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Bush Administration Puts Hold on Release of Reagan Papers
By Deb Riechmann Associated Press Writer
Published: Jun 7, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is holding up release of 68,000 pages of presidential records that offer an insider's view of how decisions were made in the Reagan White House.
The confidential memos, letters and briefing papers passed among Ronald Reagan and his top advisers were to have come out in January - 12 years after Reagan left office, as established by post-Watergate laws.
But the White House counsel's office asked the National Archives to delay the release until at least June 21 so government lawyers can look at the files that researchers and others are waiting to dig through.
White House officials say the Reagan documents are the first that would have been released under a presidential records law passed in 1978. They say care must be taken to make sure it's done right.
Historians, on the other hand, say they think President Bush is worried about what some of his top aides might have written when they worked for Reagan in the 1980s.
"I think what Bush is doing is protecting the people who were in the Reagan administration and his father's administration who are still around," said American University historian Anna Nelson. "I think this is part of that everlasting fear that somebody did something in the past that they can't remember. I think they're trying to protect their own people."
Secretary of State Colin Powell was on Reagan's national security team. Budget Director Mitchell Daniels Jr. was Reagan's political director. Chief White House economist Lawrence Lindsey was on Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. Many others, including White House chief of staff Andrew Card, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Ken Dam, nominated for the No. 2 job at Treasury, all worked for Reagan. And of course Reagan's vice president was George Herbert Walker Bush, the president's father.
"Some of these people are veterans from the Reagan administration, and they don't want the documents seen," said Vanderbilt University history professor Hugh Graham. "They don't know what's in there, so they're worried."
Nelson and others worry the Bush administration wants to find a way to keep the Reagan documents sealed, or it is looking for ways to put more restrictions on how and when presidential papers can be opened. The 12-year hold on similar papers from former President Bush's administration expires in 2005 - the year Bush could be starting a second term.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGABT5N2ONC.html
By Deb Riechmann Associated Press Writer
Published: Jun 7, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is holding up release of 68,000 pages of presidential records that offer an insider's view of how decisions were made in the Reagan White House.
The confidential memos, letters and briefing papers passed among Ronald Reagan and his top advisers were to have come out in January - 12 years after Reagan left office, as established by post-Watergate laws.
But the White House counsel's office asked the National Archives to delay the release until at least June 21 so government lawyers can look at the files that researchers and others are waiting to dig through.
White House officials say the Reagan documents are the first that would have been released under a presidential records law passed in 1978. They say care must be taken to make sure it's done right.
Historians, on the other hand, say they think President Bush is worried about what some of his top aides might have written when they worked for Reagan in the 1980s.
"I think what Bush is doing is protecting the people who were in the Reagan administration and his father's administration who are still around," said American University historian Anna Nelson. "I think this is part of that everlasting fear that somebody did something in the past that they can't remember. I think they're trying to protect their own people."
Secretary of State Colin Powell was on Reagan's national security team. Budget Director Mitchell Daniels Jr. was Reagan's political director. Chief White House economist Lawrence Lindsey was on Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. Many others, including White House chief of staff Andrew Card, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Ken Dam, nominated for the No. 2 job at Treasury, all worked for Reagan. And of course Reagan's vice president was George Herbert Walker Bush, the president's father.
"Some of these people are veterans from the Reagan administration, and they don't want the documents seen," said Vanderbilt University history professor Hugh Graham. "They don't know what's in there, so they're worried."
Nelson and others worry the Bush administration wants to find a way to keep the Reagan documents sealed, or it is looking for ways to put more restrictions on how and when presidential papers can be opened. The 12-year hold on similar papers from former President Bush's administration expires in 2005 - the year Bush could be starting a second term.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGABT5N2ONC.html
