On January 21, in one of his first official acts, President Barack Obama revoked the Bush administration’s Executive Order 13233 that severely limited access by the public to presidential records. Click here to see a copy of President Obama’s new executive order.
The press release from the White House says the following:
“The Executive Order on Presidential Records brings those principles to presidential records by giving the American people greater access to these historic documents. This order ends the practice of having others besides the President assert executive privilege for records after an administration ends. Now, only the President will have that power, limiting its potential for abuse. And the order also requires the Attorney General and the White House Counsel to review claims of executive privilege about covered records to make sure those claims are fully warranted by the Constitution.”
From The National Coalition for History
See also Denver Post “Obama limits ex-presidents’ discretion on records by Mark Sherman, January 21, 2009.
See also The Washington Times “Obama lifts Bush’s veil of secrecy: Repeals act to extend presidential records shield by Christina Bellantoni and Stephen Dian, January 22, 2009.
See also The Washington Post “The President’s papers are the people’s business,” Steven L. Hensen, Director of Planning and Project Development at Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscripts and Special Collections Library and President of the Society of American Archivists responds
President Obama Revokes Bush Presidential Records Executive Order
