Sealed archives may be released

Researchers at Princeton and across the country may soon enjoy increased access to presidential documents, following the introduction of a bill in Congress last Thursday intended to reverse restrictions on public viewing of White House records.

The Presidential Records Act Amendment of 2007, introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), would limit executive privilege to current and former presidents and establish a firm timetable for the review of documents for public release. If the bill passes, it will effectively constitute a return to pre-Bush administration policies. A similar bill, brought before the Republican-controlled Congress in 2004, did not succeed.

University professors who specialize in the presidency praised the prospective legislation, saying open access to records is crucial for their academic endeavors.

"Historical documents of the sort the Bush administration has sought to make less available are the lifeblood of scholarship in history and in the kind of qualitative political science I engage in," Wilson School professor emeritus Fred Greenstein said in an email. He conducted research into the Eisenhower administration that is widely seen as marking a sea change in scholars' views of the former president.

"Without [the documents]," Greenstein added, "I could not have learned of Eisenhower's hidden-hand leadership and corrected a false historical record. Moreover, the insights that come from such documents are not 'merely' academic. They provide practical insights into how to conduct ... public affairs."

Bush's Executive Order 13233, which Waxman's bill seeks to repeal, extended the 12-year period in which past presidents have been able to exercise executive privilege. The order also granted executive privilege to presidential heirs and, for the first time, to the office of the vice president.

Many have been critical of the order, which has been seen as "a specific attempt to protect [Bush's] two most important colleagues," Wilson School professor Stanley Katz said, referring to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld '54 and Vice President Dick Cheney.

"I am thrilled that Congress has finally awakened from its stupor," Katz added, attributing the bill's introduction to Democratic control of both houses of Congress. "[The Bush administration has] made more extreme claims for executive privilege than any administration since Richard Nixon."

Though many have criticized Bush's actions, the executive order that the new bill seeks to overturn has had little practical impact, experts said. "There have been a lot of complaints by political scientists and historians but usually not because they have been affected," Wilson School professor Nolan McCarty said. "The effects so far have been pretty minimal."

The controversy over the executive order began during Bush's exploratory actions to establish his presidential library at Southern Methodist University. Faculty at the university protested the choice in light of the Bush administration's "attitude that the public doesn't have the right to information related to public policy decisions," Katz said.

If the order stands, the library would be "a rather hollow archive," McCarty said.

Despite the controversy over Bush's actions, executive privilege has traditionally been considered a legitimate presidential power. For the executive branch to be properly advised, it is necessary that recommendations not "be altered in any way by fear that sooner or later the source of the advice will be made public," McCarty explained, likening executive privilege to attorney-client confidentiality.

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Nevertheless, he added that if Waxman's bill does not succeed in overturning Bush's executive order, the policy's ramifications will only truly be seen in years to come.

"Most of the concern is for the future," McCarty said.