Register of the Peter Robinson papers
Finding aid prepared by Jessica Lemieux
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2019, 2021
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Peter Robinson papers
Date (bulk): 1998-2003
Collection Number: 2004C58
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
39 manuscript boxes, 2 audiocassette boxes, 1 computer disk box
(17.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Drafts of the books by Peter Robinson, It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP (New York, 2000), and
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life (New York, 2003), and correspondence and research materials used in their preparation. Includes
sound recordings and transcripts of interviews of associates of Ronald Reagan.
Creator:
Robinson, Peter, 1957-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2004.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Peter Robinson papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
Peter M. Robinson was born in 1957 and grew up in upstate New York. He attended Dartmouth College, graduating summa cum laude
in 1979. He went on to study politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford University, from which he graduated in 1982.
Robinson spent six years in the White House, serving from 1982 to 1983 as chief speechwriter to Vice President George Bush
and from 1983 to 1988 as special assistant and speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan. He wrote the historic Berlin Wall
address in which President Reagan called on General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!"
After the White House, Robinson attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and graduated with an MBA in
1990. Robinson then worked for Fox Television and subsequently for the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he served
as the director of the Office of Public Affairs, Policy Evaluation, and Research.
Robinson joined the Hoover Institution in 1993. Robinson is is the Murdoch Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, where
he writes about business and politics, edits Hoover's quarterly journal, the
Hoover Digest, and hosts Hoover's video series program,
Uncommon Knowledge™.
In addition to his work at the Hoover Institution, Robinson has published numerous essays and interviews. He edited
Can Congress Be Fixed?: Five Essays on Congressional Reform (Hoover Institution Press, 1995). Robinson is the author of three books:
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life (Regan Books, 2003);
It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP, (Warner Books, 2000); and the best-selling business book
Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA (Warner Books, 1994).
Scope and Content of Collection
The Peter Robinson papers contain the writings and research material related to two of Robinson's books:
It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP, and
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. The collection is arranged in two series, Writings and Audiovisual Material.
The Writings series includes correspondence, notes, interview transcripts, background research material drafts, manuscript
proofs related to the writing and production of Robinson's books.The series is divided into two subseries, one for each book.
The
It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP subseries includes Robinson's background research, interviews, notes, and drafts relating to the history of the Republican
party, his family's relationship to the party, and how demographics and political issues affected the party as a whole. Robinson
traveled throughout the United States in order to gain as many perspectives as possible on the Republican party. Since the
book was researched and the bulk of the text written in 1999,
It's My Party provides a unique examination of the GOP just prior to the 2000 election.
The
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life subseries is comprised of drafts, manuscript proofs, research, correspondence, and extensive interviews documenting the life
of Ronald Reagan, with a particular focus on the years he served as President. Written as a personal memoir of Robinson's
time in the Reagan administration,
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life contains reflections on Reagan's character and anecdotes from Robinson and several other prominent figures in the Reagan
White House.
The Audiovisual Material series contains video recordings, sound recordings, and computer files related to Robinson's books.
It is arranged by physical format. The video recordings primarily consist of interviews and television broadcasts relating
to Ronald Reagan. The sound recordings include interviews conducted by Robinson as research for his books, including George
W. Bush, Ed Meese, Dana Rohrabacher, Betsy Bayless, and Charlton Heston. Transcripts of the interviews are available in the
Writings series. The computer files contain multiple drafts of the books and transcripts of the interviews.
Related Collection(s)
Uncommon Knowledge video tapes, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiotapes
United States -- Politics and government -- 1981-1989
Reagan, Ronald
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
Writings
1960-2003
Scope and Contents note
The Writings series contains interview transcripts, notes, background research, drafts, and published copies of Robinson's
books
It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP and
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. The series documents Robinson's writing process from proposal through research, conducting interviews, writing drafts, editing,
and publication. The series is divided into two subseries, one for each book project. Original order was maintained in the
files within each subseries. Of particular note are the transcripts of interviews Robinson conducted for each book, as they
include prominent figures in the Republican party in the 1980s and 1990s.
It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP New York: Warner Books, 2000.
1998-2002
box 1, folder 1-5
Manuscripts
2000 February
box 2, folder 1
Drafts
2000 January, undated
box 2, folder 4
Susan's markups
2000 February 4
box 2, folder 5-6
Copyedited manuscript
2000 February 4
box 3, folder 1
Dedication draft
2000 May 19-22
box 3, folder 2
Rudy Giuliani insert draft
2000 May
box 3, folder 3
Chapter Nine draft
2000 January 6
box 3, folder 4
Edited manuscript
2000 April 25
box 3, folder 5-9
Final research and fact checking
2000
box 6, folder 5-6
Master copy (prior to edits)
1999 December
box 6, folder 7-8
Edited manuscript
undated
box 8, folder 2-3
Draft sent to John Ahearne
2000 January
box 8, folder 4-8
Ahearne's edits
2000 January
box 9, folder 1-5
Edited drafts
2000 January
box 9, folder 6
It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP New York: Warner Books, 2000. Hardcover edition
2000
box 10, folder 10
Paperback cover design
2000 October-November
box 11, folder 1-8
Notes and interview transcripts
1999
box 13, folder 1
Notes and interview transcripts
1999
box 15, folder 1-6
Edited manuscript
2000 January
box 18, folder 8
Fair drafting
1999 December 19
box 21, folder 5-7
Returned manuscript
2001 April 23
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. New York: Regan Books, 2003.
1960-2004
box 22, folder 1-5
Initial proposal and correspondence
2001
box 23, folder 1-9
Research subject files, A-L
1960-2004
box 24, folder 1-12
Research subject files, M-W
1960-2002
box 25, folder 5
Interviews, Master list
2002
box 25, folder 6-8
Interviews, A-D
2002-2003
box 27, folder 1-6
Interviews with Art Laffer, Ed Meese, Lyn Nofziger, Michael Reagan, Dana Rohrabacher
2002
box 28, folder 1-8
Chapter File, Chapter 1-2
2002
box 29, folder 1-9
Chapter File, Chapter 2-3
2002
box 30, folder 1-9
Chapter File, Chapter 3-4
2003
box 31, folder 1-9
Chapter file, Chapter 5-8
2002-2003
box 32, folder 1-9
Chapter file, chapters 9-11 and epilogue
2002-2003
box 32, folder 10
Miscellaneous research
2003
box 33, folder 1
Miscellaneous research
2003
box 33, folder 6-8
Proofed draft
2003 March 5-12
box 34, folder 1
First notes and proposal
undated
box 34, folder 2
Corrected draft
2003 March 3
box 34, folder 3-6
Chapter edits and Cal comments
2003 February-June
box 34, folder 7-8
Revised chapters
2002-2003
box 35, folder 1-8
Revised chapters 1-8
2002-2003
box 36, folder 1-9
Revised chapters 9-10
2003
box 37, folder 1
Peter Robinson's final proofing and fact checking
2003
box 37, folder 2-3
Lydia's final proofing and fact checking
2003
box 37, folder 4-5
Final proofs sent by publisher
2003
box 38, folder 2-3
Manuscript inserts
undated
box 38, folder 5
Final comments by Clark Judge
2003 [April]
box 38, folder 6
Peter Robinson final proofing and fact checking
2003
box 39, folder 6
Documents regarding "Tear Down this Wall" speech
2003 June
box 39, folder 8
Motorcade gift certificate
1987
box 39, folder 9
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. New York: Regan Books, 2003. Hardcover edition, marked with edits for paperback edition
2003
Audiovisual material
1999-2002
Scope and Contents note
The Audiovisual material series is composed of sound recordings, video recordings, and computer files related to the research
and production of Robinson's books.The series is organized by physical format, then by book project.
Videorecordings
2003
undated
box 12
"Tear Down This Wall," FOX news, 1 VHS videocassette
undated
box 12
"The Real Reagan," dub from television, 1 VHS videocassette
undated
box 12
"The Real Reagan," FOX news, 1 VHS videocassette
undated
box 12
"700 Club" Episode 251-03, 1 VHS videocassette
2003 September 8
box 12
"How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life" C-SPAN Videotape 177890, 1 VHS videocassette
2003 August 6
box 12
"Television and the Presidency Hours 1-2" FOX News, 1 VHS videocassette
undated
box 12
"Television and the Presidency Hours 3-4" FOX News, 1 VHS videocassette
undated
box 12
"Tear Down This Wall" 15th Anniversary Party, 3 VHS videocassettes
undated
Sound recordings
1999-2002
box 40
It's My Party interviews, 11 audiocassettes and 13 mini audiocassettes
1999-2000
box 40
It's My Party publicity Wisconsin Public radio appearance, 2 audiocassettes
2000
box 40
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life interviews, 24 audiocassettes and 11 minicassettes
2002
box 42
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life interviews, 9 minicassettes
2002
box 41
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life interviews, 11 audiocassettes and 2 minicassettes
2002
box 42
It's My Party interviews and drafts, 27 3.5 inch diskettes
1999-2000
box 42
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life interviews and drafts, 34 3.5 inch computer diskettes
2002
box 41
How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life interview transcripts, 9 3.5 inch computer diskettes
2002
