PAT M. HOLT PAPERS
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
West Branch, Iowa
The Pat M. Holt Papers (4.2 linear feet) document the career of Senate staffer Holt (1920- ), who worked on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1950-1977, serving as a specialist in Latin American affairs for much of this period. The Holt Papers were acquired by donation from Mr. Holt in 1994.
Pat M. Holt was born on September 5, 1920 in Gatesville, Texas. Holt’s father published the weekly newspaper in Gatesville, and Holt followed in his father’s footsteps by seeking a career in journalism. After graduating in 1940 from the University of Texas, where he majored in journalism and wrote for the Daily Texan, Holt attended the Columbia University School of Journalism, earning a master’s degree from that school a year later. Upon graduation, Holt received a Pulitzer traveling scholarship, which enabled him to travel to Australia, where he worked for the Melbourne Herald. Upon returning to the United States a year later, he obtained a job with the Providence Journal-Bulletin, where he worked until 1943, when he was drafted into the Army.
Holt was sent to Washington DC, where after studying Japanese at Georgetown University, he worked for the Army translating Japanese radio intercepts. After his discharge in 1946, he was hired by the newly-established Congressional Quarterly News Features, where he served as associate editor from 1946-1949, after which he worked as a staff writer for the Reporter for one year. When the Washington bureau of the Reporter was eliminated, Senator Tom Connally of Texas, who was acquainted with Holt’s family, hired Holt as a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in early 1950. Holt remained with the Committee until his retirement in 1977.
Initially Holt’s assignments with the committee were fairly general in nature, and consisted of information gathering, writing speeches, and preparing reports on a wide variety of topics under consideration by the Committee. In 1958, however, Holt was placed in charge of Latin American affairs, and he was responsible for this area during the next fifteen years. After Vice-President Nixon’s troubled visit to Venezuela later that year, followed by the revolution in Cuba in 1959, the Latin American Subcommittee commissioned a study, and Holt’s capacity as the Committee’s specialist in Latin American affairs took on added importance. In 1961-1962, Holt was awarded a fellowship from the Institute of Current World Affairs, which he used to travel and study in Latin America. In 1973 Holt was appointed chief of staff of the Foreign Relations Committee, and he remained in this position until his retirement in 1977.
The Holt Papers largely document Holt’s emphasis on Latin American issues, and are divided into two main series: Chronological and Subject. The Chronological Series consists of 2.7 linear feet of outgoing correspondence from Holt, dated from 1959-1976. The Subject Series, however, is divided into three subseries totaling 1.5 linear feet: Countries, International Organizations Conferences, and Personal. In addition to the Holt Papers, the Library also has a photocopy of an extensive oral history of Holt that was conducted by Donald A. Ritchie for Senate Historical Office in 1980. Holt’s activities within the Foreign Relations Committee are also reflected in the Library’s holdings in the papers of Senator Bourke Hickenlooper, who chaired the American Republics Affairs Subcommittee during the 1960s.
PAT M. HOLT PAPERS
Box and Folder Inventory
Box Contents
CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES
1 1959
1960
1961
January-February
March-April
May 1-13
May 15-31
June
1962
September-December
1963
January
February-March
2
April-June
1963
July-September
October-December
1964
January-May
June-December
1965
January-April
May-July
September-December
3
1966
January-March
April-June
July-December
1967
January-March
April
May-July
August-October
November-December
1968
January-March
April-June
4
July-December
January-March
1969
April-June
July- September
1969
October-December
1970
January-March
April-June
July-September
5
October-December
1971
January-March
April-June
July-September
October-December
1972
January-February
March-April
May-July
August-December
6
1973
January-March
April-June
July-September
October-December
1974
January-March
April-June
July-September
October-December
1975
January-March
7
April-June
July-September
October-December
1976
January-March
April-June
July-September
October-December
Subject File: COUNTRIES
Argentina
1965, May
1972, Nov.-Dec.
Bolivia
1965-69
Report Leaked, 1969-70
Brazil
1964
Holt Trip To, 1964
British Honduras, 1966, December
Central America, 1981-84
Chile
1965
1970-72
8
Colombia
1964-1973
Book Reviews, 1965-70
Costa Rica, 1966, December
Cuba
1961-74
Holt Trip To, 1974
Holt Trip To, Clippings, 1974
Ecuador, 1969, February
El Salvador, 1966, December
Dominican Republic, 1966, October
Guatemala, 1966, November
Haiti, 1966, October
Honduras, 1966, December
IADB Governors’ Meeting, 1965 See: Sixth Meeting, Governors of IADB
Jamaica, 1966, November
Latin America, Holt Trip To, 1964-65
Mexico, 1967, February
Nicaragua, 1966, December
Panama, 1969, February-December
Paraguay, 1965, May
Peru, 1969, August
Uruguay, 1965, December
Venezuela. 1973, June
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CONFERENCES
Air Force Academy Assembly, 1971
Alliance for Progress, Self-Help, 1965
Brookings Institution, 1966
Central American Common Market, 1966
Council on Foreign Relations
1962-63
1964-65
9
Inter-American Development Bank, 1965
Inter-American Economic and Social Council, 1964-65
International Communication Agency, 1979-80
Latin American Parliamentary Congress, 1964-65
National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, 1983-84
National Defense University, 1987
Private Foreign Investment Conference, 1970-73
Sixth Meeting, Governors of IADB, 1965
Subject File: PERSONAL
Allyn and Bacon, Inc., Publishers, 1971-79
Berrellez-Gerrity Trials, 1978
Correspondence
1967
1968
1969
1970
1972
1973
1974
10
Foreign Relations Committee
1966-72
Staff, 1971-77
Pat Holt Interviews of Fulbright and Symington, 1965
Pat Holt Reports to FRC, 1956-77
Trip to China, 1976
S.S. Mayaguez