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Dorothy Vuksich Presidential Advance files
SFH 649
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Table of contents
Title: Dorothy Vuksich Presidential Advance files
Dates: 1983-1992
Collection Number: SFH 649
Creator/Collector:
Vuksich, Dorothy, 1922-1999
Extent: 1 carton
Repository:
San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center
San Francisco, California 94102
Abstract: Records of local arrangements for visits of U.S. presidents and heads of state to San Francisco Bay Area
Language of Material: English
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours, with photographs available during Photo Desk
hours. Collections that are stored offsite should be requested 48 hours in advance.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
Dorothy Vuksich Presidential Advance files. San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center
Gift, 2021-10.
Biography/Administrative History
Dorothy Sabanovich was born in Galveston, Texas in 1922, one of nine children born to Montenegrin immigrant parents. She
attended the University of Southern California in 1939, came to San Francisco in 1942, and married Raymond Vuksich the next
year. She served on various San Francisco boards and commissions: San Francisco Delinquency Prevention Commission; San Francisco
Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Healthcare Commission; UCSF Foundation; American Women for International Understanding, and
other civic and religious organizations. Vuksich was a member of San Francisco Women for Nixon Committee, 1962, and worked
for George Christopher when he was Republican nominee for California lieutenant governor that year. She worked with San Franciscans
for Senator George Murphy in 1970. She served numerous terms on the San Francisco Republican Central Committee. San Francisco
Chronicle political columnist Larry Liebert described her (1982) as "San Francisco's most tireless volunteer organizer of
conservative political events." After working for the White House, Vuksich was appointed chief of the Division of Labor Statistics
and Research by California Governor Pete Wilson in March 1994. Vuksich died in San Francisco in 1999.
Scope and Content of Collection
Records cover the period 1983-1992, when Vuksich organized local operations for visits of Presidents, Vice-Presidents, First
Ladies, and heads of state, including Queen Elizabeth II, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, George Bush (as Vice-President and
later President), Vice-President Dan Quayle, Barbara Bush. A schedule for the San Francisco visit of Premier Zhao Ziyang,
1984 is included, but with no accompanying planning records. The Senator Pete Wilson dinner (September 1985) and luncheon
(September 1990) are included in Bush visit files.
Vuksich, when coordinating local events, worked as a Republican Party volunteer, as was customary at the local level at that
time. Even the White House Advance team members held positions in various agencies as appointees of the President. Vuksich
never had an official title but was in charge of setting up the local operation, including procuring the following needs with
no budget, all funded by donations: copy machines, office supplies, parking, volunteer drivers, rental cars for motorcades,
volunteers to assist the press office and any other department needs, and meals for everyone involved in the operation. Her
team of volunteers also helped in assigning hotel rooms (other than the President and First Lady themselves) and immediate
security and staff for the rest of the overnighting staff and press corps. She reported to the designated Lead Advance;
Craig Fuller was that lead under Vice-President George Bush.
Records include lists of attendees at events; maps showing routes to events, maps of local attractions and amenities; diagrams
and plans of rooms, tables, seating arrangements at venues; trip schedules published by White House and Office of Vice-President;
daily agendas; Secret Service Record of Name Searches forms; records of “thank yous” requested and sent; photocopied signage
for venues; lists of drivers; hotel room assignments; White House Presidential Advance office press releases; press passes;
a few speeches; a few budgets. Collection includes several of Vuksich’s notebooks, and occasionally her notes are written
in shorthand. Social security numbers and birthdates have been redacted.
Presidents--Travel--West (U.S.)--History--20th century.
Bush, George, 1924-2018
Reagan, Nancy, 1921-2016
Bush, Barbara, 1925-2018
Quayle, Dan, 1947-
Wilson, Pete, 1933-
Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-
Zhao, Ziyang
Reagan, Ronald
Vuksich, Dorothy, 1922-1999
San Francisco (Calif.)