Please contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections for assistance with accessing these materials.

Fair Campaign Practices Committee Collection

Collection

Identifier: GTM-800313

Scope and Contents

The Fair Campaign Practices Committee collection consist of smear literature and complaints; codes signed by various candidates, including Richard M. Nixon; state chapter files; material concerning campaign reform and the Watergate era; FCP programs; project reports; material of the Freedom of Information Act; and material concerning the internal administration of the FCPC, including fund raising projects. The Committee was founded in 1954 to ensure "fair play" in politics. Note: Click on "External Documents" below for a link to the inventory for the collection.

Dates

1954 - 1977

Conditions Governing Access

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.

Historical Note

The 81st Congress appointed a subcommittee headed by Senator Paul H. Douglas of Illinois to study ethics in government. Senator William Benton of Connecticut testified that there existed a "public cynicism" and that many "decent . . . citizens shy away from assuming civic responsibility because they mistakenly believe politics and government are generally corrupt and evil...." To remedy this "public cynicism" it was recommended that a commission be set up to study campaign conduct, report the facts, and recommend standards of responsibility for election campaigns.

Shortly before the 1954 Congressional elections, a group of "eminent members of both parties" came together to constitute the Fair Campaign Practices Committee under the leadership of Anna Lord Strauss of New York who became president of the League of Women Voters in the mid-1960s. This group summoned a press conference at which the document proposed by the Gillette subcommittee on Fair Campaign Practices was endorsed by the Republican and Democratic National Chairmen and adopted by the Fair Campaign Practices Committee. This was the beginning of the Committee.