Part 1 (U.S. Mss 75AF): Original Collection, 1931-1968
Physical Description: 6.8 cubic feet (17 archives boxes) 
Scope and Content Note

The papers of Richard H. Rovere document a considerable part of his writing career, but are best for the period from the late 1930s through the mid-1960s. The papers contain correspondence, reports, minutes, copies of articles, drafts of books, speeches, notes, a journal, engagement books, a card index, and transcripts of interviews and radio and television presentations. Many of the folders contain notes on their contents written by Rovere for guidance in the organization of his papers. Six folders of formerly restricted material, identified below, have been placed in box seventeen of the collection. The papers are divided into four sections: general papers, writings, a subject file, and a card index.

The GENERAL PAPERS consist of correspondence, 1931-1968; prep school and undergraduate papers, 1931-1936; a journal, 1948-1952; engagement books, 1955-1965; notes on a trip to Dayton, Tennessee, 1950; on a White House Conference, 1966; and on interviews with James A. Farley, 1943 (for a Harper's article); John Bartlow Martin, 1965 (regarding the crisis in the Dominican Republic); and Arthur Goldberg, 1966 (regarding the Vietnam War); speeches, 1952-1968; transcripts of interviews of Rovere regarding the Eisenhower administration and John Foster Dulles; and of an interview of Walter Lippmann by Rovere in 1965; news clippings; and miscellany. The correspondence is particularly noteworthy for its quality and breadth of coverage of Rovere's activities. This is especially true regarding Rovere's break with the Communist Party in 1939 and his subsequent change in political affiliation. Both the general correspondence and that with Granville Hicks, close friend and literary editor of The New Masses, 1934-1939, provide abundant documentation for this period. (The Hicks file also has letters and drafts regarding a 1955 murder investigation in Hyde Park, New York.) Separate folders of correspondence with other individuals include Shamus O'Sheel (neé James Shields), 1937-1942, World War I collaborator of German agent George Sylvester Viereck and participant in the peace movements of the late 1930s; Rebecca West, 1953, concerning her argument with Arthur Schlesinger Jr., over the significance of Joseph McCarthy; Margaret Czeal Shafer, 1950-1967, a family friend whose correspondence, according to Rovere, provides almost a journal for the 1950s; Arthur Schlesinger Jr., 1950-1967; Irving Kristol and other editors of Encounter magazine, 1953-1962; Bernard Brodie of the Rand Corporation, 1960, concerning his book Strategies in the Missile Age and the Eisenhower administration; Senator Thomas C. Hennings (Democrat, Missouri), 1954-1959; and Immanuel Velikovsky, 1966, concerning his scientific theories. There is also a letter from Leigh White, foreign correspondent for the Chicago Daily News, about John Gunther, 1948; four memos by Rovere on Washington politics, for the Research Institute of America, 1958; correspondence with Farrar, Strauss, and Company, 1948-1964, publisher of several of Rovere's books; and letters and related material from George V. Barron favoring Hubert Humphrey as vice president, 1964, with a letter from Humphrey disavowing any connection with Barron's activity.

The WRITINGS section consists of material relating to Rovere's books, articles and book reviews, his introductions to books by others, and his unpublished writings. There are drafts, correspondence, notes, and reviews for Howe and Hummel, The General and the President, Affairs of State, Senator Joe McCarthy, The American Establishment, The Goldwater Caper, and The MacArthur Controversy. The research correspondence for Howe and Hummel is notable for such names as Samuel Hopkins Adams, Algernon Blackwood, John Dos Passos, and Henry L. Mencken. The correspondence for The American Establishment has an exchange with John Kenneth Galbraith. In addition to letters from Harry S. Truman, the file for The General and the President has a substantial amount of correspondence with Frederick Lewis Allen regarding a Harper's article by Rovere and Schlesinger, July 1951. Rovere's articles and reviews are divided into two groups. The first is arranged by periodical or publisher for which there is a significant representation of Rovere's contributions; the second is by date for miscellaneous articles and reviews which appeared elsewhere. The file for The New Yorker is the largest, but it is far from complete. Other periodicals represented include The New Masses, The (London) Spectator, Harper's, The Call, The Jewish Daily Forward, The New Republic, The Reporter, and Esquire. Many of the articles are in draft as well as in published form and are often accompanied by publisher and reader correspondence. Though much of the accompanying material is routine, there are some exchanges of special note. Examples are the correspondence with the Workers' Defense League, which sent Rovere south to investigate the Ku Klux Klan in 1940; the letters of Jonathan Daniels, Stephen Early, and Harry Hopkins in the research correspondence for Rovere's New Yorker “Profile” of Edward T. Flynn, 1945; and letters from George Christian, President Lyndon Johnson's press secretary, and others regarding a New Yorker article on U.S. Vietnam policy, 1967. There is also correspondence and other material about a libel case that resulted from Rovere's 1955 Harper's article on government witnesses, originally prepared for the Fund for the Republic.

Of the introductions that Rovere wrote, the one for Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth, by Edward Jay Epstein, is the most fully documented. It consists of drafts of the introduction, a draft of the book with Rovere's suggestions for changes, correspondence with prominent individuals, and reviews and publicity. Rovere's other introductions are represented in draft form for The Orwell Reader, 1956; The Committee: The Extraordinary Career of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, by Walter Goodman, 1967; and, with S.J. Perelman, the 1968 reissue of the 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue. Rovere's unpublished writings include an article on the Communist Party; a review of Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson for Common Sense, 1946; an article on human resources commissioned by the White House representatives at the World's Fair, 1963; an article on the White House for the National Parks Service, 1966; and a draft of an article on John F. Kennedy, circa 1965. These are followed by a notebook containing drafts of articles and other writings by Rovere from the 1960s.

The SUBJECT FILE is arranged alphabetically and contains correspondence, reports, drafts, minutes, a speech, a script, notes, and related material. Two of the more significant files are those for the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, 1952-1955; and the 1944 presidential campaign of Thomas Dewey. The former has correspondence, minutes, a speech by Rovere, and miscellany. They document Rovere's role in the organization, mostly as a member of the executive committee, and his relations with other prominent members, e.g. Babette Deutsch, James T. Farrell, Sidney Hook, and Lionel Trilling. Much of this material concerns Joseph McCarthy. The Dewey file has a lengthy report prepared for Press Research Inc., 1944, on Thomas Dewey. Only later did Rovere find that it had actually been commissioned by the Democratic National Committee and the Political Action Committee of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. There is a note of explanation about the report, written in 1966, and related material. The New Yorker file has a draft memoir (much of which appears in Arrivals and Departures) concerning Harold Ross, founding editor of The New Yorker, and memos from Ross to Rovere. It also has correspondence, notes, and related material regarding an article by Tom Wolfe of the New York Herald-Tribune critical of Ross' successor, William Shawn. A printer's copy of Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s A Thousand Days, with the author's corrections, follows a restricted note on the book by Schlesinger. The subject files also cover other topics such as Rovere's participation in the African tour of U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, 1967, with a file of letters to Eleanor Rovere; Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, 1964; John F. Kennedy's health; Joseph McCarthy, with a script of Point of Order for which Rovere served as editorial consultant; Murder Incorporated, with notes and other material on Sidney Hillman and Louis (Lepke) Buchalter; the Peace Corps in Kenya, 1966, with Rovere's report to the Peace Corps' Washington headquarters about the volunteers in Kenya; the selection of Harry Truman for Vice President in 1944, with a first draft of a chapter relating to that decision from James F. Byrnes' All in One Lifetime (1958); and a restricted folder of correspondence and notes regarding Eric Goldman's tenure as a special consultant to Lyndon Johnson, 1964-1965, including notes on a conversation with Lyndon Johnson in October 1964. The balance of the files consists of material by individuals other than Rovere, accompanied by Rovere's notes for each: an unpublished manuscript on Latvian history by a friend, Peter Dubovics, circa 1950; a draft of an article by Richard Goodwin, which Rovere helped the author publish in The New Yorker, 1966; and a file on Franklin D. Roosevelt which contains drafts of “That Was Roosevelt” by Joseph Lash, for publication in The New Yorker, and research notes of an uncertain origin.

The CARD INDEX is an incomplete record of Rovere's speeches, radio broadcasts, and writings, 1936-1960. It is divided into eight parts. That portion labelled “speeches” covers the period 1952 to 1956 and also includes some of Rovere's radio presentations. Indexed by subject, the card entries contain title, location, date, and the amounts paid for each speech or radio broadcast. If a speech was later reprinted in a periodical, that fact is noted; if the presentation was delivered over radio, the other participants are listed. The seven other parts are indexes to Rovere's writings. The first is a subject index of articles for a variety of periodicals, 1936-1960. There are separate indexes for articles in The (London) Spectator and for Rovere's “Letter from Washington” in The New Yorker. The Spectator index is arranged in chronological order, 1954-1958. There are two indexes for the “Letter from Washington,” 1948-1960: the first is a chronological listing with a precis for each article; the second is by subject. There are also separate indexes for book reviews, including those broadcast by radio, 1936-1959; for letters to periodicals and for pamphlets, 1936-1940; and for editorials, 1936-1949, in The Bardian, The New Masses, The Nation, and The New Yorker. Citation of Rovere's writings usually includes the title of his work, co-authors, publisher, date, and payment; it also indicates whether a pseudonym was employed and if the work was later reprinted.

The Rovere Papers contain correspondence from a great number of prominent individuals. Correspondence with Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Granville Hicks, Irving Kristol, and Frederick Lewis Allen is extensive and often found in several parts of the collection. See the appended name index for other prominent correspondents.

Series: General Papers

Correspondence

General

1931-1957

1958-1968

undated

Shamus O'Sheel, 1937-1942

Granville Hicks

1937-1959

undated

Yankouski murder case, Hyde Park, New York, 1955

Letter from Leigh White regarding John Gunther, 1948

Farrar, Straus and Company

1948-1955

1956-1964

Rebecca West, 1953

Arthur Schlesinger Jr., 1950-1967

Margaret Czeal Shafer

1950-1967

Undated

Irving Kristol and other editors of Encounter, 1953-1962

Research Institute of America, 1958

U.S. Senator Thomas C. Hennings (Democrat, Missouri), 1954-1959

Bernard Brodie, 1960

Gerald V. Barron regarding Hubert Humphrey, 1964

Immanuel Velikovsky, 1966

Prep school and undergraduate papers, 1931-1936

Journal, 1948-1952

Engagement books, 1955-1965

Notes

Trip to Dayton, Tennessee, 1950

White House Conference, “To Fulfill These Rights,” 1966

Interviews

James A. Farley, for a Harper's article on the American Labor Party, 1943

Hyde Park, New York residents regarding Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1947

John B. Martin, regarding the crisis in the Dominican Republic, 1965

Arthur Goldberg, regarding U.S. policy in Vietnam, 1966

Speeches and other remarks

General, 1960-1967

“The Non-Creative Writer,” Indiana University, 1952

“The Foreign Policy of the United States,” Montreal, Canada, 1954

“The Eighty-fourth Congress,” Mount Holyoke College, 1954

“The American Presence” (foreign policy), Middlebury College, 1955

“American Conservatism-A Mid-Fifties View,” Barnard College, circa 1956

Commencement Address, Anderson School, Staatsburg, New York, circa 1962

“Journalism and the Critical Spirit,” University of Minnesota, 1964

Keynote Address, American Booksellers Association, 1965

Harvard Conference on China, 1965

Guild Memorial Lecture, University of Minnesota, 1965

“Congressional Investigations,” University of Pennsylvania, 1965

Commencement Address, Goucher College, 1967

Caucus for a New Political Science, American Political Science Association, 1968

Radio and Television Presentations

“America and the World Today,” Canadian Broadcasting Company, 1952

Commentary regarding Joseph R. McCarthy, British Broadcasting Company, 1953

“The American Experience,” WNEW-TV panel show, 1953

“JFK: The First Three Years,” on The Open Mind, WNBC-TV, 1963

The 1964 Presidential Campaign, British Broadcasting Company, 1964

“Portraits of Our Time: LBJ,” British Broadcasting Company, 1965

Transcripts of Interviews

Regarding John Foster Dulles, 1965

Regarding the Eisenhower administration, 1968
Note: Transcript of Rovere's discussion of John Foster Dulles and the Eisenhower administration from Reminiscences of Richard Halworth Rovere: oral history, 1968, Columbia University Oral History Office. Permission required to cite and quote from the Columbia University Oral History Office.

Walter Lippmann, 1964-1965

News clippings

Miscellany

Series: Writings

Subseries: Books

Howe and Hummel,1947

Early drafts and notes

Research correspondence

Reader correspondence

Reviews

Miscellany

The General and the President (with Arthur Schlesinger Jr.), 1951

Correspondence

Notes and related material

Reviews

Affairs of State, 1956

Correspondence and reviews

Senator Joe McCarthy , 1959

Manuscript copy

Correspondence

Reviews

The American Establishment, 1962

Manuscript copy

Part I

Part II

Correspondence

General

John Kenneth Galbraith

Reviews

The Goldwater Caper, 1965

Manuscript copy

Correspondence and Reviews

The MacArthur Controversy (with Arthur Schlesinger Jr.), 1965

Draft of the Preface

Correspondence

Reviews

Subseries: Articles and Book Reviews

The New Masses, 1938-1939

The New Yorker, 1945-1968

“Profiles”

Edward J. Flynn, 1945

Draft and published copies

Correspondence and notes

Peter McGuinness, 1946

Draft

Notes

“Reporter at Large”

Newbold Morris, investigation of government corruption, 1952

Published copy and comments by Morris

Notes of conversation with Morris

Miscellany

“Letter from Washington”

General, 1953-1968

The Kennedy Administration

U.S. Senate hearings on urban problems, 1966

Construction of an anti-infiltration barrier in Vietnam, 1967

Draft and published copies

Correspondence

Presidential campaigns

1956

1964

Drafts

Correspondence

1968

Drafts

Correspondence

Letters regarding articles by Rovere

Death of John F. Kennedy, 1963

Mississippi Freedom Democrats, 1965

“Reflection: Half Out of Our Tree” (Vietnam), 1967 and 1968

Book Reviews

General, 1956-1959

Death of a President, by William Manchester, 1967

Overtaken by Events, by John B. Martin, 1967

Miscellaneous articles

Harper's, 1944-1964

“Dewey: The Man in the Blue Serge Suit,” 1944

News clippings regarding articles on the presidential campaign, 1948

“The Republican Prospects,” 1953

“The Kept Witnesses,” 1955

Final draft

Correspondence

Notes, draft, and related material

Libel case, 1956

“The Conspirators,” 1956

“The Minds of Barry Goldwater,” 1964

Drafts

Correspondence

Reviews

Spadea Syndicate Inc., 1953-1954

Drafts and published copies

Correspondence

(London) Spectator, 1954-1959

Drafts

Correspondence

The New York Times Magazine, 1955-1957

“Boss of the White House Staff” (Sherman Adams), 1953

“Hick Town-Or World Capital” (Washington, D.C.), 1955

“A Man for this Age, Too” (Franklin D. Roosevelt), 1965

“The Most Gifted and Successful Demagogue This Country Has Ever Known” (Joseph R. McCarthy), 1967

Drafts and published copies

Correspondence

Miscellaneous, 1940-1967

“On Joining the Socialist Party,” The Call, 1940

Ku Klux Klan, 1940

Drafts of articles

Correspondence, 1940 and 1942

Sidney Hillman, 1944-1945

“The Roosevelt Literature,” American Mercury, 1947

Douglas MacArthur, The New Republic, circa 1952

“John Foster Dulles,” London Calling, 1953

“The Adventures of Cohn and Schine,” The Reporter, 1953

Published copy

Correspondence, notes, and related material

Review of The Power Elite, by C. Wright Mills, The Progressive, 1956

“The Last Days of Joe McCarthy,” Esquire, 1958

Correspondence

Part I

Part II

“The Last Days of Joe McCarthy,” Encounter, 1958

“American Letter,” (regarding Barry Goldwater), Encounter, 1964

Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, 1964

Review of Decade of Fear: Senator Hennings and Civil Liberties, by Donald J. Kemper, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1965

Review of Days of Shame, by Charles Potter, New York Review of Books, 1965

Draft and published copies

Correspondence and reviews

Review of A Thousand Days, by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Book of the Month Club News, 1965

Trip to Germany, sponsored by the Ford Foundation, 1967

Drafts and published copies of articles for The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and the American German Review

Correspondence and related material

Subseries: Introductions

Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth, Edward Jay Epstein, 1966

Drafts of introduction

Draft of the book with suggested changes by Rovere

Correspondence

Reviews and other publicity

The Orwell Reader, 1956

The Committee: The Extraordinary Career of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, by Walter Goodman, 1968

Reissue of the 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue, 1968

Subseries: Unpublished

Regarding the Communist Party, 1939

Review of The Age of Jackson, by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., for Common Sense, 1946

“The Ultimate Resource,” commissioned by the White House representatives at the World's Fair, 1963

“The White House,” commissioned by the National Parks Service, 1966

John F. Kennedy (includes notes), circa 1965

Subseries: Notebook with drafts of articles and other writings, 1960s

Series: Subject File

African tour, 1967

Notes and related material

Letters to Eleanor Rovere

American Committee for Cultural Freedom

Correspondence, 1952-1955

Minutes

Speech, “Communists in a Free Society,” 1952

Miscellany

Thomas Dewey, 1944

Unpublished manuscript on Latvian history by Peter Dubovics, circa 1950

Barry Goldwater

Notes

Miscellany

Richard Goodwin, draft of a New Yorker article, 1966

Eric Goldman and Lyndon Johnson, 1964-1965

John F. Kennedy's health

Joseph R. McCarthy

Script for Point of Order

Miscellany

Murder Incorporated

Sidney Hillman

Louis (Lepke) Buchalter, 1948

The New Yorker

Harold Ross

William Shawn

Peace Corps, Kenya, 1966

Report

Notes and miscellany

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Drafts of “That Was Roosevelt,” by Joseph Lash

Research note regarding F.D.R.

A Thousand Days, by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Letter from Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Printer's copy

Part I

Part II

Selection of Harry S. Truman as Vice President, 1944

Correspondence and notes, 1957-1958

Research note cards

First draft of a chapter from All in One Lifetime, by James F. Byrnes

Miscellany

Series: Card Index

Subject file, 1936-1960

(London) Spectator, 1954-1958

“Letter from Washington,” The New Yorker, 1948-1960

Chronological file

Subject file

Book reviews, 1936-1959

Speeches, 1952-1960

Letters and pamphlets, 1936-1940

Editorials, 1936-1949

Part 2 (Audio 1431A): Additions, 1936-1943
Physical Description: 2 cassette tapes 
Scope and Content Note: Interviews by Jeannette Hopkins with Richard Rovere, made when Hopkins was working with Rovere on his autobiography. Topics of interviews are “The New Masses” (February 1938-September 1939), and “Politics” (1936-1943).

Part 3 (M2001-118): Additions, 1926-1981
Physical Description: 4.0 cubic feet (4 records center cartons) and 4 photographs 
Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1926-1981, consisting of published material and unpublished manuscripts, correspondence, materials from activities and organizations in which Rovere participated, and diaries and date books. The manuscript material consists of articles (1940s-1960s) Rovere wrote for periodicals such as Harper's and the Spectator, as well as his regular “Letter from Washington” in the New Yorker. Also included are early drafts of Rovere's memoir Who, What, When, Where, and Why: My Life and Times, A Memoir in Progress, and the full manuscript as completed by Jeannette Hopkins. There are also book reviews written by Rovere, reviews of many of his books, as well as contracts and correspondence from publishers. Additionally, there are files concerning the various activities and organizations in which Rovere was involved, including his affiliation with the Communist and Socialist parties in the 1930s and 1940s. The diaries and date books (1960s-1970s) record his day-to-day activities and notes for various projects.

Series: Articles

Anti-ballistic missile defense system, notes and article, 1969

Book reviews by Rovere, 1944-1966

Chanler Chapman, notes and article, 1975

Jerome Frank article, notes and article, undated

Barry Goldwater, notes and article, 1964

Graphology, notes and article, 1946

Harper's, 1948-1960

John F. Kennedy article, manuscript, undated

Walter Lippmann, notes and article, 1966

Literary/Fiction writings, undated

“Maker of Mischief” series, London Observer, 1960

Miscellaneous articles, 1937-1970

Miscellaneous manuscripts, undated

New Yorker, general, 1950-1978

“Letter from Washington,” New Yorker, manuscripts, undated

“Letter from Washington,” New Yorker, articles, 1954-1970

“Profiles,” New Yorker, articles, 1946

Herbert Pell, notes and article, 1933, 1966

Articles about Rovere, 1952-1967

Spectator, 1954-1961

Series: Books

American Establishment, reviews, 1962-1965

Arrivals and Departures, correspondence and reviews, 1975-1977

Contracts for publishing, 1947-1975

Copyright issues, 1967-1980

Correspondence with publishers, 1947-1980

Eisenhower Years, reviews, 1956

The Goldwater Caper, reviews, 1965

Senator Joe McCarthy, reviews, 1958-1966

Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, reviews, 1968

Who, What, When, Where, and Why

Manuscript, undated

Drafts and variants, undated

Series: Correspondence

American Scholar, 1958-1967

BBC, regarding documentary project, 1967

Editorial letters by Rovere, 1943-1956

Family and associates, 1957, 1979-1980

Jerome Frank, 1945-1946

George Genzmer, 1937-1954

Granville Hicks, 1946-1967

Irving Kristol, 1953-1958

Thomas Leonard, 1960-1980

Letters from readers, 1950-1971

Walter Lippmann, 1951-1975

Regarding Rovere's manuscript deposition, 1964-1980

Miscellaneous, circa 1940-1980

Miscellaneous, 1937-1978

New Yorker, 1944-1976

Personal correspondence, 1936-1966

Rovere's autobiography, 1968-1980

Arthur Schlesinger, 1949-1965

State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1966-1980

James Wallace, 1946, 1957

Series: Events and Organizations

American Committee for Cultural Freedom, 1952

Bard College, 1959-1960

Communist/Socialist Part Involvement, 1940-1965

Events and organizations Rovere participated in, miscellaneous, 1969-1977

Grinnell College symposium and convocation, 1967

Interviews with Rovere, 1969-1979

Kenya trip, notes and correspondence, 1966

Transcript, Newsfront debate and roundtable, early 1970s

Series: Personal Material

Date books, 1967-1977

Diary, 1953

Journal entries, miscellaneous, undated

Obituaries, 1979

Notebooks, undated

Notes, circa 1960-1979

Personal, miscellaneous, 1961

Personal writings, undated

School papers, 1926-1967

Series: Photographs
Scope and Content Note: Images of Rovere, 1967, undated; Peter McGuinness; and New York State Electors, 1936.