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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
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Release: April 10, 1995
Contact: Ben Primer (609/258-3242)


Mudd Manuscript Library
Announces George W. Ball Papers
Open for Research

Princeton, N.J.--The papers of one of the earliest and most
vociferous opponents of the Vietnam War within the Kennedy and
Johnson administrations are now open for research at the Seeley G.
Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University. The George W.
Ball Papers (ca. 1933-1994) document Ball's career as a lawyer,
diplomat, investment banker, and author. They contain significant
information on Ball's involvement in Democratic politics including
his time spent on the presidential campaigns of Adlai Stevenson
and his service as Undersecretary of State for John F. Kennedy and
Lyndon B. Johnson. His many statements and writings on
international topics are also found within this collection.

George W. Ball (1909-1994) was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and
received his bachelor and law degrees from Northwestern University
in 1930 and 1933, respectively. After serving with various
federal agencies and practicing law, he became the director of the
United States Strategic Bombing Survey in London in 1944.
Immediately following the war's end, he participated in lengthy
interviews with Albert Speer to assess the effect of American
bombing. Transcripts of these interviews (in German with English
summaries) are found within the papers.

Ball, who served as Kennedy's Undersecretary of State starting in
1961 and continued in this position under Johnson, became a vocal
opponent of the Vietnam War. The collection contains significant
materials relating to the prosecution of the Vietnam War as well
as memoranda and other documents detailing Ball's opposition to
it. He eventually resigned in 1966 to return to private law
practice but continued to write and speak extensively on foreign
affairs, writing four books and numerous magazine, newspaper, and
journal articles. The collection contains the text of these
writings and speeches delineating his perspective on foreign
policy matters.

An unofficial advisor to Jimmy Carter during his 1976 presidential
campaign and presidency, Ball maintained a home in Princeton for
the last 25 years of his life.

This collection contains correspondence, memoranda, diaries,
subject files, newspaper clippings, speech texts, scrapbooks,
photographs, audio-visual materials, and writings documenting
Ball's life and career. The diaries span much of his professional
life and detail when and with whom he met or spoke.

The 197-linear-foot collection is currently unprocessed, though a
box-level inventory is available. It joins the records of Freedom
House and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, two
other recent additions to the Mudd Manuscript Library. For more
information, contact Ben Primer at (609) 258-3242.

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