Adam Clymer Papers | Jimmy Carter Library

4 linear feet, 10 linear inches, 11 containers

The material in this collection consists of research papers and background materials consisting of notes from newspaper articles, interviews, presidential library documents, and conservative organizations’ documents and financial records. This material was used by Adam Clymer to write his book “Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: the Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right.” Also included are six computer diskettes containing numerous interviews and reference documents of senators’ and presidential candidates’ activities. The papers cover topics such as senate elections, the National Conservative Political Action Committee, and U.S. Presidents’ handling of canal issues.

Adam Clymer

Adam Clymer was born in New York City on April 27, 1937. After graduating from the Walden School in 1954, Clymer earned his B.A. from Harvard University in 1958. He did post-graduate work at the University of Cape Town, South Africa on a Frank Knox Fellowship in 1959.

Clymer began his journalistic career in 1960, working as a reporter for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia. After time at the Baltimore Sun and The New York Daily News, Clymer joined the staff of the New York Times as a reporter and editor in 1977. He reported extensively on politics, elections, and public opinion. He was the paper’s national political correspondent for the 1980 presidential campaign, polling editor from 1983 to 1990, political editor for the 1988 presidential campaign, and chief Washington correspondent from 1999 through 2004. For his coverage of Congress, he received the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting.

Clymer co-authored Reagan: the Man, the President (1981) with contributing fellow Times journalists Hedrick Smith, Leonard Silk, Robert Lindsey, and Richard Burt. These journalists contributed chapters on Reagan's entry into politics in 1964, and his successful presidential bid in 1980. He authored Edward M. Kennedy: a Biography (2000) after extensively interviewing Senator Kennedy in the late 1990’s. In July 2004, he became visiting scholar at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania where he served in the Washington office as political director of the National Annenberg Election Survey. He also authored the book “Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: the Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right.” The book is a case study of how the decision to turn the Panama Canal back over to Panama played out during the legislative campaigns of the 1976-1980 period and led to important victories for conservatives thus shaping American politics.

Textual

The records of the Adam Clymer Papers are arranged in one series.

Series I: Adam Clymer’s Subject Files - NAID 2387578

Scope and Content: Containers 1-11. This series was opened in 2008. This series consists of research documents and news articles surrounding the intense debates in the 1970s over the decision to turn the Panama Canal back over to the country of Panama. These documents include articles on senate elections, budget files of the National Conservative Political Action Committee and documents relating to Jimmy Carter and previous Presidents' handling of canal issues. Also included are documents related to Adam Clymer's position on the Panama Canal issues; Ronald Reagan's 1976 and 1980 presidential candidacy; and the 1976-1980 elections of conservative senators. All audio interviews are closed in accordance with the donor’s deed of gift. Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

These papers contain documents restricted in accordance with applicable executive order(s), which governs National Security policies, applicable statutes/agency restrictions, and material which has been closed in accordance with the donor’s deed of gift.

Copyright interest in these papers has been donated to the United States Government. Some of the records may be subject to copyright restrictions (i.e. newspapers, publications, etc.). Researchers should contact the publisher for further information

Jimmy Carter Library and Museum

441 Freedom Parkway NE Atlanta, GA 30307

Elections

Political action committees

Panama Canal Treaty

Conservatism

Clymer, Adam (1937-2018)

Reagan, Ronald Wilson (1911-2004)

National Conservative Political Action Committee

Panama Canal (Panama)

1976-1980