Building our own "iron curtain": The emergence of secrecy in American Government

American Archivist

Volumn 68, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 18-52

  Ericson, Timothy L ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 79959321249     PISSN: 03609081     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.17723/aarc.68.1.9m260j244177p553     Document Type: Review

References (104)

1. Winston Churchill, "Iron Curtain Speech," 5 March 1946. Available at http://www.nationalcenter.org/ ChurchillIronCurtain.html.
2. Richard Willing, "Scholars: U.S. Tipped to Holocaust in '42." USA Today, 14 May 2004.
3. An extensive, excellent source for other information collected during the Second World War and classified for many years is Richard Breitman, Norman J. W. Goda, Timothy Naftali, and Robert Wolfe, U.S. Intelligence and the Nazis (Washington, D.C.: National Archives Trust Fund Board, 2004).
4. Chelsea J. Carter, "Searchers Press Lonely Hunt for H-Bomb Lost off Georgia," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 May 2004.
5. J. R. Rosenberry, "Radiation Level Prompts Search," Washington Post, 1 October 2004;
6. Larry Copeland, "Interest in Lost H-Bomb Resurfaces," USA Today, 19 October 2004;
7. Hans M. Kristensen, "Nuclear Bomb Dropped in Georgia; No Nuclear Capsule Inserted, Documents Show," Nuclear Information Project, 2004, http://www.nukestrat.com/us/afn/savannah.htm.
8. Evan Thomas and Mark Hosenball, "The Rise and Fall of Chalabi: Bush's Mr. Wrong," Newsweek, 31 May 2004, 26-27.
9. "Shocking Defense of Torture," Des Moines Register, 12 June 2004;
10. Matt Kelley, "Early Complaints of Abu Ghraib Abuse Went Nowhere, Records Show," Des Moines Register, 12 June 2004.
11. James Risen, "CIA Didn't Tell Bush of Doubts over Iraqi Arms, Officials Say," New York Times, 6 July 2004.
12. Al Kamen, "Millions of Secrets," Washington Post, 3 May 2004.
13. Lloyd Dunkelberger, "More Records Now Kept Secret." Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger, 14 March 2004.
14. Society of American Archivists, "A Code of Ethics for Archivists with Commentary, (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1992). This language on "unreasonable restrictions" has been dropped from the revised Code of Ethics approved by SAA council in February 2005.
15. SAA Task Force on Goals and Priorities, Planning for the Archival Profession (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1986), 25-26.
16. Mary Jo Pugh, Providing Reference Services for Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1992), 56.
17. F. Gerald Ham, Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1993), 57.
18. James M. O'Toole, Understanding Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1990), 66.
19. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1904-37): 1:26
20. quoted in Arvin S. Quist, Security Classification of Information, vol. 2, Introduction, History, and Adverse Impacts, rev. ed. (Oak Ridge, Tenn.: Oak Ridge Classification Associates, LLC, 2002), chapter 2. Available at http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/quist/chap-2.html.
21. David McCullough, John Adams (New York: Touchstone Books, 2001), 88.
22. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, 3:393.
23. McCullough, John Adams, 136-37. McCullough writes of the August 2 signing, "Nothing was reported of the historic event. As with everything transacted within Congress, secrecy prevailed. To judge by what was in the newspapers and the correspondence of the delegates, the signing never took place."
24. "Intelligence Operations," in Intelligence in the War for Independence (Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency, n.d., ca. 1998). Available at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/ warindep/intro.shtml.
25. "Intelligence Techniques," in Intelligence in the War of Independence. In response, Congress fired Paine and passed a public resolution, essentially lying about the incident, saying, "His Most Christian Majesty, the great and generous ally of the United States, did not preface his alliance with any supplies whatever sent to America."
26. Quist, Security Classification of Information, 1:chap. 2.
27. Articles of Confederation, art. 9, par. 7.
28. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Secrecy: The American Experience (New Haven, Conn. & London: Yale University Press, 1998), 85;
29. Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1997), A-7-A-8.
30. Under the Naturalization Act, an alien had to be a resident of the United States for fourteen years before he could become a citizen. Therefore such persons could not vote for fourteen years. The act was repealed in 1802. The Alien Act allowed the deportation of aliens, during peacetime, who were considered a threat to the United States (the act expired in 1800). The Alien Enemies Act allowed the imprisonment or deportation during wartime of male aliens over the age of fourteen who were accused of engaging in activities that were contrary to the interests of the government of the United States in time of war (the act expired in 1800). The Sedition Act ("An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes against the United States") was a broad proscription of spoken or written criticism of the government"( the act expired in March 1801). The passage of these acts by the Federalist Party sparked the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which obligated states to nullify within their own borders laws that they considered unconstitutional. "The John Adams Administration: Alien and Sedition Acts," http://www.u-s- history.com/pages/h463.html.
31. Quoted in Joel Dresang, "A Man without a Country," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4 July 2004.
32. Quoted in Sibel Edmonds v. United States Department of Justice, et al., 323 F. Supp. 2d 65 (D.D.C. 2004). Chief Justice Marshall called this a "delicate matter" and noted, "nothing before the court . . . show[ed] that the letter in question contain[ed] any matter the disclosure of which would endanger the public safety," but "[i]f it does contain any matter which it would be imprudent to disclose, which it is not the wish of the executive to disclose, such matter, if it be not immediately and essentially applicable to the point, will, of course, be suppressed." The text of the memorandum opinion in this case is available at http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/ edmonds070604.pdf.
33. Quoted in Sibel Edmonds v. United States Department of Justice, et al.
34. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist: The Famous Papers on the Principles of Government, ed. Benjamin Wright (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2004), 120.
35. Quoted in Moynihan, Secrecy, 101.
36. Percy Scott Flippin, comp., The Archives of the United States Government: A Documentary History, 1774-1934, vol. 3 (Washington, D.C.: Division of Research, National Archives, 1938);
37. Annals of Congress, 11th Cong., 2d sess., 1427, 1633;
38. Report of the Committee Appointed to Inquire into the State of the Ancient Public Records and Archives of the United States (Washington City: R. C. Weightman, 1810), 1-12.
39. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, trans. Henry Reeve, revised and corrected (1839), see chapter 13 at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/ 1-ch13.htm.
40. James Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson (New York: Mason Brothers, 1860), 3:607
41. J. G. Randall, Constitutional Problems under Lincoln, rev. ed. (Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1963), 508
42. The National Academies, "Founding of the National Academy of Sciences," .ast;http://www7.nationalacademies.org/archives/nasfounding. html;
43. Compass Committee Report,", http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ archives/ironcladpic.html.
44. General Orders, no. 35, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, D.C., April 13, 1869
45. Immigration Act of March 3, 1903, U.S. Statutes at Large 32 (1903): 1213;
46. Immigration Act of February 20, 1907, U.S. Statutes at Large 34 (1907) 898.
47. "Primary Documents: U.S. Espionage Act, 15 June 1917," .ast;http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/espionageact.htm;
48. Moynihan, Secrecy, 92, 95-96.
49. Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, Report, A-15.
50. The Sedition Act of 1918," http://www.lyceum.org/events/HD2003/2100/ 1918.htm.
51. Moynihan, Secrecy, 84, 103-4.
52. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, Final Report, chap. 13
53. The Practice of Secrecy." Available at http://www.eh.doe.gov/ohre/ roadmap/achre/report.html.
54. Hugh C. Keenan, "Executive Orders: A Brief History of Their Use and the President's Power to Issue Them," revised February 26, 1974, by Grover S. Williams. Available at http://www.intermediamarketing. cc/liberty/ executiveorders.htm.
55. Keenan, "Executive Orders."
56. "Truman Issues Orders Ending Federal Segregation," http://www.nps.gov/pwso/honor/order 9981.htm.
57. See Executive Order 8758 at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/ executive-orders/1941.html;
58. Executive Order 1090 at The Donnelly Collection of Presidential Executive Orders," http://www.conservativeusa. org/eo.
59. Executive Orders: Additional Information," http://www. conservativeusa.org/execorderinfo.htm.
60. Executive Order 10501, "Safeguarding Official Information in the Interests of the Defense of the United States," http://www.fas.org/irp/ offdocs/eo10501.htm.
61. Executive Order 12065, "National Security Information," http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/ eo-12065.htm.
62. Executive Order 12958, "Classified National Security Information," http://www.fas.org/sgp/clinton/ eo12958.html;
63. Michael Warner, ed., Central Intelligence: Origin and Evolution (Washington, D.C.: CIA History Staff, Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, 2001), 1. Available at www.cia.gov/csi/books/cia- origin/Origin-and-Evolution.pdf.
64. Warner, ed., Central Intelligence: Origin and Evolution, 6.
65. Public Citizen, "Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)," http://www.bushsecrecy.org/.
66. Information Security Oversight Office, Report to the President 2003, http://www.archives.gov/isoo/ reports/2003-annual-report.html;
67. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, "Open Records Audit Shows 50 Percent Compliance," http://www.rcfp.org/news/2004/0610ohioau. html.
68. Michael Isikoff, "The Dots Never Existed," Newsweek, 19 July 2004, 36-38;
69. James Risen, "CIA Didn't Tell Bush of Doubts over Iraq Arms, Officials Say," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6 July 2004 (reprinted from the New York Times).
70. Information Security Oversight Office, Report to the President 2002, 15, http://www.archives.gov/ isoo/reports/2002-annual-report.html;
71. J. William Leonard, "Report on Cost Estimates for Security Classification Activities, July 2004,http://www.archives.gov/isoo/reports/2003- cost-report.html.
72. "Report of Select Committee on Intelligence," 108th Cong., 2d sess., Congressional Record 150 (13 July 2004): S7951-52;
73. Isikoff, The Dots Never Existed."
74. Philip Shenon and David E. Sanger, "Bush Aides Block Clinton's Papers from 9/11 Panel," New York Times, 2 April 2004;
75. Dan Eggen and Steve Coll, "Final Report from 9/11 Committee Coming This Week," Washington Post, 18 July 2004.
76. FAS Project on Government Secrecy, Secrecy News, no. 75, 25 August 2004.
77. FAS Project on Government Secrecy, Secrecy News, no. 62, 7 July 2004. The court ruling can be seen at http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/edmonds070604.pdf.
78. "Medicare Officials Kept Data from Congress," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7 July 2004;
79. Robert Pear, "Inquiry Confirms Top Medicare Official Threatened Actuary over Cost of Drug Benefits," New York Times, 7 July 2004.
80. Richard Gid Powers, "Introduction," in Moynihan, Secrecy, 27.
81. J. William Leonard, "The Importance of Basics," Remarks at the National Classification Management Society's Annual Training Seminar, 15 June 2004, 2. Available at www.fas.org/sgp/isoo/ leonard061504.pdf.
82. See also Vietnam Veterans of America, "The Pentagon Papers and Their Continuing Significance," http://www.vva.org/pentagon/history/history. html.
83. Kamen, "Millions of Secrets."
84. Timothy L. Ericson, e-mail message to F. James Sensenbrenner, 4 July 2004; Sensenbrenner, letter to Ericson, 22 July 2004. When the papers are scheduled to be released, Sensenbrenner will be eighty-four years old.
85. Executive Order 13233, "Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act," http://www.fas. org/sgp/ news/2001/11/eo-pra.html.
86. Executive Order 13292, "Further Amendment to Executive Order 12958, as Amended, Classified National Security Information," http://www.fas.org/ sgp/bush/eoamend.html;
87. Public Citizen, "Analysis of Executive Order 13292," http://www.bushsecrecy.org.
88. Shannon McCaffrey, "Ashcroft Won't Turn Over Memos on Torture," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 June 2004;
89. Kelley, "Early Complaints of Abu Ghraib Abuse Went Nowhere;" Judy Keen, "White House Responds to Critics with Policy Disclosure," USA Today, 23 June 2004;
90. Mike Allen and Susan Schmidt, "Memo on Interrogation Tactics is Disavowed," Washington Post, 24 June 2004;
91. Toni Locy and John Diamond, "Memo Lists Acceptable 'Aggressive' Interrogation Methods," USA Today, 28 June 2004.
92. FAS Project on Government Secrecy, Secrecy News, no. 98, 8 November 2004.
93. Additional background on this issue is available in United States House of Representatives Committee on Governmental Reform-Minority Staff, Special Investigations Division, Secrecy in the Bush Administration, 14 September 2004, 53-55. The report, prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman, is available at http://www.fas.org/sgp/ library/waxman.pdf
94. Don Behm, "State Supreme Court Splits on Public Records Case," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 June 2004.
95. Senator Ron Wyden, testimony to introduce legislation to establish an independent National Security Classification Board, 108th Cong., 2d sess., Congressional Record 150 (15 July 2004): S8234-S8237.
96. Wyden was quoting from an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
97. Dunkelberger, "More Records Now Kept Secret."
98. American Civil Liberties Union, http://www.aclu.org/safeandfree/;
99. Information Security Oversight Office, http://www.archives.gov/isoo/;
100. National Security Archive, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/;
101. OMB Watch, http://www.ombwatch.org/;
102. Public Citizen, http://www.citizen.org/;
103. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, http://www.rcfp.org/;
104. and the Federation of American Scientists, http://www.fas.org/main/home. jsp.