The Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign speech files collection contains documents from six speech file “books” used by the campaign staff. The speeches span from October 1967 to July 1968 and include remarks he gave prior to his entry into the race for the Democratic nomination. Some of the speeches are from campaign stops in particular primary states, such as Nebraska, and the speeches generally document McCarthy’s positions on the Vietnam War, the economy, and race relations. Although most of the documents are speeches, there are also transcripts of debates, television appearances, and press conferences. The transcripts include an exchange between McCarthy and Robert Kennedy on ABC television, and another transcript documents McCarthy’s appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. A press conference transcript from June 14, 1968, is particularly notable since it appears to be the first press conference McCarthy held following the assassination of Robert Kennedy. The documents are all photocopies, but some of them contain handwritten edits that were also copied. This collection compliments many of the 20th century U.S. political collections held by SC&A, such as the Arthur Scott photograph collection that includes photographs of McCarthy.
Senator Eugene J. McCarthy, on the bottom left, with a large group of guests at the U.S. Capitol Building. August 21, 1964. Arthur E. Scott photograph collection, Box 17, Special Collections & Archives, GMU Libraries. Copyright not held by George Mason University Libraries. Restricted to personal, non-commercial use only. For permission to publish, contact Special Collections & Archives, George Mason University Libraries.
