Summary Information
Richard G. Valeriani Papers
1961-1983
- Valeriani, Richard G., 1932-
Mss 670; Tape 1130A
5.6 c.f. (14 archives boxes) and 1 tape recording
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of an NBC News broadcaster best known for his coverage of the State Department and the White House. The collection primarily consists of radio and television news scripts, subject files, and research material and drafts relating to Valeriani's book on Henry Kissinger, Travels With Henry (1979). In addition to documentation of his work at the White House and the State Department, the radio and television news scripts cover the full range of Valeriani's reporting career including assignments in Cuba, Central America, and the South (covering the civil rights movement) for Emphasis, NBC Nightly News, and Today, and his work as Washington, D.C. anchor for the Today show. Subject files include copies of Valeriani's articles about Kissinger, interviews (including one with Paul Newman), a tape recording of Valeriani and Kissinger at a State Department Correspondents Association meeting, and numerous narrative expenditure statements.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00670 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
NBC newsman Richard Gerard Valeriani was born in Camden, New Jersey, on August 29, 1932. He received his bachelor's degree in 1953 from Yale University, where he was a part time sportscaster. He continued his education at the University of Barcelona and later at the University of Pavia in Italy. After serving with the U.S. Army, 1955-1956, he briefly reported for the Trenton, New Jersey, Trentonian. In 1957 Valeriani joined the Associated Press, working in New York for two years before being assigned to Cuba.
In April 1961 Valeriani became the Havana correspondent for NBC News. In Havana he was arrested five times before tensions over the Bay of Pigs invasion forced him to return to the United States. He then monitored Cuban radio and television from Miami until August, 1962. He worked as a roving correspondent from 1962 to 1965, covering the southern civil rights movement, especially events at the University of Mississippi and in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1965 he was beaten while reporting on a demonstration at Marion, Alabama. During this time he also went on assignment throughout Central America, covering the Panamanian riots of 1964 and winning an Overseas Press Club award in 1965 for his radio reporting from the Dominican Republic.
Valeriani covered the White House beat for NBC from 1968 until 1970 when he
was assigned to the State Department. He returned to the White House in 1972 and was reassigned to the State Department in 1973. As State Department correspondent Valeriani traveled over 400,000 miles with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, more than any other correspondent. Travels with Henry, Valeriani's anecdotal book about Kissinger, was published in 1979 by Houghton Mifflin. Valeriani's other writing included a stint as columnist for the Register and Tribune Syndicate.
In 1979 Valeriani was elected president of the State Department Correspondents Association.
In 1980 NBC appointed him Washington anchor for the Today show. He also worked as Pentagon correspondent for the network. In 1983 he was transferred to New York City where he covered national news events.
Scope and Content Note
These Valeriani Papers reflect his professional activity as a news broadcaster specializing in foreign affairs. The collection is a particularly interesting and useful resource for the researcher interested in Henry Kissinger and his Middle Eastern diplomacy. In addition, the collection supplements the numerous collections of other NBC News correspondents held at the Wisconsin Historical Society. The documentation is most complete for the years 1973 through 1977, the period during which Valeriani covered the State Department. Coverage is not as complete for the earlier years, nor does the collection afford a particularly personal view of Valeriani's career.
The collection came to the Historical Society in 1983 in great disorder and was organized in the Archives as subject files, news scripts, and research material and manuscript drafts relating to Valeriani's book on Kissinger, Travels with Henry.
SUBJECT FILES consist of miscellaneous material arranged alphabetically by general topic or form. The series consists largely of expenditure statements which detail Valeriani's day-to-day activities from 1963 to 1983. Although these are routine financial records, they were retained because of the unusually detailed and complete narrative documentation they provide, documentation not afforded by any other similar collection held by the Historical Society. Also included in the subject files are articles, interviews and speech drafts including a transcript of an interview with Paul Newman; financial records, clippings, and correspondence on “Henry the K,” the racehorse in which a group of reporters from Kissinger's entourage invested; miscellany including biographical material, lists, and notes (presumably by Newsweek correspondent Bruce van Voorst) on Kissinger trips; music and lyrics of a song on Kissinger by Valeriani; and travel material arranged by country, including information sheets, schedules, and “pool” reports.
Also listed here is a 15-minute tape recording made on December 21, 1976, at the State Department Correspondents Association party honoring Kissinger's departure from office. It features Valeriani's introductory remarks and a brief speech by Kissinger.
NEWS SCRIPTS are arranged into two categories: general topics and Henry Kissinger. The former are arranged chronologically, but in keeping with the original order of the collection, the scripts pertaining primarily to Kissinger are arranged by country or region. These scripts were used for research on Travels with Henry, and the order reflects the format of the book. Many of the general scripts were undated or only partially dated, but wherever feasible they were assigned a rough date by their topic or context. These scripts reflect Valeriani's work on Emphasis, NBC Nightly News, Today, and various other news programs. Also included here is the transcript of a 1982 NBC Reports special: Whatever Happened to El Salvador.
TRAVELS WITH HENRY consists of research material, manuscript drafts, and other documentation related to the production of Valeriani's book. The arrangement of this section reflects the sequence in which the book was written. The research materials consist largely of notes arranged into geographical and general files. The notes include anecdotes; transcripts of interviews with Kissinger, State Department staff, and other journalists; informal synopses of contacts with the secretary; and handwritten reporter's notes. The transcripts are particularly interesting for the off-the-record information which they contain which is not easily accessible elsewhere. Also included is correspondence to and from heads of state and other journalists written in an effort to discover additional anecdotes, exchanges with the Freedom of Information staff at the Bureau of Public Affairs, and communications regarding book production and promotion. Printouts of State Department cable traffic pertaining to Kissinger, obtained by Valeriani through the Freedom of Information Act, are also included here, as are schedules, itineraries, and passenger lists of Kissinger trips and news scripts by others journalists (notably Bruce van Voorst) used in researching the book. The manuscript drafts include several chapters cut from the final version of the book. A copy of the published volume is available in the Historical Society Library.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Placed on deposit by Richard Valeriani, Washington, D.C., 1983. Accession Number: MCHC83-043
Processed by Grace M. Hayek (FGH intern), 1986.
Contents List
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Series: Subject Files
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Mss 670
Box
1
Folder
1
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Articles, interviews, and speech drafts, 1962-1981
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Tape 1130A
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Remarks, 1976, December 21, by Valeriani and a speech by Kissinger to the State Department Correspondents Association
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Mss 670
Box
1
Folder
2
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Correspondence, 1964-1979
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Expenditure statements
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Box
1
Folder
3-9
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1963-1983
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Undated
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Henry the K, 1975-1977
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Miscellany
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Box
2
Folder
4-7
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Reporter's notes, 1962-1982
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Box
2
Folder
8-12
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Travel files, 1963-1979
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Series: News Scripts
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Kissinger
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Box
3
Folder
1
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General
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Africa
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Asia
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Box
3
Folder
4
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China
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Box
3
Folder
5
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Europe
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Box
3
Folder
6
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Latin America
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Box
3
Folder
7-9
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Middle East
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Box
3
Folder
10
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U.S.S.R.
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General
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Box
3
Folder
11
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1961
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Box
4
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1962-1971
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Box
5
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1972-1976
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Box
6
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1977-1979
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Box
7
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1979(?) - 1981(?)
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Box
8
Folder
1-5
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1982-1983; undated
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Series: Travels With Henry
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Research material
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Box
8
Folder
6-7
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Cable transcripts, 1973-1976
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Box
8
Folder
8
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Correspondence, 1977-1979
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Box
9
Folder
1
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Miscellaneous material, undated
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News scripts by other journalists
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Box
9
Folder
2
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General, 1969-1976
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Box
9
Folder
3-4
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van Voorst, Bruce, 1973-1975
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Notes
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Box
10
Folder
1-4
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General
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Box
10
Folder
5
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Africa
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Box
10
Folder
6
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China
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Box
11
Folder
1
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Europe
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Box
11
Folder
2
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Latin America
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Box
11
Folder
3-4
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Middle East
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Box
11
Folder
5
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U.S.S.R.
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Box
11
Folder
6
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Vietnam
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Box
11
Folder
7
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Itineraries and passenger lists
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Manuscript drafts
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Box
11
Folder
8
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Outlines and other research materials
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Early draft
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Box
11
Folder
9-10
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Chapters 1-2
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Box
12
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Chapters 3-4, 6-10, 12
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Chapters cut from final version
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Box
13
Folder
1
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Africa
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Box
13
Folder
2-3
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Europe
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Box
13
Folder
4
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Latin America
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Box
13
Folder
5
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Miscellaneous draft pages
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Box
14
Folder
1-4
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Final draft, with editor's annotations
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Box
14
Folder
5
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Promotional tour materials, 1979
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