The papers of Angier Biddle Duke span the years 1915 to 1995, though the bulk of the collection ranges from 1940 to 1995. The papers chiefly consist of correspondence; scrapbooks; diaries; photographs; diplomatic papers; sound recordings, video cassette tapes and films; appointment books; clippings; printed material; and business papers. There are also a few legal and financial papers. Miscellaneous materials also include writings by other authors; fiscal and other reports; school grade reports; invitations; guest lists; and some memorabilia. The collection documents Angier Biddle Duke's long career in politics and diplomacy, as well as his activities as chairman or president of various agencies and institutions. Much of the material also documents Duke's personal life as well as the social and political activities of various family members. The subjects represented in greatest detail include U.S. politics and foreign policy; the Kennedy and Johnson administrations; and the history of US. and foreign diplomacy. In addition, the papers contain valuable information on economic and social conditions in Spain, Morocco, Denmark, Africa, Pakistan, and other countries; World War II; post-World War Europe; European and Pakistani refugees; civil rights and de-segregation (especially in Washington, DC); philanthropy; Long Island social life and communities; and the Duke, Biddle, and Drexel families.

Details on Angier Biddle Duke's life as well as information on the Duke, Biddle, and Drexel families can be found in the Biographical Data Series. These materials include some of A. B. Duke's military records; articles on A. B. Duke; biographical entries on A. B. Duke from and ; "in memoriam" booklets from his first wife's funeral and the funeral of Angier Buchanan Duke, A. B. Duke's father; and genealogical materials on the families. Selected condolences out of the hundreds sent to Robin Chandler Duke after her husband's death in 1995 also reveal much about the personality and life of A. B. Duke. In addition, the narratives in the Diaries Series offer a great deal of material concerning the personalities of A. B. Duke and his family and acquaintances throughout his life.

The Correspondence Series also offers details on the personal relations between members of the Duke, Biddle, Semans, and Trent families, though correspondence between immediate family members makes up a relatively small percentage of this large series. The correspondence files are therefore perhaps most useful for the documentation they provide about A. B. Duke's extraordinary career and his many important friends and contacts in international politics and high society. Additional biographical data on A. B. Duke and family members, particularly useful for information on Robin Chandler Duke's social and political activities, can be found in the Clippings Series files.

The Pictures Series contains hundreds of photographs of the Duke, Semans, and Biddle families. Some early photographs of Angier Biddle Duke were taken during his enlistment in the Army from 1940-1945. An album entitled "A celebration of the life of Benjamin Newton Duke, 1979" can be found in the Scrapbooks Series. Finally, as A. B. Duke served as president of the Duke Family Association of NC from 1988-1995, there are a number of items related to the meetings of this genealogical association found in the Correspondence Series.

Angier Biddle Duke was best known for his ambassadorial skills and his political acumen beginning with his appointment to the office of Ambassador to El Salvador in 1952 as the youngest ambassador ever appointed to a post. His subsequent career in diplomacy and politics, including his appointment as Chief of Protocol under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, is unusually well-documented through the Correspondence Series, the Diaries Series, containing detailed personal diaries and memoirs; the Interviews Series (both taped and written); numerous scrapbooks and photographs found in the Scrapbooks and Pictures Series, the Printed Materials Series, which includes many articles on A. B. Duke; and the Clippings Series. A series of written and taped diaries entitled the "Ambassador's Diary" are especially interesting for A. B. Duke's candid reflections on his diplomatic experiences. A few items also reveal the family's experiences in foreign countries as viewed by his wife, Robin Chandler Duke, as exemplified by her brief diary from Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia (1976). A relatively minor source of information on the Dukes' itineraries include the Travel Series, which contains routine documents relating to the Dukes' travel activities. Other materials concerning foreign policy and diplomacy may be found in the Miscellaneous Series, where many articles and speeches by other authors are filed.

The political and social events of the 1960s and 1970s are well-represented in the A. B. Duke Papers in the multimedia formats associated with the Audio, Film, and Videotape Series, containing numerous recordings, audio and visual, of speeches, toasts, and visits of foreign dignitaries; the Scrapbooks and Pictures Series, which hold many candid and formal photographs of well-known politicians, diplomats, celebrities, and artists, many of them signed; and the Clippings Series, documenting many major world events as well as personal events from 1950s to the 1990s. One scrapbook covers President Kennedy's trip to Berlin, West Germany; another oversize scrapbook covers an international incident at Palomares, Spain (1966): while Duke was that country's ambassador, an undetonated US nuclear bomb was lost off the coast of Spain, then recovered after much consternation, and increased international outcry against nuclear weapons. Materials in the Protocol Papers Series also concern Kennedy's assassination and the transition to a Johnson White House during the period when A. B. Duke was Chief of Protocol. As Jacqueline Kennedy had already become a good friend of A. B. Duke's family, there are items in the Correspondence Series reflecting her close relationship with them in the difficult years after her husband's assassination.

The head of the State Department Office of Protocol serves as principal adviser to the President and Secretary of State on matters of diplomatic procedures governed by law or international customs and practice. Angier Biddle Duke's responsibilities as Chief of Protocol from 1961-65 and 1968, including his role in the arrangements for the Kennedy funeral, are best represented by materials in the Protocol Papers Series, arranged alphabetically by country, and by many valuable letters and telegrams in the Correspondence Series, and in the Writings and Speeches Series. In addition, a great deal of relevant information, both contemporary and retrospective in nature, can be found in the Interviews Series. Several important volumes in the Scrapbooks and Diaries Series are also were created as records of his tenure as Chief of Protocol, and the Pictures Series contains many candid and formal photographs during this period. Finally, events relating to the Office of Protocol are found in audio or film format in the Audio, Film, and Video Series. Memorabilia from this period such as invitations, dinner menus, guest lists, and souvenir programs from inaugurations abroad can also be found in the Miscellaneous Series.

A. B. Duke's extensive organizational activities in later decades are documented in greatest detail through the Correspondence, Subject Files, Interviews, Printed Materials, and Writings and Speeches Series. A large number of materials reflect A. B. Duke's long involvement in the administration of Long Island University, near his family residence in Southampton, N.Y., as well as in other institutions such as the International Rescue Commission, various Democratic committees, CARE, the NYC Dept. of Civic Affairs and Public Events, the Spanish Institute, the Appeal to Conscience Foundation, the Japan-American Institute, the World Affairs Council, and the American Council of Ambassadors, and many others with whom he was affiliated for shorter periods of time. The Subject Files and other series also illustrate A. B. Duke's later involvement in organizations attempting to establish more democratic structures in countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guyana. Some materials also reflect Robin Chandler Duke's later involvement in politics, including her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination to fill Koch's congressional seat in 1978, and her role as chairwoman of Population Action International.

Although they contain relatively few documents, the Legal and Financial Papers do provide some information on A. B. Duke's income and financial activities, and the Doris Duke Trust; also in the legal papers is a publisher's contract for the biography of Doris Duke and a copy of Angier Buchanan Duke's will. Other legal and financial matters related to the Duke and Biddle families, particularly the Doris Duke estate (1995) are referred to on a regular basis in the Correspondence Series. Very little is to be found in the collection on the administration, maintenance, or acquisition of Angier Biddle Duke's residences in Washington, NYC, or Long Island, though some illustrations of residences can be found in the Clippings and Pictures Series.

Collections in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library which contain information relevant to the Angier Biddle Duke Papers include the James Buchanan Duke Papers and especially the Semans Family Papers. The Duke University Living History Program collection, also in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, contains an interview with Angier Biddle Duke recorded in the 1970s.