The David L. Aaron Papers primarily document Aaron's service as Deputy National Security Advisor under Jimmy Carter's administration, although records pertaining to his work for Walter F. Mondale and his activities in the private sector are also present. Aaron's chronological files, speeches, subject files, and writings from his White House years provide insight into the national security issues that dominated his term, especially U.S. relations with the Soviet Union. Of particular note are briefing papers, speech drafts and talking points, correspondence, and other materials created in the course of Jimmy Carter's 1980 re-election campaign. Materials that are more administrative in nature are also present in the form of invitations Aaron received, his schedules and appointments, and his telephone memorandums.

To a lesser extent, the collection includes records related to Aaron's work for Walter F. Mondale, both in his position as Mondale's legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate and as a foreign policy advisor for Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign. There is also a small amount of documentation on Aaron's tenure with Oppenheimer and Company and a number of his speeches and writings that postdate his tenure in the Executive Office, including a typescript of his first novel. Researchers should note that the collection contains almost no documentation of Aaron's career in the Foreign Service.