Browse the Administrative Assistant Sub-series collection
The Office of United States Senator receives funds to defer official expenses and hire administrative and legislative staff to assist Senators in the conduct of their public duties. The traditional professional title of the primary assistant to a United States Senator is the Administrative Assistant. In recent years that position has often been designated as the Chief of Staff. The Administrative Assistant or Chief of Staff is the chief executive officer responsible for the overall management of a Senate Office and oversees the administrative, legislative, press relations, and political affairs of the Senator's Office.
The Administrative Assistant Sub-series contains the files maintained primarily by William R. White and Mary Jane Veno, two of the five individuals who served as Senator Glenn's Administrative Assistants, or Chiefs-of-Staff, during his twenty-four years in the Senate.
William R. White, a Columbus lawyer, was an early political advisor who came to
Washington with the Senator during his first term in office. White served as
Glenn's Administrative Assistant from 1975 to 1983, when he left to become the
campaign manager of Senator Glenn's presidential campaign.
The files of Kathy Prosser-Bell, the Administrative Assistant from 1983 to 1985,
are located both intermixed within those of William R. White and within the
first set of subject files in Senator Glenn's personal office files.
Edward Furtek served as Administrative Assistant from August 1985 to June 1986.
From 1977 to 1982 he served as Legislative Assistant and was Senator Glenn's
Domestic Policy Advisor from 1982 to 1985. Files compiled by Mr. Furtek during
his tenure as a legislative assistant are located within the legislative staff
sub-series. Materials from Mr. Furtek's work on domestic policy are located
within the briefing books sub-series of the legislative series. The files he
compiled while Senator Glenn's administrative assistant are intermixed with the
files of Ron Grimes in the legislative staff sub-series.
Phillip R. Upshulte, Glenn's fourth Administrative Assistant, served
concurrently from 1986 to 1988 as both Administrative Assistant and Legislative
Director. Mr. Upshulte previously assisted Senator Glenn on military affairs.
Mr. Upshulte's files are located within the legislative staff sub-series of the
legislative series.
Mary Jane Veno, Senator Glenn's longest serving Administrative Assistant, served
from 1988 until his retirement in 1999. Ms. Veno began working for Glenn during
his 1974 Senate campaign and was a member of his Senate staff during Glenn's
entire Senate career. As Glenn's personal scheduler during his first years in
office she became a close political advisor during his re-election campaigns and
during his 1984 presidential campaign. Ms. Veno currently serves as Senator
Glenn's personal representative and Chief of Staff at The Ohio State
University's John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy.
The William R. White Files consist of six cubic feet of memoranda files, legislative files, subject files, and telephone logs dating from 1975 to 1983. The memoranda files consist of one cubic foot of memoranda written or received by Mr. White from 1976 to 1982. The memoranda include a wide variety of topics from routine office administration and scheduling to policy and political matters. The files are listed as general memoranda received by White, memoranda written by White to Senator Glenn, and memoranda written by White to various staff members. Other memoranda files are listed as legislative matters and date from 1976 to 1979. The legislative memoranda may include attachments such as reports, bills, and other supporting documents pertaining to legislation sponsored by Senator Glenn or currently before the Senate.
The legislative files contain one cubic foot of materials dating from 1975 to 1981. The files are arranged alphabetically by legislative bill name or policy topic. Individual folders may contain memoranda, correspondence, reports, bills, amendments, and background materials on a specific piece of legislation or on a particular policy area. Significant topics include the Consumer Communications Reform Act of 1976, President Jimmy Carter's nuclear energy policy, and funding for the Portsmouth Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plant in Piketon, Ohio.
The subject files consist of two and one-half cubic feet of materials, dated 1976 to 1982, arranged alphabetically by folder heading. The files cover a wide range of topics including cities, businesses, and projects in Ohio, individuals, foreign countries, and policy areas. Folders may contain correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and background materials.
The telephone logs contain one and one-half cubic feet of daily sheets, dated 1975 through 1980, listing the telephone calls to Mr. White answered by various clerical staff. The sheets contain time and date of the call, person making the call, and brief remarks as to the subject.
The Mary Jane Veno files consist of eight cubic feet of correspondence, county files, presidential campaign debt records, and subject files, dated 1979-1998. The correspondence files consist of two cubic feet of letters and memoranda, mostly incoming dated 1984 through 1998, sent directly to Ms. Veno or sent to Senator Glenn and handled by Ms. Veno. Correspondents include office staff, other U.S. Senators, Ohio and national politicians, and political supports of Senator Glenn. Topics include legislative, political, and policy matters and significant Ohio cases and projects. Separate files were kept on most individual correspondents, though the sub-series also includes some general files of miscellaneous letters and thank you letters sent to Senator Glenn. The files are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name.
The one cubic foot of county files contain materials documenting the trips Senator Glenn made to the various eighty-eight counties in Ohio from 1979 through 1993. The files generally were kept to aid in Glenn's three re-election campaigns. The files are arranged alphabetically by county and may contain correspondence, trip records, speeches, and endorsements.
The presidential campaign debt files consist of three cubic feet of materials, dated 1983 through 1996, documenting the efforts made to reconcile the debt left over from Senator Glenn's unsuccessful bid for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination. Materials include the correspondence, memoranda, reports, and creditor listings of the John Glenn Presidential Committee (1983-1994) and the Friends of John Glenn Committee (1994-1996). These committee records are arranged by year into general files, though special projects may be contained within separate folders. Other individual folders include documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, files of the committee's legal firm, fund raising projects handled by both committee staff and outside consultants, files on lawsuits brought against the committee, and correspondence files of the committee chairman, William R. White. The presidential campaign debt files are closed to researchers until January 1, 2017.
Ms. Veno's subject files contain two cubic feet of correspondence, memoranda, reports, newspaper clippings, and other materials dating from 1984 through 1997. Most of the folders relate to projects, organizations, individuals, and political matters in Ohio. Also included are files on the vice presidential selection and presidential campaign of 1988, Senator Glenn's re-election campaigns in 1986 and 1992, and Glenn's official financial disclosure forms from 1974 through 1996.