David A. Kessler papers

The David A. Kessler Papers are almost entirely comprised of materials documenting Kessler's tenure as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (1990-1997). There are no materials documenting his professional or personal life prior to his confirmation as FDA commissioner, and other than speeches, there is no documentation of his term as dean of the Yale University School of Medicine (1997-).

The majority of the Papers were assembled by Kessler as he researched and wrote A Question of Intent (2001, Public Affairs), a recounting of his tenure as FDA commissioner and a study of the attempt by the FDA to secure regulation of nicotine as a drug. In the course of the book preparation, the author created various filing systems for the documentation and there was overlap and duplication between systems. Kessler's filing system has been maintained in the organization of the papers and researchers will often need to search several series to ensure they have located all materials on a given subject. The documentation collected by Kessler from tobacco company websites, legal suits against the tobacco companies, and various governmental hearings about the addictive nature of nicotine were not accessioned. Of the remaining materials, emphasis was placed on capturing documentation and files that were created or generated specifically by Kessler.

Given the wide availability, particularly on the Internet, of once secret tobacco company documents and other materials related to the health consequences of smoking, and their permanent preservation by the Tobacco Control Archives of the University of California at San Francisco (www.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/), the most significant research material in the Kessler papers are the transcripts of the many interviews he conducted for his book. The persons interviewed ranged from government officials, leaders of anti-smoking organizations, reporters for major newspapers, and partners in law firms, to employees of tobacco companies. Other issues of concern to Kessler as FDA commissioner included accurate labeling of the contents of food products, breast implants, drug tampering, and adequate funding for the agency. They are primarily documented in the General Files, FDA Files, and Briefing Books series.