Presidential Records Act
- 1978 Presidential Records Act (PRA)
- Presidential Records are covered by the PRA.
- Amendments
- Access & Legal Challenges
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.
Access & Legal Challenges
- Opening the Reagan Documents
A brief description of the implementation of the PRA and the Reagan documents by the Archivist in August 2001.
- Statement on the Implementation and Effectiveness of the PRA
Statement by John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States, to the Congress of the United States on November 6, 2001.
- Legal complaint
Filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on November 28, 2001
PDF files require the free Adobe Reader.
More information on Adobe Acrobat PDF files is available on our Accessibility page.
