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October 30, 2004
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Main Section Presidential Libraries Main Page
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Access to Presidential Records

The records of former President Ronald Reagan are the first Presidential records to be governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978. The PRA specified that all official Presidential and Vice Presidential records created after that date are the property of the Federal Government and established the legal basis for access to the records of Presidents from Reagan forward.

Executive Order 12667, issued by President Reagan in January 1989, established the procedures for NARA and former and incumbent Presidents to implement the PRA. More recently, on November 1, 2001, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13233, which supersedes the previous Executive Order. The Bush Executive Order also includes the records of former Vice Presidents.

For further information about the PRA, the Executive Orders, and legal challenges to Executive Order 13233, please see the following links:

  • Opening the Reagan Records - a brief description of the implementation of the PRA and the Reagan records from the Archivist. August 2001

  • Executive Order 13233 - Further implementation of the Presidential Records Act. November 1, 2001

  • Legal complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. November 28, 2001

  • Statement by John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States, to the Congress of the United States on the Implementation and Effectiveness of the Presidential Records Act of 1978. November 6, 2001

  • Presidential Records Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22)
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