Theodore H. White (#307)

An Inventory of His Personal Papers
1946-1985
In the John F. Kennedy Library
National Archives and Records Administration

Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Note to Researchers
List of Series
Description

Administrative Information

Abstract
Papers 1946-1985
Journalist, Correspondent, Author; recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, The Making of the President, 1960. Manuscripts of nine books and Making of the President television documentaries, containing background materials, outlines, interviews, notes, drafts, typescript proofs with extensive annotations, and correspondence; includes research materials and subject files containing press releases, position papers, speech texts, itineraries, news briefings and political statistics, convention and campaign reports and memorabilia; also includes interviews with Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.

Access
Open.

Usage Restrictions
According to the deed of gift signed December 1969, copyright of these materials has been retained by donor. After his death, all said right shall pass to his wife, Nancy Bar White, and his two children, David and Heyden White, if they survive the Donor, for their lifetimes. Upon the event specified, or if his wife and children do not survive the donor, all rights shall pass to and become the sole and exclusive property of the United States.

Copyright
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excesses of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form. Direct your questions concerning copyright to the reference staff.

Provenance
Received from Theodore Harold White of New York, NY, in April 1965 (Acc. 1965-208), in November 1966 (Acc. 1967-037), in November 1969 (Acc. 1970-095), and from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, in February 1997 (Acc. 1997-014).

Extent
47 linear feet, 3 linear inches
Approximately 50,000 items (51 cubic feet)

Classified Items Withdrawn
Selected folders may contain withdrawal sheets where documents, in accordance with the donor's deed of gift, were removed from the collection. These include documents which may be used to injure or harass any living person.

Withdrawn Items
Selected folders may contain withdrawal sheets where documents, in accordance with the donor's deed of gift, were removed from the collection. These include documents which may be used to injure or harass any living person. All withdrawn documents have been placed under seal and upon request the Kennedy Library will review any material which has been closed for a period of not less than 2 years for the purpose of opening items which no longer require restrictions. Researchers should consult the reference staff to obtain the appropriate form(s).

Items Separated
Items separated include oversize items (Ovz 307/6.2.1) – (Ovz 307/6.4.2), oversize printed materials (Ovz-PM 307/6.1. 1), photographs, and museum objects.  A separation sheet has been inserted in the appropriate file describing the item and giving a reference number. To see oversize material, please ask the reference archivist for assistance.

Date Opened
September 1975.
Addition: April 2002.
Full collection: January 2005

Processed by
Ann L. Travis.

Revisions
The finding aid was updated in April 2002 by Lindsey Reno
The finding aid was updated in January 2005 by Jaimie Quaglino and Rachel Gallagher

Encoded by
Alyssa K. Pacy

Related Collections
Richard Reeves Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Library
Richard M. Nixon Presidential Materials, National Archives at College Park, MD
Robert F. Kennedy General Correspondence, John F. Kennedy Library
Ernest Hemingway Correspondence, John F. Kennedy Library
        (Gen. Buck Lanham to Ernest Hemingway regarding Making of the President, 1960.)
White, Theodore Harold, (1915 - )  Papers of T. H. White: an inventory, Harvard University Archives

The Personal Papers of Theodore H. White (1915-1986)

Biographical Note
Theodore H. White was born May 6, 1915, in Boston, Massachusetts to attorney David and mother Mary Winkeller White.  After graduating from Boston’s Latin school in 1932, White began his career as a journalist by working as a newsboy, only able to attend college after receiving a scholarship from Harvard University and a grant from the Burroughs Newsboy Foundation. Graduating from Harvard University summa cum laude (1937), White used his Sheldon Traveling Fellowship to fund a trip around the world – a move which led him to work in China as a writer for the Kuomintang’s propaganda office in 1939.  After returning to North America, White freelanced for the Boston Globe before reporting abroad for, and then becoming chief of, the China Bureau of Time magazine (1945).  After resigning from Time in 1946, he worked at an editor of The New Republic and held position as a staff member of Colliers; was hired by the Overseas News Agency, a tiny foreign news service, as their Paris correspondent in 1948, and worked as a national correspondent for The Reporter, covering issues such as Europe, the Marshall Plan, NATO, and American politics.   In addition to his numerous employments, White held many board and consultancy positions. He was on the Encyclopaedia Britannica board from 1962 to 1986, and acted as a consultant for CBS in the early 1960's.

An author of multiple “Book of the Month” as well as Literary Guild selections, Theodore H. White is perhaps best known for his works documenting the 1960 and 1964 Presidential Elections, in particular, Making of the President, 1960, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1962.  In addition to his journalistic and literary productions, White participated in the creation of several documentaries inspired by his Making of the President series, as well as his collaboration with Annalee Jacoby, Thunder out of China. He is the recipient of numerous awards; in addition to the Pulitzer Prize, White was recognized for his documentary work with Emmy Awards in both 1964 and 1967.  Theodore White died in 1986 at the age of 71.

Collection Overview
The papers of Theodore H. White include manuscripts, drafts, and research materials for nine of his published books, as well as for four documentaries he co-produced. These materials span the years 1948-1978.

The manuscripts for each book generally consist of theme and outline notes in handwritten or typed format, one or more typescript drafts, a setting typescript, and proofs.  All the manuscripts have been extensively annotated by the author. In some cases, many typescript drafts exist for a particular book.  Where possible, drafts have been arranged in the order in which they were created. For some titles, only subject (or research) files exist. Please refer to “Related Collections” for more information on the location of related materials.

There is also considerable correspondence between White and his publishers and research material collected by Theodore White for use in the Making of the President books. Such materials are grouped in subject files that consist of press releases and reports, monographs, and candidate and event information pertaining to the Presidential election. Generally, these files are arranged alphabetically in subject files although some items are identified by their physical medium.

White’s documentaries for television were produced by David Wolper, and adapted from the following books: Thunder out of China (retitled China: The Roots of Madness which was later published in book format); Making of the President, 1960; Making of the President, 1964; and Making of the President, 1968.

Papers relating to writings and documentaries are arranged chronologically based on the publication date with the exception of subject files, which are arranged alphabetically and contain research materials including press and news reports, news wires, political publications and ephemera, photographs, and other background materials. Materials for the television documentaries are located with the books except China: the Roots of Madness which is considered a separate publication.

The Richard M. Nixon Interviews consist of typescript notes created by Theodore White as part of his research for and writing of The Making of the President, 1968. Camelot Documents contain notes taken during a series of interviews(or just one?) conducted by White, with Jacqueline Kennedy in the weeks following John F. Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963. 

Note to Researchers
Some sections of this collection have had extensive preservation work done on them by the New England Document Conservation Center. The pencil numbers found in the margins of Making of the President, 1960 were placed there during the preservation process and are not part of the original record. All the paper in the entire collection is very fragile and in various states of deterioration. Please be extremely careful in handling the material.

List of Series

Collection Description

Series 1. Thunder Out of China.
About 1800 items
Arrangement: by date of creation (except when otherwise noted)

This series consists of the final typescripts, proofs, corrections, correspondence, research materials and notes used by Theodore White during the research and writing of Thunder Out of China in collaboration with Annalee Jacoby.  Typescript materials are not necessarily in chronological order;  notes, correspondence, and proofs are heavily annotated and contain numerous insertions and deletions.

Series 2. Stilwell Papers.
About 4200 items.
Arrangement: by date created.

The Stilwell Papers consist of a variety of original reproductions, compilations, and drafts of the diaries and notes by Joseph Stilwell from the "Black Book." These notes are composed of his personal command journal, longer essays, analyses and letters to his wife. In addition to these background materials and original drafts, working materials consist of carbon, typescript, and Photostat copies that contain heavy corrections, additions and deletions in pencil and ink by the author. Numerous insertions affixed. Those pages marked 'revised' are autographed and are in carbon and original typescript

Series 3. Fire in the Ashes.
About 2800 items.
Arrangement: by date of creation.

This series contains original and carbon typescripts, work sheets, drafts, proofs, and correspondence created by Theodore White during the creation of Fire in the Ashes. All items contain extensive pencil and ink corrections, additions, and deletions by the author. Correspondence files generally reflect the author’s original filing arrangement; letters found elsewhere have been put into chronological order.

Series 4. The Mountain Road.
About 11,800 items.
Arrangement: by date created.

Materials for The Mountain Road are similar to previous series, and contain the background notes,
drafts, typescripts, and proofs used and created by Theodore White as part of the creation of his
book, The Mountain Road. Notes, typescript drafts, and proofs contain numerous pencil and ink
corrections, deletions, additions, and commentary.

Series 5. View from the Fortieth Floor.
About 2200 items.
Arrangement: by date created.

Materials in this series consist of autographed and typed background notes and three sets of typescript drafts created by Theodore White in the creation of the book by the same title. Items in this series contain numerous handwritten notes, insertions, additions, and deletions. The folders labeled Parts 1,11, and 111 reflect the original arrangement by the author.

Series 6. Making of the President.
About 15,650 items

The Making of the President series consists of four subseries, each of which documents literary and documentary creations related to the 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 Presidential Elections.

Series 7. China: The Roots of Madness.
About 1,100 items.
Arrangement: chronological by date created.

Description:   Complete text for the China documentary. Bound in yellow paper. This is a major revision of Thunder Out of China, produced by David Wolper, shown on CBS and sponsored by Xerox. Folders contain script drafts as well as background research materials including notes and correspondence.
  

Series 8. America in Search of Itself:  The Making of the President, 1956-1980.
About 10,700 items.
Arrangement: chronological, thereunder alphabetical by subject.

America in Search of Itself consists of subject files used by White to research and write his penultimate novel. These files are divided chronologically into the 1976 and 1980 presidential campaigns, as well as general subject files that span the 1970s and ‘80s political activity. Topics focus upon: ethnics, fringe groups, women, and the democratic and republican national conventions. When original folder titles were absent, materials have been named to reflect organization of other similar materials in related series. As such, items relating to the democratic and republican national conventions, as well as the Primary Elections, may be found both as independent subject files as well as part of larger sets of materials.
  

Series 9. Breach of Faith.
About 1,500 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject.

This series contains the research materials Theodore H. White used while writing Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon. The files in this series relate to President Nixon’s term in office with the bulk of materials focusing on his involvement in the Watergate scandal and events leading up to his resignation. Research materials include news and scholarly reports, speeches and statements, testimonies, and memoranda. Of particular interest are the transcripts of the President’s meetings and conversations, dated June 23, 1972 through April 25, 1973, which served as critical evidence in the Judiciary Committee’s recommendation for impeachment. Researchers may want to reference Watergate: Chronology of a Crisis for additional information, as well as the papers of Richard Reeves (#324), Nixon biographer, which contains similar content.
  

Series 10. Richard M. Nixon Interviews.
About 40 items.
Arrangement: Chronological.

This 31-page file contains 23 pages of original, lightly-annotated, rough typescript on yellow paper of three Richard M. Nixon interviews and one H. R. Haldeman interview, plus an additional eight pages of Xerox copies of related White House material. The interviews were conducted by Theodore H. White between November 23, 1968, and January 22, 1969, in the course of writing The Making of the President, 1968 (see series 6.3. The Making of the President, 1968). There is no known audio record, and it is unlikely that one was made. Mr. White was known to disdain recorded interviews and rely on handwritten notes. These typescripts appear to have been prepared by White from notes which he took during the interviews. The existence or whereabouts of the original handwritten notes themselves is not known to the Library.

Mr. White donated this material to the Kennedy Library in December 1969, together with a number of other papers. In his deed of gift, he stipulated that it was to remain closed until one year after the death of Richard Nixon. Mr. Nixon died on April 22, 1994. The period of closure expired on April 22, 1995. Upon completion of processing and review, the material was opened to research use on August 10, 1995. No passages were closed or deleted.
  

Series 11. Camelot Documents.
About 140 items.
Arrangement: chronological.

The “Camelot Documents” were originally created for and relate to the preparation of Mr. White’s brief “Camelot” article “For President Kennedy: An Epilogue,” which was published in the December 6, 1963 issue of LIFE. The article was based on an interview he conducted with Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, at her home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, on the night of November 29, 1963, one week after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.  The interview was the first of a very small number that Jacqueline Kennedy gave on the subject of President Kennedy’s death. The 1963 LIFE article represented the first use of the term “Camelot” in print and is attributed with having played a major role in establishing and fixing this image of the Kennedy Administration and period in the popular mind.  Mr. White Donated this 34-page file, which he called the “Camelot Documents,” to the Kennedy Library in December 1969. In his deed of gift, he stipulated that it was to remain closed until one year after the death of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She died on May 19, 1994.