Vaughn was reported to have political ambitions of his own, but in a 1973 interview, he denied having had any political aspirations. In a conversation with historian Jack Sanders, he stated that after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, "I lost heart for the battle." Vaughn published "Only Victims: A Study of Show Business Blacklisting" in 1972. His second book, "A Fortunate Life", was published in 2008. Vaughn died in a hospice in Danbury, Connecticut, on November 11, 2016, eleven days before his 84th birthday, after a year-long treatment for leukemia.