Goode, James F. Papers

Historian and author of The United States and Iran, 1946-51: The Diplomacy of Neglect

The papers of James F. Goode include correspondence, sound recordings, interview transcripts, letters, and notes relating to Goode's research for a doctoral dissertation on U.S.-Iranian relations during the administration of President Harry S. Truman.

Size: 5 linear inches (about 500 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave his copyright interest in writings in this collection, and in any other collection in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration, to the United States of America. Documents created by U.S. Government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents in this collection presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Mikhail Faulconer (2018) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

James F. Goode earned a Bachelor's degree in International Relations at Georgetown University in 1966 and a Master's degree in History at the University of Massachusetts in 1968. After working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran and as a teacher at schools in Iran and Australia, Goode studied for a Ph.D. in History at Indiana University under the direction of Dr. Robert H. Ferrell. In 1984, he completed his doctoral dissertation on U.S.-Iranian relations during the Truman administration. Goode later became a professor at Grand Valley State University. His published works include The United States and Iran, 1946-51: The Diplomacy of Neglect (1989).

The papers of James F. Goode include correspondence, sound recordings, interview transcripts, letters, and notes relating to Goode's research for a doctoral dissertation on U.S.-Iranian relations during the administration of President Harry S. Truman. Also included are materials compiled by Goode during his post-doctoral research on the same topic. The collection is arranged in a single series, the Subject File.

The collection contains correspondence between Goode and a number of military and diplomatic officials who participated in the formulation of U.S. policy toward Iran. Goode contacted these individuals during the course of his research, and many of them replied with letters containing information on the subject. Some of them agreed to be interviewed. Goode made sound recordings of his interviews with E. A. Bayne, Henry Byroade, George McGhee, and George Middleton. These recordings have been transferred to the Truman Library's Audiovisual Collection. Goode also prepared transcripts of some interviews and took notes during others. The transcripts and notes are in both typewritten and handwritten form.

The Truman Library also has the papers of George McGhee, and oral history interviews (conducted by the Library's staff) with McGhee, Henry Byroade, Oliver Franks, and William Rountree. Further information about relations between the United States and Iran can be found at the Library in the papers of Dean Acheson, George V. Allen, Henry F. Grady, and Harry N. Howard.