Democratic National Committee Records

The Records of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) include materials created or accumulated by officials of the DNC. The collection includes newspaper clippings, magazine articles, correspondence, handwritten notes, legal documents, financial records, speeches, transcripts of proceedings, and other printed material. The majority of the collection is comprised of articles and clippings related to the DNC.

Size: 97 linear feet, 7 linear inches.
Access: Open.
Copyright: No donation of copyright was received with this collection. Copyright interest in documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin Mueller (1966); Sharie Simon, Amy Crossley, and Jim Armistead (2011).

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal governing body of the Democratic Party. The DNC supports the Democratic Party's candidates for public office, and oversees the preparation of the Party's platform and the holding of its national convention every four years.

The Records of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) contain materials relating to the operations of the DNC, mostly dating from 1944 to 1956. There are three series in the collection. Of the 223 boxes in the DNC Records, the first 194 comprise the first series, the Library Clippings Files, which mostly concern the affairs of the Democratic Party and national and international affairs during the late 1940s and early 1950s. This series includes a large amount of information on Harry S. Truman, and smaller amounts of information on Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Guy G. Gabrielson, Douglas MacArthur, Joseph R. McCarthy, J. Howard McGrath, Frank E. McKinney, William O'Dwyer, Harold E. Stassen, Adlai E. Stevenson, and Robert A. Taft. It also includes sections on the Democratic Party, foreign affairs, and state politics. (The alphabetically-arranged folders for the states of Alabama through Oklahoma were missing from this series when the records were accessioned by the Harry S. Truman Library).

Included in the Library Clippings Files are magazine and newspaper articles as well as other printed materials relating to a wide range of domestic and international topics. There are articles and clippings from several major publications, such as Life magazine and the New York Times. The series contains information on the campaigns and political activities of such figures as Truman, Dewey, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Stevenson, and Taft. Other clippings toward the end of the series relate to some of the major political issues of the Truman administration, such as the American Medical Association and health policy, the European Recovery Program, price controls, Japan, and Korea.

The next 22 boxes in the collection comprise the second series, the General Files. The General Files contain correspondence and printed materials concerning appointments to government jobs, records of contributions and contributors from the 1944 Presidential campaign, and information concerning the use of publicity and the media in campaigns. Included in this series are two letters signed by Congressman (later President) John F. Kennedy, as well as documentation of Senator (later President) Lyndon B. Johnson's use of various radio stations in Texas to promote himself. Also included is a series of eleven "Files of the Facts" which attempt to show the advantages of the Democratic Party. One note from a contributor includes a reference to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's dog Fala.

The last seven boxes make up the third series, the Proceedings Files. This series is composed of material photocopied from original records at the John F. Kennedy Library. It contains transcripts of proceedings of Democratic National Conventions and Convention-related committees, and transcripts of meetings of the DNC and its subordinate and related organizations, such as the Executive Committee and the Credentials Committee. Included is information concerning the resignation of DNC Chairman William Boyle and Democratic Party activities before and after various elections.

The Truman Library also has the papers of DNC Chairmen William Boyle and Stephen Mitchell, and DNC Vice Chairman India Edwards.