Title: Frederic V. Malek Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1974

Dates: 1969-1974

Collection Number: 3599960

Creator/Collector: Malek, Frederic V. (Frederic Vincent), 1936-

Extent: 13 linear feet, 7 linear inches; 31 boxes

Repository: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Abstract: The materials of Frederic Malek encompass the years 1969 to 1973, and relate to Malek’s roles as deputy undersecretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) (1969 to late 1970) and head of the White House Personnel Operation (WHPO) (late 1970 to 1973).

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.

Frederic V. Malek Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1974. 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.

Fred Malek was born in Berwyn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, on December 22, 1936. Malek, the son of a beer salesman and the grandson of Czechoslovakian and Yugoslavian immigrants, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1959 and served in Vietnam as an Army Ranger and Green Beret with the Special Forces. When he returned from military duty, he graduated from Harvard Business School in 1964 with a Master of Business Administration. After working briefly as a management consultant for McKinsey & Co., Malek and two partners bought Utica Tool Company, a failing tool manufacturer, in 1967. They renamed it Triangle Corporation and continued to purchase other tool companies to expand production. In 1969, Malek left Triangle Corporation to become HEW Secretary Robert H. Finch’s deputy undersecretary. Malek’s portfolio was to make HEW more responsive, and he quickly impressed Finch and others by curtailing red tape and discharging personnel, earning himself the nickname “the hatchet” because of his tenacity. President Nixon’s Chief of Staff H.R. “Bob” Haldeman subsequently made Malek White House personnel chief, and Malek thus became responsible for recruiting candidates for high-ranking appointed positions on the White House staff. One of Malek’s projects while under the Nixon administration was recruiting women to serve in civil service offices. Malek turned to staff assistant Barbara Hackman Franklin to carry out that goal, and the pressure they applied to executive agencies to hire women led to an increase in the number of women in the top levels of the federal government. Malek’s self-proclaimed greatest mistake occurred later in that year, when he acquiesced to Nixon’s demand to provide a list of all Jewish employees of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Under pressure from Nixon and Haldeman, he supplied Nixon with a list of thirteen people he thought had Jewish surnames. Two of them were subsequently demoted. In 1972, Malek initiated the “responsiveness program,” a way to gain political support for Nixon’s re-election by using federal resources and grants to influence key states and voting blocs, especially minority groups. The Senate Watergate Committee later investigated and censured this program. Malek also served as deputy chief of the Committee to Re-elect the President in 1972. Malek joined Marriot Hotels in 1975 as a senior vice president; he served as president from 1981 to 1988. He participated in the buyout of Northwest Airlines and was its president and chairman from 1989 to 1991. After contributing to the acquisition of CB Richard Ellis in 1989, Malek became co-chairman of the global real estate company until 1996. He also had important roles in the buyouts of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and of the Texas Rangers baseball team, which he co-owned with other Republican financiers and George W. Bush. Malek founded two private equity firms, Thayer Capital Partners and Thayer Lodging Group, in 1991. Since the Nixon administration, Malek has continued to advise presidents. He served under President Reagan on the President’s Council on Cost Control, the President’s Commission on Private Sector Initiatives, and the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Under President George H. W. Bush, Malek was director of the 1990 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations, for which he became a lifetime ambassador. From April 2007 to June 2008, Malek also served as the finance chairman for John McCain’s presidential campaign. In 1978, Malek published Washington’s Hidden Tragedy: The Failure to Make Government Work, a critique of government bureaucracy.

The materials of Frederic Malek encompass the years 1969 to 1973, and relate to Malek’s roles as Deputy Undersecretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) (1969 to late 1970) and head of the White House Personnel Operation (WHPO) (late 1970 to 1973). The papers are separated into two series: Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) and White House Personnel Operation (WHPO). The first series consists of materials relating to Malek’s time at HEW (these files were presumably moved when Malek left HEW for the WHPO). This series is comprised of three sub-series: Correspondence, Subject Files, Speeches and Personal. The correspondence sub-series includes memoranda between Malek and the HEW Secretaries Robert Finch and Elliot Richardson. The subject files consist of materials mostly relating to open positions at HEW, and are arranged alphabetically. The speeches sub-series consists of research materials for speeches given by Malek while at HEW, and are arranged chronologically by speech. Research materials for speeches either not given or not identified are included at the end of the sub-series. The personal sub-series is made up of materials of a personal nature including financial and travel, and are arranged alphabetically. The second series consists of materials from Malek’s office with the White House Personnel Operation (WHPO). The files are separated into three sub-series: Correspondence, Subject Files, and Reports. The correspondence sub-series include memoranda and letters between Malek and individuals within the White House and government department and agencies. Such individuals include H.R. Haldeman and Charles Colson, cabinet secretaries and the general public. Additionally there is correspondence from and to one of Malek’s assistants, Jerry Jones. The subject files consist of materials relating to Malek’s work in the personnel office. The materials are arranged alphabetically, with positions identified as within a certain department placed with the department main file as applicable (i.e. Department of Defense followed Assistant Secretary of the Army). Included at the end of the subject files is a collection of resumes consisting of “black candidates” for jobs within the government. The reports sub-series were compiled by Malek and his staff detailing positions and employees within the government. These materials are arranged chronologically.