Objection To Declassification in Full 2013 11 14 NLC-133-113-2-24-0 - - - - - - No - -- The NSC llas waived tltelr elenfficatia for infonnatiOII withiD this Wldte Rause NSC deauaent Your aaency has tieen detenained· to be the of urllmmry interest · Pleaae review '9r your a1eaey'1 equities and obtain any •ece11ary CGIIClll'ftDces I I III I No Objection Declassification in Full 2013 11 14 NLC-133-113-2-24-0 r _N_o Objection To Declassification in Full 2013 11 14 NLC-133-113-2-24-0 't -lEMORANOUM OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT WASH I NG TON TOP SECRET EYES ONLY April 26 1979 Memo·No 347 79 MEMORANDUM FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT f FROM Denis C l i f t SUBJECT Update of Presidential Emergency Action Documents PEADs Some weeks ago we staffed a memorandum for your signature to Hugh Carter and Zbig thanking them for having advised you of the interim update of various PEADs Tab A We have since learned that Hugh Carter in his capacity as head of the President's official household is concerned that the entire PEADs series is obsolete given the total devastation which could be expected from a thermonuclear attack on the US -- and the need for an updated approach to reconstituting order and organization at the local state and federal levels of the Government Hugh has talked to the President about this and this has resulted in the President's comment on one of Hugh's memoranda asking you to read the memorandum Tab B and to discuss it with Hugh and Zbig The problem of updating the PEADs -- part of the larger problem of how best to conduct our affairs as a government in the event of a thermonuclear attack -- is incredibly complex Hugh it should be noted is under continuing pressure from the military on issues relating to the SIOP and the White House Emergency Plan WHEP to agree to modifications which Defense believes would further improve the survivability of the national command authority In this field Defense has a number of suggestions including some which do not lend themselves to peacetime implementation such as quartering the President's helicopter on the White House grounds at all times TOP SECRET EYES ONLY Classified by Source Review I No Objection Declassification in Full 2013 11 14 NLC-133-113-2-24-0 No Objection To ------ -------- ___- - Declassification in Full 2013 11 14 NLC-133-113-2-24-0 'l'OP SECRET EYES ONLY A further problem with updating the PEADs is the fact that the civilian side of the government is not fully manned and effective at present in this field Logically the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA should take the lead in an interagency update of the PEADs At present FEMA has only an acting director former Seattle Fire Chief Gordon Vickery Tab C Against this background Zbig and his NSC staff have been trying to run an interagency update tasking the Director of the Federal Preparedness Agency to lead the effort Tab D FPA has simply not been up to the challenge Hugh Carter continues to be frustrated because of the lack of effective action He believes that 1 Zbig and the NSC should give higher priority and attention to the PEAD update effort and 2 a full-- t-ime FEMA Director with savvy and political clout should be appointed to take the lead for the NSC in the PEAD update I believe it is fair to say that Hugh asked the President to make the comment that he did at Tab B so that you wonld read yourself into the issue and in turn ask Zbig to focus more attention on the problem COMMENT I believe a capable full-time FEMA director will if we are to make progress on the PEADs I know had occasion to discuss the F'EMA appointment I the Administration should attach higher priority a good person to formally fill this job be essential you have believe to finding Secondly I recommend that you invite Zbig and Hugh to your office noting the President's r8quest of you to discuss the issue with them and asking them for a status report Your purpose in Duch an informal discussion would be to ask Zbig to get hack to you with recommendations on how the PEAD update can be expedited so as to meet the President's request · TOP SECRET EYES ONLY 2 No Objection To Declassification in Full 2013 11 14 NLC-133-113-2-24-0 I I I t No·Ql ljection To Declassification in Full 2013 11 14 NLC-133-113-2-24-0 --------- i TOP SECRET EYES ONLY Finally I o not think this is an area where blame should be attributed to any individual or agency The questions that have to be answered are extraordinarily difficult I believe Hugh is right in his belief that the problem requires priority attention RECOMMENDATION That you schedule a meeting with Zbig and Hugh Carter to receive a status report on the PEADs update and to invite their recommendations on steps to expedite the update TOP SECRET EYES ONLY 3 - ·' I I No Objection Declassification in Full 2013 11 14 NLC-133-113-2-24-0