Call Number:

MC275

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers

Extent:

16 boxes

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

David L. Aaron Papers, 1960-1999 (mostly 1976-1981), Public Policy Papers, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1960-1999 (inclusive) and 1976-1981 (bulk)

Creator:

Aaron, David, 1938-

Form:

Born digital.

Abstract:

David Laurence Aaron (1938-) served as Deputy National Security Advisor from 1977–1981. The collection mostly documents Aaron's service under Jimmy Carter's administration, though records dating from his time working for Walter F. Mondale and in the private sector are also present.

David Laurence Aaron (1938-) served in several prominent positions in the U.S. Foreign Service and as Deputy National Security Advisor for Jimmy Carter's administration. Born in Chicago, Aaron earned his bachelor's degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles. In 1962, he graduated from Princeton University with a master's degree in public administration from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. That same year, he started his first position in the U.S. Foreign Service, working as a political and economic officer in Ecuador. Aaron continued to work for the Foreign Service for over ten years. He served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to NATO, and in this capacity he was part of the organization's Nuclear Planning Group and worked on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Aaron also worked for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, serving as a key member of the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) with the Soviet Union.

From 1972 to 1974, Aaron worked for the National Security Council under Richard Nixon's administration, focusing on arms control and strategic doctrine. He took on a new position as Senator Walter Mondale's legislative assistant in 1974. The following year, Aaron became a Task Force Director for the Senate Intelligence Committee and was influential in shaping the Committee's recommendations.

Aaron served as Deputy National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. In this position, Aaron chaired sub-Cabinet committees related to arms control and served as a trusted presidential representative to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and China. Aaron is particularly known for his discussions with Israeli military leader and politician Moshe Dayan, which laid the groundwork for the Camp David Accords, and for his role in negotiating the deployment of U.S. Pershing Missiles and Ground Launched Cruise Missiles in Europe.

With the end of Jimmy Carter's presidential term in 1981, Aaron moved into the private sector, becoming Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions at Oppenheimer and Co. and Vice Chairman of the board of Oppenheimer International. Though he left Oppenheimer in 1985 to focus on writing and lecturing, Aaron would later return to the company to serve on the board of directors of Oppenheimer's Quest for Value Dual Purpose Fund. He also remained involved in national politics, serving as senior consultant on foreign policy and defense for Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign and as part of the foreign policy team for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign.

Aaron served as Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris during the Clinton administration, where he negotiated the Convention to Prohibit Bribery in International Business Transactions. In 1996, he was appointed the Clinton administration's special White House envoy for cryptography, charged with developing international guidelines for encryption technology in trade and communications. Aaron was also appointed Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade in 1997, responsible for policies and programs that promote world trade and strengthen the international trade and investment position of the United States.

Upon his retirement from government service in 2000, Aaron became Senior International Advisor to the law firm Dorsey LLP. In 2003, he was appointed Senior Fellow at the RAND Corporation, where he currently serves as the Director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and several other organizations related to international affairs.

Aaron is the author of three novels, State Scarlet (1987), Agent of Influence (1990), and Crossing By Night (1993). His nonfiction work In their Own Words: Voices of Jihad was published by the RAND Corporation in 2008.

The David L. Aaron Papers primarily document Aaron's service as Deputy National Security Advisor under Jimmy Carter's administration, although records pertaining to his work for Walter F. Mondale and his activities in the private sector are also present. Aaron's chronological files, speeches, subject files, and writings from his White House years provide insight into the national security issues that dominated his term, especially U.S. relations with the Soviet Union. Of particular note are briefing papers, speech drafts and talking points, correspondence, and other materials created in the course of Jimmy Carter's 1980 re-election campaign. Materials that are more administrative in nature are also present in the form of invitations Aaron received, his schedules and appointments, and his telephone memorandums.

To a lesser extent, the collection includes records related to Aaron's work for Walter F. Mondale, both in his position as Mondale's legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate and as a foreign policy advisor for Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign. There is also a small amount of documentation on Aaron's tenure with Oppenheimer and Company and a number of his speeches and writings that postdate his tenure in the Executive Office, including a typescript of his first novel. Researchers should note that the collection contains almost no documentation of Aaron's career in the Foreign Service.

This collection is arranged into two series.