Collection WASHINGTON VERSION - WASHINGTON VERSION, THE: television documentary archive

Key Information

Reference code

WASHINGTON VERSION

Title

WASHINGTON VERSION, THE: television documentary archive

Date(s)

  • 1986-1992 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent

11 boxes or 0.11 cubic metres

Scope and content

The collection includes uncut audio cassettes, video cassettes and transcripts of interviews, concerning events leading up to the Gulf War (1990-1991) such as the role of the United States in the liberation of Kuwait following its invasion by Iraq, 2 Aug 1990; US relations with the international community coalition which included Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Soviet Union; the role of the United Nations; and the background to decisions taken by the US government in response to the invasion and up until the ceasefire of 28 Feb 1991. It also contains related transcripts of US Congress proceedings, research files, news cuttings, video cassettes of the three episodes of the television documentary The Washington Version as broadcast in the UK, scripts for each episode, draft version of scripts and documentary, as well as uncut video cassette footage of television news reports, press conferences and addresses, contemporary to the conflict. The documentary was advertised as 'a personal history of the Gulf Crisis told by US Cabinet members, their deputies and key allies'. Those interviewed include James Addison Baker III, US Secretary of State, 1989-1992; Richard B (Dick) Cheney, US Secretary of Defense, 1989-1993; Robert Gates, Assistant to the US President and Deputy National Security Advisor, 1989-1991; Gen Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor, 1989-1993; James Danforth Quayle, US Vice President, 1989-1993; Stephen Joshua Solarz, Democrat member of US Congress, 1975-1993; Gen Colin Powell, Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander in Chief; Thomas Stephen Foley, Democrat member of US Congress, 1965-1995, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, 1989-1995; Ambassador Thomas Reeve Pickering, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1989-1992; Lawrence S Eagleburger, Deputy Secretary of State, 1989-1992; Richard N Haass, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director, Near East & South Asian Affairs, National Security Council, 1989-1993; John Kelly, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, 1989-1991; Robert M Kimmitt, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, 1989-1991; Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater, Private Secretary to the British Prime Minister, 1984-1991; Dennis B Ross, Director, Policy Planning Staff, US Department of State, 1989-1992; H E Sheikh Saud Nasir Al-Sabah, Kuwait Ambassador to the US, 1981-present; Joseph Charles Wilson IV, Charge d'Affairs, US Embassy, Baghdad 1988-1991; Paul Dundes Wolfowitz, Under Secretary for Policy, US Department of Defense 1899-1993; Sergei Tarasenko, Policy Advisor to Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze 1985-1991; and Martin Indyk, Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, 1984-1993.

System of arrangement

The material has been arranged in sections as listed above.

General Information

Name of creator

Biographical history

Custodial history

Presented to the Centre by Norma Percy, Brian Lapping Associates, in four deposits, 28 Jul 1992, 4 Aug 1992, 13 Aug 1992 and 22 Mar 1994.

Conditions governing access

Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied from open material for research purposes only.

Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, via the Archives.

Language of material

  • English
  • French
  • Russian

Script of material

Language and script notes

Mainly English, some Russian and French.

Finding aids

This collection level description and detailed catalogue.

Existence and location of originals

Off-campus collection

Please note: We require 7 days notice to retrieve this collection as part, or all of it, is held off-campus. Read more ›

Related descriptions

Alternative identifier(s)

Genre access points

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.

Script(s)

Archivist's note

Compiled by Alison Field

Accession area