The Wagner papers document R. Richard Wagner's political activities, as a staff member of several campaigns, a Democrat, and a local politician from approximately 1968 to 1974. The papers were created and collected to serve as a reference for Wagner himself and others who might work for Democratic candidates in the future. The collection consists mainly of candidates' position writings and drafts, campaign literature, campaign reference materials, newsletters, booklets relating to the candidates whom Wagner worked for or to Wagner's political activities within the Democratic Party and the New Democratic Coalition.
The papers are divided into three series: MAJOR CAMPAIGNS, LOCAL ACTIVITIES/POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS, and WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
The MAJOR CAMPAIGNS series includes two subseries: Eugene McCarthy 1972 Presidential Campaign and Donald Peterson Campaign. The Eugene McCarthy 1972 Presidential Campaign subseries, 1968-1972, documents McCarthy’s second bid for the Democratic nomination for president after his first unsuccessful bid in 1968. The series includes six separate sets of records: Campaign Materials, Campaign Organization and Supporters, Competitors, Democratic Party, Election Reference Materials, and Voter and Media Contact Information. In these files are various campaign related papers, such as McCarthy's position writings, biography, speech manuscripts, mailing lists, press releases, clippings, and correspondence. The papers contain some files reflecting the issues McCarthy was concerned with as well as others' evaluations of McCarthy as a politician. In the McCarthy subseries, researchers can trace how Wagner was involved in the McCarthy campaign and other political activities.
The Donald Peterson subseries include two of his campaigns: the 1970 Governor's Race and the 1972 National Committeeman Race. The 1970 Governor's Race files, 1969-1970, document Peterson's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1970. The papers consist of campaign analyses, campaign events, campaign materials, and supporters' files including writings, press release, clippings, handwritten notes, and ephemera, which reflect Peterson's positions on several political issues and how Peterson and Wagner worked on Peterson's campaign. Peterson's National Committeeman Race files, 1971-1972, consist of correspondence, action reports, speech notes, news releases, and contact lists, which reflect Peterson’s political activities, especially his work for organizational reform within the Democratic Party as a member of the Commission on Rules (also known as the O'Hara Commission) and his 1972 National Committeeman campaign.
The LOCAL ACTIVITIES/ POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS series includes two subseries: Local Activities and Local Political Campaigns. The Activities subseries, 1968-1974, documents Wagner's participation in political activities and includes papers pertaining to the 4th Ward, Citizens for a Better Madison, the General Executive Facility II project, Assembly Bill 314 and Senate Bill 180, Wisconsin Taxation Conference, and the History Students Association of University of Wisconsin-Madison. The 4th Ward materials document efforts to preserve the residential character of Madison, including preserving neighborhood parks from city reconstruction and high-rise development. The papers mainly consist of newsletters and activity reports of incumbent alderman Dennis McGilligan, which were also used for his next aldermanic campaign. The History Students Association file reflects the organization of the HSA and the issues with which the organization was concerned. This file shows the progressive attitudes of the students toward civil rights issues. The file includes papers showing the HSA's rules, preamble, and constitution, a table of meetings, HSA newsletters, and issue writings such as “Support the Black Demands.” The Legislation file documents Assembly Bill 314 and Wisconsin Senate Bill 180. The file includes resolution and handwritten draft regarding the bill prepared by Wagner, the Public Hearing notice of Assembly Bill 314, and writings, such as arguments in support of House Bill No. 2396.
The Campaigns subseries, 1968-1973, document various local election campaigns. Wagner worked for McGilligan's aldermanic campaign as well as Midge Miller's Assemblyman campaign, and Leo Cooper's and Paul Soglin's Mayoral campaigns. Wagner collected many competitors' and former candidates' campaign materials for reference together with the materials of the candidates he was working for, which were extensively documented in the local campaign material files. For example, the Mayoral Election file principally documents the Soglin campaign; however, it includes many papers of the Cooper campaign as well as other candidates' campaigns. In the early 1970s, some of the main issues in Madison were the reorganization of city urban planning and maintaining the local ecological environment. Most campaign materials show the candidates' positions on these issues in addition to biographical information on each of the candidates.
The WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY series includes three subseries: Activities, New Democratic Coalition (NDC) Conference, and State Convention. The papers pertaining to the Democratic Party and the NDC overlap in this collection as Wagner participated in many activities in the NDC and the Democratic Party during the same time period. The Activities subseries, 1969-1974, documents Wagner's activities as a Democrat and/or as a member of the NDC, such as involvement with the Vietnam Moratorium and the NDC transportation group. Some of the activities documented also took place within the context of political campaigns. For example, Register for Peace was planned as one of the rally programs by Democrats. The NDC Conference subseries, 1969-1970, documents NDC Conference issues, action panels, how the NDC was founded and what they pursued as well as papers mentioning the Chicago Convention in 1968. The conference files also contain copies of NDC newsletters and campaign strategy booklets. The State Convention subseries, 1965-1973, includes program booklets, nomination papers, newsletters, the delegates list and its selection memorandum.
