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Guide to the Lou Cannon Ronald Reagan papers
Mss 257
Mss 257
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Table of contents
Title: Lou Cannon Ronald Reagan papers
Identifier/Call Number: Mss 257
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
55.0 linear feet
(46 cartons, 6 document boxes, and 132 audiocassettes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1947-2002
Date (bulk): 1970-1990
Abstract: The collection mainly contains files for four of the books about Ronald Reagan written by Lou Cannon. Included are court documents,
fact sheets, interview tapes and transcripts, newspaper and magazine articles, polls, pool reports, presidential statements,
press briefings, press kits and schedules, research files, texts of speeches and remarks, and wire service stories.
Creator:
Cannon, Lou
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
The collection is open for research.
[Identification of Item], Lou Cannon - Ronald Reagan papers, Mss 257. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara
Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Library purchase, 2008; additions, gift of Lou Cannon, 2009.
Lou (Louis S.) Cannon was born in New York City on June 3, 1933. He is an American journalist, non-fiction author, and biographer
of Ronald Reagan. He was raised in Reno, Nevada and attended the University of Nevada, Reno, and San Francisco State College.
He was state bureau chief for the San Jose Mercury News in the later 1960s, while Reagan was Governor of California. In 1972
he began working for the Washington Post as a political reporter. He became senior White House correspondent for the Washington
Post during the Reagan administration and also wrote a weekly syndicated column. In addition to his several works on Ronald
Reagan, which are the main focus of this collection, he is the author of Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots
Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD (1997).
The collection mainly contains files for four of the books about Ronald Reagan written by Lou Cannon. The books are arranged
chronologically, as noted below. More detailed information may be found in the Container List.
Ronnie and Jesse (1969). Files for Ronald Reagan and Jesse Unruh, arranged alphabetically. Includes interviews. Boxes 1-3.
Reagan (1982). Arranged by campaign year.
1976: Campaign, Convention, and Election files. Box 4.
1980: Campaign, Chronology, Interviews (grouped with interviews for
Governor Reagan and listed under
Governor Reagan), Research files. Boxes 4-6.
President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (1991). Arranged alphabetically, by series.
Assessments. Mainly magazine and newspaper articles, many from the Washington Post, with some interviews and other related material.
Box 7.
Campaigns. Includes press briefings, pool reports, fact sheets, polls, texts of speeches and remarks, clippings, a few interviews or
portions of interviews, schedules, and election results.
1980: Box 8. 1982: Box 8. 1984: Boxes 8-9. 1986: Box 10. 1988: Box 10.
Cannon. Mainly items by LC. Boxes 11-12.
Economic Summits [also some pre- and post-summit stops and meetings]. Includes background information, briefings, clips, notebooks, pool reports,
press kits and schedules, statements and declarations, and stories by LC. Boxes 13-15.
Economy. Mainly magazine and newspaper articles, with some press briefings and releases, interviews, reports, and related material.
Boxes 16-17.
Foreign Policy. Mainly magazine and newspaper articles, with some White House and other press releases, briefings, pool reports, and related
material. Boxes 18-21.
Interviews [for PR, not for R&J and Reagan, which are listed separately]. Transcripts, synopses, and notes from face-to-face and telephone
interviews, some taped and included in the list of audiovisual materials, along with background documents, articles, and other
related material. Boxes 22-24.
Iran. Includes newspaper and magazine articles, court documents, interviews and interview excerpts, pool reports, presidential
statements, press briefings, and other related material. Boxes 25-26.
Issues. Mainly newspaper and magazine articles, along with Presidential press briefings and fact sheets, reports, statements by public
officials and legislators, stories by LC, and related material. Also includes some interviews and excerpts of interviews relating
to the respective issues. Boxes 27-32.
People. Mainly magazine and newspaper articles [some by LC], along with briefings, correspondence, interviews [including interviews
and interview excerpts with individuals noted, and with others, about the individuals noted], press releases, and related
material. Boxes 33-37.
Shooting. Includes clippings, press briefings, some interviews. Box 41.
Speeches [by Reagan]. Arranged by theme. Includes texts of speeches, clippings, interviews or interview excerpts. Box 42.
Terrorism. Includes clippings, pool reports, and press releases. Box 43.
Travel. arranged chronologically, includes press its, press releases, clippings, pool reports. Boxes 44-49.
Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power (2003). Book/Research Files. Arranged alphabetically. Box 50.
Interviews. For
Reagan (book) and
Governor Reagan. Arranged alphabetically, by surname. Boxes 50-51.
Additions to the Collection, 2009. Mainly Gov. Reagan cabinet meeting minutes, 1967-1974, and Ronald Reagan speeches, 1942-1970. Box 52.
Audiovisual - Audiocassettes.
President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime – Interviews. Arranged alphabetically, by surname. 118 tapes.
Governor Reagan – Interviews. Arranged alphabetically, by surname. 14 tapes.
Interviewees. Some of the more prominent individuals interviewed for the books include:
Richard [Rich] Armitage, William Bagley, Howard Baker, James [Jim] Baker, William [Bill] Brock, David Broder, William F. Buckley,
George [H. W.] Bush, Frank Carlucci, William Casey, Richard [Dick] Cheney, William Clark, Richard [Dick] Darman, Mike Deaver,
George Deukmejian, Ken Duberstein, Marlin Fitzwater, David Gergen, Barry Goldwater, Alan Greenspan, Alexander [Al] Haig, Richard
Helms, Ken Khachigian, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Henry Kissinger, Paul Laxalt, Robert [Bud] McFarlane, Edwin [Ed] Meese, Franklyn
C. [Lyn] Nofziger, Peggy Noonan, Landon Parvin, William Perry, John Poindexter, Colin Powell, Maureen Reagan, Nancy Reagan,
Neil Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Donald [Don] Regan, Ed Rollins, Donald [Don] Rumsfeld, Brent Scowcroft, George Shultz, Larry Speakes,
Stuart K. [Stu] Spencer, Potter Stewart, David Stockman, Helen Thomas, John Tower, Margaret Tutwiler, Jesse Unruh, James Watt,
Caspar W. [Cap]Weinberger, George Will, and Richard Wirthlin.
Additions, 2009. Taped interviews and other taped speeches, comments, and other, open unless otherwise noted. Some may relate to interview
transcripts listed earlier in the guide. Some may relate to stories LC was writing under deadline for the Washington Post.
A few may be on topics unrelated to Ronald Reagan.
List of acronyms used in the guide:
LC = Lou Cannon MC = Mary Cannon PR = President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime R&J = Ronnie and Jesse RR = Ronald Reagan
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Reagan, Ronald
Articles
Audiocassettes
Governors--California
Interviews
Newspapers
Presidents--United States
Speeches