Reagan Approves Release of Some Papers by Library

At the insistence of former President Ronald Reagan, 6.3 million pages of White House documents will be made public shortly after the opening of his presidential library near Simi Valley on Nov. 4, officials announced Tuesday.

In a letter to National Archivist Donald W. Wilson, Reagan has waived a 12-year delay on release of 1.5 million pages of selected presidential records consisting of routine position papers and factual information on issues ranging from agriculture to highways and bridges.

Reagan also asked that the archives open up an estimated 4.8 million pages of get-well cards, birthday greetings and other unsolicited letters delivered to Reagan during his eight years at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

“You could say it is the largest initial opening of documents at any presidential library,” said Ralph C. Bledsoe, the library’s director. Although he said he doubts that the content of the documents will make headlines, Bledsoe said the papers might contain a few nuggets of information for historians or other academic researchers.

If their release is approved by President Bush as expected, the 6.3 million pages would be publicly available on Nov. 12--a little more than a week after the historic meeting of Bush, Reagan and three other former Presidents at the library’s opening ceremony in the hills overlooking Simi Valley.

The remainder of the library’s storehouse of 55 million pages of presidential documents--including all Iran-Contra documents--will remain shielded from public view for a decade or more by a variety of restrictions to protect national security, foreign policy and confidentiality.

Initially, the National Archives had planned to delay the release of all documents until a few years after the library opening, so that archivists could continue to categorize the mountain of paper without being slowed by requests from researchers, journalists or the public.

But Reagan aides said the former President was stung by a headline--”Nothing to Read at Reagan Library”--attached to a Times story in February about the three-year restrictions planned at the time for all documents. At that point, Reagan urged his staff to do everything possible to make some documents available at the library opening, his aides said.

“I was told that the headline did stimulate some action here,” Bledsoe said. “When he realized that there would not be as much here for the research community as the tourists, he said, ‘Let’s open as much as we can.’ ”

In addition to White House records, the $60-million Reagan library complex contains a museum that through photographs, exhibits and films will trace Reagan’s life and portray a view of history during Reagan’s years in the White House from the perspective of the former President.

Reagan has asked that 10 categories of White House documents be made available. They are: agriculture, arts, education, highways and bridges, local government, natural resources, parks and monuments, recreation and sports, safety and accident prevention, and state government.

In addition to letters from the public, the initial opening would include all of Reagan’s public statements, press briefings, clippings of media coverage and weekly compilations of editorial cartoons known around the White House as the “Friday Follies.”

Bledsoe said those categories are often opened first at presidential libraries because they contain only small portions of classified or otherwise sensitive documents. He said he suspects that only 5% to 10% of the documents in those categories would remain closed after their review.

Reagan’s papers are the first to fall under the Presidential Records Act of 1978. The law makes all White House documents public property but allows a President to restrict vast categories for 12 years after leaving office if they involve confidential advice, personnel matters, financial information, national defense or foreign policy. Reagan invoked those restrictions in 1981.

American historians anticipate that many of the most intriguing documents--particularly those involving foreign policy or embarrassments to White House officials--will remain secret for at least a decade and probably a generation or longer.

A growing number of scholars have criticized the Presidential Records Act as more concerned about presidential privacy than public interest.