Title: Michael P. Balzano Papers, White House Central Files, 1972-1973

Dates: 1972-1973

Collection Number: 6121287

Creator/Collector: Balzano, Michael P.

Extent: 4 linear feet, 5 linear inches; 10 boxes

Repository: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Abstract: Michael P. Balzano, Jr. was a White House Staff Assistant. He worked in the office of Charles W. Colson on labor and ethnic matters. Balzano served as a liaison between the Nixon Administration and various segments of the population including labor and Eastern European ethnic groups. These files are reflective of Balzano’s monitoring such concerns as ethnic representation in government, busing, crime, patronage, Radio Free Europe, Eastern Europe, Nixon’s visit to the Soviet Union, Vietnam, the Ethnic Studies Heritage Programs Act, and the Higher Education Act.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research. Some materials may be unavailable based upon categories of materials exempt from public release established in the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974.

Most government records are in the public domain, however, this series includes commercial materials, such as newspaper clippings, that may be subject to copyright restrictions. Researchers should contact the copyright holder for information.

Michael P. Balzano Papers, White House Central Files, 1972-1973. Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

These materials are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration under the provisions of Title I of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-526, 88 Stat. 1695) and implementing regulations.

Michael P. Balzano, Jr. was a White House Staff Assistant from February 1972 through March 1973. He worked under Charles Colson on "blue-collar" and "white ethnic group" concerns. Balzano acted as a liaison between the Nixon Administration and various segments of the population, including labor, Catholics, Poles, Slovaks, Italians, Greeks, Ukranians, Lithuanians, Estonians, and other Eastern European groups. These groups had many concerns, which Balzano monitored. Among those were busing, crime, Eastern Europe, Radio Free Europe, patronage, ethnic representation in government, Nixon's visit to the Soviet Union, Vietnam, the Ethnic Studies Heritage Programs Act, and the Higher Education Act. The 1972 election was also a focal point. The support of the various groups was seen as both a goal for Balzano and as a measure of the success of the Nixon Administration in the first term. Principal correspondents and persons discussed in the files are Charles Colson, W. Richard "Dick" Howard, the President, and Laszlo Pasztor. Also included are Dimitri Danielopol, Ralph Perk, Karol Sitko, Dagnija Kreslins, John Volpe, Edward Derwinski, and Fred Gualtieri.