Executive Order 13233, restricting access to the records of former presidents and drafted by White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, was issued by President George W. Bush on November 1, 2001 shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. President Bush issued the order just as the National Archives was preparing to release a small portion of the records of the Reagan administration, some of which might prove embarrassing to the President's father due to his involvement in the Iran Contra Scandal. Section 13 of EO 13233 revoked Executive Order 12667, of January 18, 1989. The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. ... Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955 in San Antonio, Texas, USA) is the current United States. ... Order: 43rd President of United States Vice President: Dick Cheney Term of office: January 20, 2001 – Present (His second term will end on January 20, 2009. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated attacks carried out in the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. ... The United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records. ... Headed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989, the Reagan Administration was conservative, steadfastly anti-Communist and in favor of tax cuts and smaller government. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Veiled Presidential records

EO 13233 restricts access to the records of former Presidents:

"...reflecting military, diplomatic, or national security secrets, Presidential communications, legal advice, legal work, or the deliberative processes of the President and the President's advisers, and to do so in a manner consistent with the Supreme Court's decisions in Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, 433 U.S. 425 (1977), and other cases..."

Online access to EO 13233 was reportedly made unavailable at the time of issuance.[1] The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States...

Background

In 1974, the Congress of the United States placed the presidential records of Richard Nixon in federal custody to prevent their destruction. The law's intent to discourage, if not prevent, abuse of power by the veil of secrecy. The action was intended to promote a reduction of secrecy while allowing historians to perform their responsibilities. Just two years earlier, in 1972, decades of official and unofficial Federal Bureau of Investigation records had been destroyed, upon the death of J. Edgar Hoover, by his longtime secretary. The Presidential Records Act of 1978 mandated the records of a former president become the property of the federal government upon his leaving the Oval Office, and then transferred to the Archivist of the United States, thereafter to be made available to the public after no more than 12 years. 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Seal of the Congress. ... Order: 37th President Vice President: Spiro Agnew (1969–1973), Gerald R. Ford (1973–1974) Term of office: January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 Preceded by: Lyndon B. Johnson Succeeded by: Gerald R. Ford Date of birth: January 9, 1913 Place of birth: Yorba Linda, California Date of death: April 22... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Official FBI Seal The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Hoover in 1961 John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from May 10, 1924, until his death in 1972, having been appointed to that position for life by President John Calvin Coolidge. ... The Oval Office is the official office of the President of the United States, in the West Wing of the White House, built in 1902. ... The Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. ...

Critical response

The Society of American Archivists was among many groups, including librarians, who took umbrage at the President's exercise of executive power by issuing EO 13233, stating EO 13233 "violates both the spirit and letter of existing U.S. law on access to presidential papers as clearly laid down in 44 U.S.C. 2201-2207," adding, the order "potentially threatens to undermine one of the very foundations of our nation." The Society of American Archivists (established 1936) is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 3,400 individual and institutional members. ...

White House directive to Archivist

In a White House memo dated March 23, 2001, Counsel to the President conveyed the following to John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States: The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. ... John W. Carlin, an American Democratic Party politician (born March 5, 1940 in Salina, Kansas), served as Governor of Kansas from 1979 to 1987 and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. ... The Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. ...

"Section 2(b) of Executive Order 12667, issued by former President Ronald Reagan on January 16, 1989, requires the Archivist of the United States to delay release of Presidential records at the instruction of the current President. On behalf of the President, I instruct you to extend for 90 days (until June 21, 2001) the time in which President Bush may claim a constitutionally based privilege over the Presidential records that former President Reagan, acting under Section 2204(a) of Title 4, has protected from disclosure for the 12 years since the end of his Presidency. This directive applies as well to the Vice Presidential records of former Vice President George H.W. Bush."

Order: 40th President Vice President: George H.W. Bush Term of office: 20 January 1981 – 20 January 1989 Preceded by: Jimmy Carter Succeeded by: George H.W. Bush Date of birth: 6 February 1911 Place of birth: Tampico, Illinois Date of death: 5 June 2004 Place of death: Bel-Air... Order: 41st President Vice President: Dan Quayle Term of office: January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 Preceded by: Ronald Reagan Succeeded by: Bill Clinton Date of birth: June 12, 1924 Place of birth: Milton, Massachusetts First Lady: Barbara Pierce Bush Political party: Republican George Herbert Walker Bush, KBE (born June...

See also

• Deep Throat (Watergate)
• Freedom of Information Act (United States)

W. Mark Felt, circa 2005 Deep Throat is the pseudonym that was given to a secret source who leaked information about the involvement of U.S. President Richard Nixons administration in the events that came to be known as the Watergate scandal. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

External links

• ALA.org - 'Executive Order 13233', American Library Association
• ARL.org - 'Serious concerns with Executive Order 13233 on Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act' (Letter to Representative Stephen Horn), American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, National Humanities Alliance
• Archivists.org - 'Society of American Archivists responds to Executive Order 13233 on Presidential Papers' (November 6, 2001)
• Archivists.org - 'Call to Action on Executive Order 13233: A Message from President Steve Hensen', Society of American Archivists (November 15, 2001)
• FindArticles.com - 'American Political Science Association response to Executive Order 13233' (Letter to Representative Stephen Horn), Robert D. Putnam, Presidential Studies Quarterly, (March, 2002)
• Impeach-Bush-Now.org - 'Hiding Past and Present Presidencies: The Problems With Bush's Executive Order Burying Presidential Records', John Dean (November 9, 2001)
• MUOhio.edu - Draft Presidential Records Act Executive Order: A "Disaster" for History', Bruce Craig, National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (November 1, 2001)
• Rense.com - 'Executive Order 13233 & The Undermining Of The US Constitution', Greg Burnham (November 8, 2001)

The American Library Association promotes libraries and library education in the United States and internationally. ... The American Library Association promotes libraries and library education in the United States and internationally. ... The Association of Research Libraries is an organization of research libraries in North America. ... The Society of American Archivists (established 1936) is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 3,400 individual and institutional members. ... John Dean, May 7, 1972. ...

References

• Archives.gov - 'Statement by John W. Carlin Archivist of the United States to the Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental Relations of the Committee on Government Reform House of Representatives Congress of the United States: On the Implementation and Effectiveness of the Presidential Records Act of 1978' (November 6, 2001)
• Archives.gov - American Historical Association, Hugh Davis Graham, Stanley I. Kutler, National Security Archive, Organization of American Historians, Public Citizen, Inc., and The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Plaintiffs, v. The National Archives and Records Administration, and John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States, Defendants. Complaint for Declaratory, Injunctive and Mandamus Relief (November 28, 2001)
• FAS.org - 'Executive Order 13233 Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act (text of EO 13233)