http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c81z4b3g No online items Register of the Richard Ober papers Finding aid prepared by Dale Reed Hoover Institution Archives 434 Galvez Mall Stanford University Stanford, CA, 94305-6003 (650) 723-3563 [email protected] © 2019 Register of the Richard Ober 2019C20 1 papers Title: Richard Ober papers Date (inclusive): 1942-2001 Collection Number: 2019C20 Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Archives Language of Material: English Physical Description: 28 manuscript boxes(11.2 linear feet) Abstract: Correspondence, writings, notes, personnel records, memoranda, reports, legal records, and printed matter, relating to the Central Intelligence Agency and its Operation CHAOS. Consists mainly of reportage of post-Watergate debate on intelligence agency oversight and of documentation of related litigation. Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives Creator: Ober, Richard, 1921-2001 Access The collection is open for research; materials must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Publication Rights For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Richard Ober papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Archives Acquisition Information Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 2018. Accruals Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the catalog is larger than the number of boxes listed in this finding aid. 1921 Born, New York City 1943 A.B., Harvard University 1943-1946 U.S. Army service 1948 M.A., Columbia University Joined Central Intelligence Agency 1964 Graduate, National War College 1967-1972 Chief, Central Intelligence Agency Counterintelligence Special Operations Group 1972-1974 Chief, Central Intelligence Agency Counterintelligence International Terrorism Group 1974-1976 Director for Intelligence Coordination, National Security Council 1980 Retired from Central Intelligence Agency 2001 Died, Fairfax Station, Virginia Scope and Content of Collection The Richard Ober papers are narrowly focused on Operation CHAOS, a program conducted by the United States Central Intelligence Agency from 1967 to 1972 for the purpose of surveillance and infiltration of dissident and radical movements in the United States, including antiwar, black power and left-wing organizations. The program complemented the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's older counterintelligence program, COINTELPRO. The Central Intelligence Agency's rationale for entering into domestic activities was to investigate the possibility of foreign influence in the target organizations. The programs became publicly known in consequence of revelations following upon and associated with the Watergate scandal. Beginning in 1974 they occasioned intense publicity and investigation by multiple Congressional and other government bodies. Richard Ober, a career Central Intelligence Agency official, directed Operation CHAOS throughout its five-year existence. Subsequently he was seconded to the United States National Security Council as its senior staff member for intelligence matters. The publicity he received following revelation of the existence of Operation CHAOS prompted the Agency to seek severance of his employment. He resisted this, but was retired in 1980. Key series in the collection are those formed around the numerous investigations of intelligence community activities: the Central Intelligence Agency Domestic Intelligence Report File (the Agency's report on itself); the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States File (the so-called Rockefeller Commission after its chairman, Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller); the Commission on the Reorganization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy File (the so-called Murphy Commission after its chairman, Ambassador Robert D. Murphy); the Senate Select Committee to Study Register of the Richard Ober 2019C20 2 papers Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities File (the so-called Church Committee after its chairman, Senator Frank Church); the House Committees File (especially the so-called Pike Committee, after its chairman, Congressman Otis G. Pike); and the Department of Justice Report File (regarding the mail-opening component of Operation CHAOS). The Legal Cases File is concerned with the numerous subsequent civil lawsuits brought by individuals and organizations against government agencies and officials. Typically these cases involved both numerous plaintiffs and numerous defendants. Ober figured as a defendant in all but one--a potential legal case revolving around the unauthorized biography of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham by Deborah Davis. Davis mistakenly named Ober as Deep Throat and Ober figured here as a potential plaintiff. There is also a specifically titled Operation CHAOS File. This consists of redacted internal documents from Operation CHAOS that were made public in the course of the various legal cases. They shed light on the program's general guidelines as well as on some specific operations. The large General Intelligence File consists primarily of press coverage of the intense debate over the proper role and oversight of the intelligence community that ensued during the latter half of the 1970s. There are a few additional small series not specifically connected with Operation CHAOS issues. These include Ober's Army Personnel File, Central Intelligence Agency Personnel File, and National Security Council Personnel File. In 1963-1964 Ober was a student at the National War College. His National War College File is mainly concerned with his participation in a group student visit to Africa, as is the associated Audiovisual File. Subjects and Indexing Terms United States. Central Intelligence Agency. Secret service--United States. Box/Folder 1 : 1 Army Personnel File 1942-1952 Scope and Contents note Military personnel file of Richard Ober. Includes Reserve Officers Training Corps and Army Reserve materials, orders, and memoranda. Boxes 1-2 Central Intelligence Agency Personnel File 1948-1980 Scope and Contents note Personnel file of Richard Ober as a Central Intelligence Agency employee. Box/Folder 1 : 2 Questionnaires and personnel action notifications 1948-1979 General Scope and Contents note Contains correspondence, memoranda, lists and notes. Box/Folder 1 : 3 1951-1974 Box/Folder 1 : 4 1975 Box/Folder 1 : 5 1976 Box/Folder 1 : 6 1977-1978 Box/Folder 1 : 7 1979-1980 Box/Folder 1 : 8 Request for documents 1978 Scope and Contents note Includes correspondence together with redacted document copies. Box/Folder 1 : 9 Appeal of proposed separation 1978 Scope and Contents note Contains correspondence and memoranda. Includes redacted copies of earlier personnel file documents. Register of the Richard Ober 2019C20 3 papers Central Intelligence Agency Personnel File 1948-1980 Box/Folder 1 : 10 Retirement 1980 Scope and Contents note Contains memoranda and drafts. Box/Folder 1 : 11 Travel authorizations and miscellany 1974-1979 Writings Box/Folder 2 : 1 "Recommendations on Intelligence from the Murphy and Rockefeller Commission Reports" (internal memorandum by Ober) 1975 Scope and Contents note Typescript "The U.S. Intelligence Community Today" (internal study by Ober) 1978 Box/Folder 2 : 2-4 Drafts Box/Folder 2 : 5 Notes Box/Folder 2 : 6-7 Working materials Boxes 2-4 National War College File 1963-1964 Scope and Contents note Papers of Richard Ober as a National War College student. Box/Folder 2 : 8 General 1963-1964 Scope and Contents note Contains correspondence, memoranda, lists, and handbooks. Box/Folder 2 : 9 Research paper 1963-1964 Scope and Contents note Contains memoranda, guidelines, and a letter. Trip to Africa 1964 Scope and Contents note Contains memoranda, itineraries, travel documents, briefing materials, and printed matter. See also Audiovisual File. Box/Folder 3 : 1 General Box/Folder 3 : 2 Senegal Box/Folder 3 : 3 Ghana Box/Folder 3 : 4 Congo Box/Folder 3 : 5-6 Angola Box/Folder 3 : 7 Southern Rhodesia Box/Folder 4 : 1 Southern Rhodesia Box/Folder 4 : 2 Kenya Box/Folder 4 : 3 Ethiopia Box/Folder 4 : 4 Nigeria Box/Folder 4 : 5 National Security Council Personnel File 1974-1976 Scope and Contents note Personnel file of Richard Ober as a National Security Council employee. Contains correspondence, memoranda, lists, and notes. Boxes 4-5 Central Intelligence Agency Domestic Intelligence Report File 1974-1975 Scope and Contents note File on a report by Central Intelligence Agency Director William E. Colby to President Gerald R. Ford on domestic intelligence activities of the Central Intelligence Agency. Box/Folder 4 : 6 Text of report, 1974, with publicly released redacted appendices, 1975 Box/Folder 5 : 1 Press coverage 1974-1975 Register of the Richard Ober 2019C20 4 papers Commission on CIA Activities within the United States File 1974-1977 Boxes 5-6 Commission on CIA Activities within the United States File 1974-1977 Scope and Contents note File on a report by commission established by President Gerald R. Ford and chaired by Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller (Rockefeller Commission). Box/Folder 5 : 2 Text of report 1975 Scope and Contents note Printed copy Box/Folder 5 : 3 Excerpts of report leaked to press