Fulbright Act

Photograph of Harry S. Truman signing Fulbright Act on August 1, 1946. Fulbright and William Benton watch.The second increment of the J. William Fulbright papers (primarily 1960-1975) comprises approximately nine hundred linear feet of materials and documents the tenure of the Arkansas Democrat in the U.S. House and Senate. The collection consists of constituent, official, and personal correspondence, memoranda, legislative bills, speeches, photographs, and other records related to the political, governmental, and diplomatic interests and activities of the senator. An important component of the papers concerns Fulbright's tenure as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee for the years 1959-1975. Some of the files document his first term in the U.S. House from 1943 until 1945, and others pertain to his political campaigns, including the early ones in 1942 and 1944 for the House and Senate. The Fulbright speeches are an important part of the collection and include files for both Senate speeches and those given elsewhere