This is a collection of the personal papers of Bernard M. Shanley, prominent New Jersey Lawyer, Republican politician, and member o the Eisenhower cabinet. They document his personal as well as his professional activities, from the time he began his career in law until his passing in 1992. They cover his detailed involvement with the federal politics of the 1950’s, as well as his gubernatorial run and time spent as a Republican National Committeeman. It also details his lifelong relationship with the Catholic church, and his relationship with Seton hall University. One of the most prominent features of the collection is Bernard Shanley’s personal diary, that covers from 1951 to 1957, detailing his importance to the 1952 and 1956 election cycles, as well as both Eisenhower Administrations.

Some of the material included also details the Shanley family’s personal history, including historical letters to and from members of the family, and correspondence with institutions they were involved with, such as Shanley & Fisher, and Fidelity Financial.

The collection includes significant amounts of detailed correspondence between high ranking political figures of the Eisenhower era, Shanley’s political speeches and other appearances, as well as all of the invitations Shanley received during his time in the White House. The Correspondence covers both Chronological correspondence as well as Alphabetical, detailing the day to day workings of the Eisenhower administration, and how they functioned. Also included are the various campaign materials from Shanley’s Senatorial run, including speeches, news articles, and various scrapbooks he kept detailing as much of the Senatorial run as possible. A substantial number of documents were weeded out from the collection, including duplicates, medical and financial records, newspaper clippings, and photocopies of copyrighted materials. Certain publications and copyrighted materials have been retained if they are not widely available outside of this collection. Materials a primarily textual, comprising correspondence, invitations, clippings, campaign materials, publications, event programs, speeches, notes, subject files, scrapbooks and the aforementioned diary. Other non-textual materials include photographs, audio reels, and some honorary plaques awarded to Mr. Shanley.