The Todd Purdum Papers are predominately composed of Purdum's research materials on various political and cultural figures, created for his work with Vanity Fair and for other projects and publications. Most of Purdum's research is in the form of interviews, existent in the collection as transcriptions or on audiocassette tapes.

With the exception of the Norman Sherman and the Bush administration files, all of the transcription files contain typed transcripts of interviews that Purdum conducted with the file's subject, mainly for Vanity Fair. A number of files include a small amount of clippings, notes, and e-mail correspondence related to the subject of the file. A significant portion of these transcripts relate to an oral history project on the George W. Bush administration. Others pertain to John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration, including the interviews with Sander Vanocur, Harry McPherson, Letitia Baldrige, and Harris Wofford. Rahm Emanuel and the speechwriter Jon Favreau's interviews offer insight into Barack Obama's administration. Purdum also conducted a number of interviews and/or corresponded with individuals active in the civil rights movement as research for his book on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These individuals include Nicholas Katzenbach, James Hamilton, Kenneth Teasdale, Cornelius "Neal" Kennedy, Walter F. Mondale, Daniel Inouye, John G. Stewart, John Dingell, Norman Sherman, and George Stevens, Jr. The "Hollywood Interviews" folders (identified as such by Purdum) include interviews with the children of widely known actors, producers, directors, and others involved with the entertainment industry during the industry's "Golden Age," including Marlo Thomas, Candice Bergen, Robert Wagner, Tina Sinatra, and many others.

Of particular note are the materials pertaining to Purdum's unpublished piece on Michelle Obama, including Purdum's working manuscript of the article; his interviews with Obama's associates, such as Sam Kass, Angela Acree, and Valerie Jarrett; and five notebooks, two specifically on the First Lady's travels in South Africa.

The collection also contains around 50 audiocassette tapes, mostly of interviews conducted by Purdum for The New York Times, though a few tapes are of speeches or other types of recordings. The audiocassette tapes focus on major political figures and those associated with them, including Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Edward Koch, John McCain, Ralph Nader, Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Karl Rove, and others.

Other noteworthy materials in the collection relate to Purdum's senior thesis written for Princeton University's History Department on the Eisenhower-era State Department's Loyalty-Security Program. The original typescript of the thesis is included, as are some of Purdum's research materials, almost all of which are photocopies of the detailed diaries of Robert Walter Scott McLeod, who headed the Department of State's Bureau for Security and Consular Affairs from 1953 to 1957. To a lesser extent, Purdum's thesis research materials include copies of official State Department documents collected by McLeod, including correspondence and reports regarding suspected homosexual individuals in the department.