Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Reagan, Ronald and O'Connor Creative Services
- Abstract:
- This collection contains sound recordings, transcripts, correspondence, and other documents related to the radio broadcast series Viewpoint with Ronald Reagan and Ronald Reagan Radio Commentary as well as the LP records Ronald Reagan: The Great Moments (aborted) and Ronald Reagan: On the Air. O'Connor Creative Services produced both the radio series and the LPs. A variety of domestic and international topics are covered including the economy, oil, guns, religion, taxes, energy, and welfare. Era-specific subjects such as conflict in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia) and the Torrijos-Carter Treaties that returned control of the Panama Canal to Panama receive considerable attention.
- Extent:
- 3 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 1 card file box, 3 oversize audio boxes (7.5 Linear Feet)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Ronald Reagan radio commentary sound recordings, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection contains sound recordings, transcripts, correspondence, and other documents related to the radio broadcast series Viewpoint with Ronald Reagan and Ronald Reagan Radio Commentary as well as the LP record albums Ronald Reagan: The Great Moments (aborted) and Ronald Reagan: On the Air. O'Connor Creative Services produced both the radio series and the LPs. A variety of domestic and international topics are covered, including the economy, oil, guns, religion, taxes, energy, and welfare. Era-specific subjects such as conflict in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia) and the Torrijos-Carter Treaties that returned control of the Panama Canal to Panama receive considerable attention.
Audio recordings of these commentaries are included on the records or tapes in this collection. For preservation purposes, the original recordings have been reformatted and are available as digital use copies in the Hoover Archives reading room.
Selected recordings from this series were issued commercially on the compilation LP Ronald Reagan On the Air: A Collection of His Most Memorable Broadcasts (O'Connor Creative Services, 1978) and the CD collection Reagan in His Own Voice (Simon & Schuster, 2001).
Transcripts of the recordings issued on Reagan in His Own Voice were published in the book Reagan in His Own Hand (Simon & Schuster, 2001), and are included in Box 2 of this collection.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The series Viewpoint with Ronald Reagan and Ronald Reagan Radio Commentary were produced by O'Connor Creative Services and concern political conditions in the United States and abroad. The titles Viewpoint with Ronald Reagan and Ronald Reagan Radio Commentary were used at different times to describe the series: Viewpoint for the programs produced in 1975 and 1976 and Ronald Reagan Radio Commentary for the programs produced in 1977 and 1978. Programming was halted during the times Reagan was a declared candidate for the presidency: the first occurrence being November 1975, resuming September 1, 1976 after he lost the nomination; the second being November 1979, when he declared for the 1980 presidential election. Programming ceased altogether following the 1980 election.
Reagan recorded his radio commentaries in batches of fifteen programs (five a week). During the period of January 8, 1975, to December 12, 1978, these recordings were pressed on vinyl LPs. Each LP contained three weeks of programming. At least once during this period Reagan recorded twenty programs at a studio session instead of fifteen, leaving fifteen to be distributed while he was on a foreign trip. Commentaries were committed to magnetic tape following the December 12, 1978, program.
In 1977, O'Connor Creative Services began planning Ronald Reagan: The Great Moments, the first attempt to issue select commentaries commercially. Tracks were sequenced and artwork selected, however the project was aborted in 1978. Later in 1978, a comparable LP, Ronald Reagan On the Air: A Collection of His Most Memorable Broadcasts (O'Connor Creative Services, 1978), was successfully created and issued. In 2001, a five-CD collection titled Reagan in his Own Voice (Simon & Schuster Audio, 2001) was issued and includes many more commentaries as well as recorded thoughts by Nancy Reagan, Harry O'Connor, Peter Hannaford, Martin Anderson, Annelise Anderson, Edwin Meese III, and others. A selection of twenty recordings was also included on CD in Reagan's Path to Victory (The Free Press, 2004), eight of which overlapped with the Simon & Schulster Audio). Transcripts of these recordings were published in the books Reagan in His Own Hand (The Free Press, 2001) and Reagan's Path to Victory (The Free Press, 2004).
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2000.
- Physical location:
- Hoover Institution Library & Archives
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research; there is digitized content available. 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.
- Terms of access:
-
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Ronald Reagan radio commentary sound recordings, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Location of this collection:
-
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-6003, US
- Contact:
- (650) 723-3563