagan while working for Nixon and was well-known to Martin Anderson, Reagan's chief campaign domestic advisor. After Reagan's 1980 victory, Anderson asked Harper to come to Washington, DC for the 90 days of the President-elect's transition team's planning and creation of the new administration. Harper agreed and became the Director of Policy Coordination for the Transition. He created staff briefings and presentations and briefings books for newly appointed cabinet members on Reagan's positions regarding policies handled by their agencies.

Despite his plans to return to INA in January 1981, the Reagan Administration offered Harper the position of Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Harper agreed and worked closely with Director David Stockman on finding the budget cuts needed to fund President Reagan's tax cuts. He also focused on the management part of OMB, particularly financial management as part of Reagan's overall policy of rooting out waste and mismanagement in the federal government.

Harper was further coaxed to stay on with the Reagan Administration. He succeeded Martin Anderson as the Assistant to the President for Policy Development, serving from March 1982 through July 31, 1983. He was responsible for the policy offices of Planning and Evaluation, Office of Policy Information and the Office of Policy Development.

After the Reagan Administration, Harper returned to the corporate world. Harper has worked at numerous corporations including: Dallas Corp, Campbell Soup Company, Emerson Electronics Company, The Association of American Railroads, Commodore Applied Technologies, and Assurant, Inc. He has been an officer and Director of many of these companies.

He Harper is married and he and his wife, Lucy, have two children. They reside in Miami, Florida.

Record Type

Textual

Last Modified Date

2025-01-30

WHORM Alpha File

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Harper, Edwin L.: Files, 1982-1983

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