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Clinton Presidential Library
1200 President Clinton Avenue
Little Rock, AR 72201
Inventory for FOIA Request 2008-1489-F
Records on Presidential meetings with Obrad Kesic and Jesse Jackson in April and May 1999
Extent
19 folders, approximately 1,291 pages
Access
Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the
Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 USC 2201) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 USC
552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal
exemptions.
Copyright
Documents in this collection that were prepared by officials of the United States government as part of
their official duties are in the public domain. Researchers are advised to consult the copyright law of the
United States (17 USC, 101) which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of
copyrighted material.
Provenance
Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library
and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of
the Presidential Records Act (PRA).
Processed by
Staff Archivist, 2012 - 2013. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released.
Scope and Content
The materials in FOIA 2008-1489-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the
FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials.
In March 1999, during the NATO bombing campaign in Kosovo, the government of Yugoslavia
captured three American soldiers while they were out on patrol. Staff Sergeant Andrew Ramirez, Staff
Sergeant Christopher Stone, and Specialist Steven Gonzalez were held in military prison for more than a
month, until civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson, accompanied by Serbian-American
Congressman Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, personally secured their release in a meeting with Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic. Jackson’s humanitarian mission was unofficial; the White House told
him they could not guarantee his safety. Nonetheless, Jackson persuaded Milosevic to release the three
prisoners on May 1. In return, Jackson carried a letter from Milosevic to President Clinton, which he
presented in a private meeting upon his return to the United States.
While NATO did not alter its demands or scale back the air strikes in response to the prisoners’ release,
there were some Americans who opposed the bombing and criticized the number of civilian casualties.
2008-1489-F
Clinton Presidential Library’s web site
http://www.clintonlibrary.gov
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�A group of Serbian Americans, including businessman Obrad Kesic met with the President on April 14
to air their concerns. Reverend Jackson also called for an end to the airstrikes following the release of
the prisoners, though President Clinton did not alter his position in their May 3 meeting. On the same
day as the meeting with Reverend Jackson, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin also met with
President Clinton to discuss the airstrikes. NATO continued the bombing until June 10, 1999, when
Yugoslav forces withdrew from Kosovo.
Many of the records responsive to this FOIA are located in various electronic databases. The Automated
Records Management System (ARMS) Emails and the Tape Restoration Project (TRP) Emails include
transcripts of news shows, interviews, and press conferences that mention Jesse Jackson’s trip and the
release of the POWs. There are also discussions between White House staffers regarding the meetings
with Reverend Jackson and Obrad Kesic. The NSC Cables contain State department talking points and
press clippings from international media regarding the POW release. The NSC Emails contain press
materials and correspondence between White House staff regarding Reverend Jackson and Congress
Blagojevich’s travel to Belgrade, the POW release, and the Presidential meetings with Serbian
Americans, Reverend Jackson, and Prime Minister Chernomyrdin.
In addition to these electronic records, NSC Records Management numbered document 9903311
consists of briefing memos and talking points for the President’s meeting with Jesse Jackson.
Furthermore, the extra copies of the President’s briefing books maintained by the Executive Office of
the President contain copies of the briefing memos for both meetings.
System of Arrangement
Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collection areas – Clinton
Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files, Clinton Presidential Records: ARMS Emails,
Clinton Presidential Records: TRP Emails, and Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and
Records Management Systems.
Staff and Office files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices
and documents all levels of administration activity. Staff and Office files are processed at the folder
level, that is, individual documents are not selected and removed from a folder for processing. While
this method maintains folder integrity, it frequently results in the incidental processing of documents
that are not wholly responsive to the subject area.
The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) is a database that contains email records of the
executive office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email. The ARMS
dataset is comprised of 7 sub-series of email records called “Buckets.” The buckets include NPR, OPD,
POTUS, WHO, CEA, Default, and NSC. ARMS emails are arranged chronologically by creation date.
The Tape Restoration Project (TRP) is a database consisting of restored email records from the
Automated Records Management System from July 1994 – June 2000. The TRP is a database that
contains email from the Executive Office of the President. This system maintains unclassified
Presidential record email. The TRP dataset is comprised of 7 sub-series of email records called
“Buckets.” The buckets include NPR, OPD, POTUS, WHO, CEA, Default, and NSC. TRP emails are
arranged chronologically by creation date.
2008-1489-F
Clinton Presidential Library’s web site
http://www.clintonlibrary.gov
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�The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2008-1489-F:
Box 1
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Executive Office of the President
[Extra Copies of Briefing Books: April 1999: Meeting with Serbian American Leaders, April 14,
1999] [OA/ID CF 1093]
[Extra Copies of Briefing Books: May 1999: Meeting with Reverend Jesse Jackson, May 3,
1999] [OA/ID CF 1097]
Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email]
NSC [OA/ID 1200000]
[Jesse Jackson]
[04/07/1999 – 04/26/1999]
[04/28/1999 – 04/30/1999]
[05/03/1999]
[05/04/1999 – 05/05/1999]
[05/06/1999 – 05/12/1999]
[Kesic]
[04/13/1999]
Clinton Presidential Records: Tape Restoration Project [Email]
NSC [OA/ID 1200000]
[Jesse Jackson]
[04/26/1999 – 04/30/1999]
[05/09/1999 – 05/12/1999]
Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management System
NSC Cables
Jan 1999 – Dec 2000
[Jesse Jackson]
[04/24/1999 – 05/03/1999] [OA/ID 530000]
Box 2
[05/04/1999 – 05/05/1999] [OA/ID 530000]
NSC Emails
Exchange – Record (Sept 97 – Jan 01)
[Jesse Jackson]
[04/05/1999 – 04/27/1999] [OA/ID 620000]
[04/28/1999 – 04/30/1999] [OA/ID 620000]
[05/01/1999 – 05/04/1999] [OA/ID 620000]
[05/04/1999 – 05/13/1999] [OA/ID 620000]
[Kesic]
[04/03/1999 – 04/14/1999] [OA/ID 620000]
Exchange – Non-Record (Mar 97 – Jan 01)
[Jesse Jackson]
[04/21/1999 – 05/12/1999] [OA/ID 630000]
2008-1489-F
Clinton Presidential Library’s web site
http://www.clintonlibrary.gov
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�Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management System
NSC Records Management System
[Jesse Jackson]
9903311 [OA/ID 2726]
Last modified: 03/02/2015
2008-1489-F
Clinton Presidential Library’s web site
http://www.clintonlibrary.gov
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�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Finding Aids - Collection Descriptions & Inventories
Description
An account of the resource
Finding aids at the Clinton Presidential Library contain a detailed description of the collection including the total number of pages or photos and length of video and audio recordings. Finding aids also include background information of the collection’s topic and details on the record type (ex: email, memorandum, briefing book, Betacam video, audio cassette etc). <br /><br />Finding aids describe collections at the box and folder level, and include a folder title list and information about the arrangement of the collection. <br /><br /><strong>Please note the majority of collections have not yet been scanned nor made available online.</strong>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Obrad Kesic - Collection Finding Aid
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2008-1489-F
Description
An account of the resource
This collection consists of records related to meetings with Serbian American businessman Obrad Kesic and Reverend Jesse Jackson in April and May 1999 regarding the NATO bombing campaign in Kosovo. This collection consists of emails, cables, memoranda, and talking points regarding the meetings and the airstrikes in Kosovo.
<b>Please Note: No items in this collection have yet been scanned nor made available online.</b>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Finding Aid
Kosovo War