J. Fred Buzhardt Jr. Papers
Collection
Identifier: Mss-0120
The J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. Papers are organized according to the position in government held by Buzhardt and alphabetically by folder title within these divisions. The arrangement of Buzhardt's father's material as well as his own personal material follows this pattern. Photographs and oversize material have been removed from the papers.
Most of the material in the papers concerns his involvement with the Watergate Affair. Of particular interest are the summaries of conversations, which include the date and time of the conversation/meeting, the individuals present, and a summary of the actual conversation. These summaries may also include a notation on significant events occurring during the period, recollections concerning the conversation from the participants, a notation concerning collateral material and search data.
Other items of interest in the files on Watergate include a list of possible actions to be taken in response to the subpoenas for the tapes by special prosecutor Archibald Cox (which can be found in the first folder of the "Notes"); a memo concerning the response to made to the press on wire taps; correspondence from Senator Joseph Montoya (NM) asking for information on the wire-tapping of F. Donald Nixon, the President's brother; and transcripts (made in 1986) of tapes by Buzhardt concerning his recollections of conversations or the conversations themselves.
There is very little material on the other positions held by Buzhardt, and none which relates to his tenure as assistant to Senator Strom Thurmond, other than some clippings in the Biographical Clippings file. The General Counsel to the Department of Defense material contains his Policy Council notes for the period July 17, 1972 to February 12, 1973. These notes cover developments in Southeast Asia, legislative affairs, foreign policy, politics, prisoners of war, and other topics. The collection also includes a copy of the final printed report of the Blue Ribbon Defense Panel; Buzhardt served as special assistant to the chair of the panel.
Personal material in the papers include biographical clippings, which start with Buzhardt's appointment to West Point in the 1940's and end in 1976. they give a good overview of his public career, and concentrate on the time period before his Watergate appointment. Some of these clippings were gathered by his father, J. Fred Buzhardt, Sr. An interesting item in this part of the papers is the baby book for Buzhardt Jr., which includes not only photos of Buzhardt at six months and one year and family and personally descriptive information, but advertisements and suggestions for baby's health circa 1923 as well.
The papers also include information on Buzhardt's father, J. Fred Buzhardt, Sr. There is a file of biographical clippings, which start in 1942 and chronicle his public career as a lawyer, county Democratic Party head, state legislator and judge-elect. A separate file provides information on his death in 1966 and the dedication of a portrait in the McCormick County courthouse one year later. There are also some miscellaneous items, such as a postcard announcing his marriage, certificates, and humorous items he collected.
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection beyond those of Special Collections.
J. [Joseph] Fred Buzhardt Jr. was born in Greenwood, South Carolina on February 21, 1924. He was the son of Joseph Fred and Edna (Hardin) Buzhardt. His father had a law partnership with Strom Thurmond, and later became a state representative and a judge. J. Fred Jr. attended school in McCormick, South Carolina and attended Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina from 1941 to 1943. He received his B.S. in 1946 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and his LL.B from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina in 1952. He married Imogene Sanders in 1946; they had four children (Linda, Joseph Fred, George Sanders and Jill).
He was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1952, and practiced law with his father until 1958. In 1958 he joined Senator Thurmond's staff as legislative assistant, and in 1965 he became the Senator's administrative assistant. He returned to legal practice in 1966 in McCormick. Buzhardt became Special Assistant to the Chair of the Defense Department's Blue Ribbon Defense Department in 1969, and from 1970 to 1973 he served as general counsel to the Department.
In May, 1973 Buzhardt became Special Counsel to President Richard M. Nixon in matters concerning the Watergate investigations. He remained in that position until January 1974, when he became Counsel to the President. He resigned in October 1974, four months after suffering a heart attack. After his resignation, he was of counsel to the law firm of Dowling, Sanders, Dukes, Novit and Svalina of Beaufort, South Carolina, and served on retainer to the Raytheon Corporation. He died in Hilton Head, South Carolina on December 16, 1978.
1.8 Cubic Feet
English
This collection consists of the personal papers and other material of J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. The papers date primarily from his tenure as Special Counsel and Counsel to the President from 1973 to 1974. In addition, there is some information about his father, J. Fred Buzhardt, Sr.
The papers were donated by Mrs. J. Fred (Imogene) Buzhardt, Jr. in December, 1989 (89.246).
This register was prepared by James Cross in 1990.
The conversion of this finding aid to Encoded Archival Description format was made possible with a grant from the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board in 2009-2010. The finding aid was prepared for encoding by Jen Bingham.
Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository