The Ripon Society is a Republican Party research and policy organization of which Tanya Melich was a member. It formed in 1964 with the aim of improving the Republican Party, as members believed their original values had been compromised by catering to an extreme right-wing contingency. This series contains many copies of The Ripon Forum, a newsletter regarding politics which reflected the Society's views. The The Ripon Forum was published each month, and occasionally the Society issued a small, supplemental version, usually on the 1st or 15th of the month. There are also several copies of the Ripon Quarterly, a magazine publication of the organization. Both The Ripon Forum and Ripon Quarterlyy are missing issues in the series, so not all dates are inclusive.
The series also contains Daily Office Files which include correspondence, press releases, news clippings, and reports by Melich. The year 1973 has the most substantial amount of material with a number of items related to Watergate, Nixon, and his eventual impeachment. There is also information on the New Leadership Fund, which was a fund-raising committee designed to help Republican candidates through monetary donations or research and campaign assistance. The materials include correspondence and reports related to the committee.
The series includes a few folders related to the Ripon Society chapter in New York City. These materials include correspondence, local government newsletters, and articles. The "Lessons of Victory" material contains chapter outlines and multiple drafts of chapter 3, "The Failures of the Republican Moderates" by Melich. It discusses the Nixon campaign, weaknesses within the Republican Party, and the political transition to the future. George H.W. Bush, then chair of the Republican National Committee, convened the Rule 29 committee in 1973. The purpose of the committee was to review, study, and work with the states and territories regarding the rules adopted by the 1972 Republican National Convention. It was also supposed to benefit the relationship between the Republican National Committee, Republican State Committees, and other Republican organizations. Items include memorandums, news clippings, and reports between the Rule 29 Committee and the Women's Political Caucus. It also includes Melich's testimony before the Rule 29 Committee in 1974.
The Ripon Society filed two lawsuits against the Republican National Committee and Republican Party, the first from 1970 to 1973 and the second from 1974 to 1975. The Society believed the Committee's process of allocating delegates was unconstitutional. Items for both suits are filed in two sections: general papers and legal papers. The general papers include memorandums, correspondence, press releases, news clippings, and reports. The legal papers include legal documents such as complaints and briefs. The law firm Patterson, Belknap and Webb in New York City handled the Ripon Society's case.
The book The New Political Order: A History of the Conservative Infrastructure is by John S. Saloma (1934-1983). The files about the book include notes, correspondence, and a review by Melich from 1984. Saloma was a founding member of the Ripon Society and President of the Ripon Society from 1963 to 1967. The manuscript was published posthumously under the title, Ominous Politics: The New Conservative Labyrinth (New York: Hill and Wang, 1984.)