Tanya Melich was director of the Election Research Unit for ABC News during the 1964 Republican National Convention. As a result, she accumulated numerous papers regarding the presidential primaries in New Hampshire and California, as well as the Republican National Convention and inaugural celebration. The series includes voting reports and analysis, general information on the convention, schedules, biographical information of candidates and platforms, committee meeting notes, and news clippings. The series begins with the New Hampshire primary in March, continues with the California and later primaries, the Republican National Convention in July, and ends with the inauguration of 1965.
Each primary had a Facts Book created by the news unit. The Facts Book outlines details about the Election Day and gives information about candidates and election issues. The News and Numbers folders include news stories and numbers from the night of the election. General Files may include notes about the news coverage, sample ballots, maps of election districts, and related items. Materials for the California primary also include a few items related to the Democratic Party and a 37 page document titled the "Christian, Anti-Communist Crusade" which was written by the Christian, Anti-Communist Crusade in 1963 for delivery at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. The group was concerned with the growth and purpose of extreme right wing political organizations.
The Republican National Convention of 1964 was held at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Similar to the primaries, a "Facts Book" was created with information about the candidates, the convention arrangements, voting, and related information. The folder Convention Planning and Arrangements, includes theme plans, hotel arrangements, news clippings and press releases. There are also nomination speeches for Nelson A. Rockefeller, George Romney, William E. Miller and Barry Goldwater to be the presidential candidate. The series also includes remarks and presentations made throughout the convention from a variety of speakers. While Melich had documents concerning several candidates at the convention, she collected an extensive amount of information relating to Goldwater, such as his platform, the growth of the Goldwater movement, and the arguments of his proponents. The State Files include brief notes regarding Republican representation and delegates at the Convention. They are alphabetical by state with United States districts and territories at the end.
The ABC News Facts Book, Inauguration 1965 gives information about the location and history of the event, biographies of members of Congress, and all the details regarding the inauguration ceremony and ball.