This series is largely comprised of the notes, outlines, and scripts for speeches given by Thomas J. Dohohue as the president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, dating from 1997 to 2011. Also included are correspondence, media calls, selected published materials, talking points for Board of Directors meetings and Full Staff Meetings, Presidents Advisory Group conference call talking points, and speeches given by other leading executives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Speaking engagements subseries is divided further into two subseries. The first, Thomas J. Donohue, consists of material related to speeches given by Thomas J. Donohue from 1994 to 2011. In this subseries, there are five items that date from Donohue’s time as president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA). These items include talking points from meetings with ATA interns in 1994 and 1995, a briefing and Donohue’s speech text for the 1995 Air Freight Management Conference and Exposition held in Miami Beach, Florida, and remarks given at the 1997 dedication of The Ruan Transportation Center in Washington, D.C.

The vast majority of items in this subseries dates from 1997 to 2011 and relates to speeches given by Donohue during his tenure as president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The materials are arranged by date. The subseries comprises research notes, speech drafts and outlines, lists of talking points, event briefings, programs, and speech calendars. Most speech documents are the remarks as prepared before delivery, rather than direct transcripts of the speeches as delivered. Many of the remarks were prepared for delivery at annual meetings of state, regional, and local chapters of the Chamber of Commerce as well as to the Chamber of Commerce Association Committee of 100 meetings. Other speeches are taken from Chamber of Commerce events held in Washington, D.C., notably Donohue’s Annual State of American Business Address. Also included are remarks prepared for delivery at press conferences or at regional, national, and international trade association events. International associations and conferences represented in the subseries include, but are not limited to, the World Economic Forum, U.S. – India Business Council, the International Forum, AmCham Cuba, AmCham Mexico, International Mass Retail Association, World Policy Institute, Institute of International Business, Economic Perspectives Conference, U.S.-Hong Kong Business Council, AmCham Korea, AmCham Japan, AmCham China, Americas Business Forum, and the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America.

Donohue’s speeches address a wide variety of business-related issues. Common themes include climate change, education, electronic commerce, energy, entitlement reform, healthcare reform, immigration reform, infrastructure, logistics, outsourcing, regulatory reform, transportation, telecommunications, workforce issues, and increasing American competitiveness in global market. Others consist of Donohue’s remarks introducing another speaker at an event. Notable events and issues are also addressed by some of the speeches, including the year 2000 date conversion (Y2K), the passage of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China in 2000, the September 11 Terrorist Attacks in 2001, and the 2007 to 2009 global economic recession.

The subseries further includes Donohue’s congressional testimony before various committees of the U.S. House of Representatives on the following subjects: drug-free workplaces, Y2K reform, the Fairness in Asbestos Compensation Act, free trade and foreign ownership, fiscal responsibility, attorney-client privilege, and the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act. Finally, congressional testimony before various committees within the U.S. Senate is included on the following subjects: immigration reform, U.S. trade policy after the Seattle ministerial, U.S.–Jordan Free Trade Agreement, intellectual property theft and counterfeiting, attorney-client privilege, the challenges facing the country from the business community’s perspective, global warming issues in the power plant sector, and investment in highways and public transportation.

The other subseries within the Speaking engagements series comprises speeches given by members, other than Thomas Donohue, of the board or staff of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. These items are arranged by the name of speaker and incorporate many of the same themes found in Donohue's speeches.

The Board and staff meetings subseries date from 2000 to 2011 and include scripts used by multiple speakers at dinners for the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors as well as speech outlines prepared for Thomas J. Donohue for delivery at meetings of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Also included in this series are talking points prepared for Thomas J. Donohue for delivery during U.S. Chamber of Commerce full staff meetings from 2003 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2011.

The President's Advisory Group conference calls subseries includes lists of talking points prepared for Thomas J. Donohue from 2007 to 2010 for use during conference calls with the largest corporate members of the Chamber of Commerce, called the President's Advisory Group.

The Correspondence subseries contains letters and memos dating from 1998 to 2011. These consist largely of memos sent to Thomas J. Donohue from staff members of the Chamber of Commerce concerning suggested talking points, potential speech themes, edits, and suggested scheduling of speaking engagements for Donohue. The series further contains letters written by Thomas J. Donohue offering congratulatory messages, sending condolences, or responding to the concerns of individual members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Also included are form letters sent to the Board of Directors, the President's Advisory Committee, and local Chamber of Congress offices. The series also contains drafts of a letter sent to Governor George W. Bush of Texas concerning the Federalism Accountability Act of 1999 as well as three form letters sent to congressional members from the Alliance for Energy & Economic Growth concerning possible amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The Media calls subseries dates to January of 2010 and comprises daily news topics gathered from multiple national and international news outlets.

The Published materials subseries includes copies of newspaper articles, op-ed articles and newspaper articles written by Thomas J. Donohue, a script for a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Nightly Business Report television spot, and two official statements of the Chamber of Commerce prepared following the Global Intellectual Property Protection and Innovation Forum held in Beijing, China in 2007. The series further includes published reports and pamphlets on international trade agreements, including NAFTA, as well as trade in Michigan. Other publications include copies of the 2004 State of American Business Address, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook from June 2007, and a report on global infrastructure prepared by Ernst & Young from 2007.

The final subseries, Voice of Business columns, includes completed articles and drafts written from 1998 to 1999 for the Voice of Business column, a weekly column written by Thomas J. Donohue and his staff which was posted to the national Chamber website and sent out to newspapers, state and local chambers of commerce, individuals, and congressional members. Each article focuses on a particular topic from the perspective of business. Topics include healthcare reform, taxes, free trade, Equal Pay Day, potential minimum wage increases, Y2K, small business, Social Security, and a range of other issues. The subseries also contains a publication calendar and two memos concerning the column.