Release of Reagan Papers Expected to Attract Historians

Capping months of anticipation, archivists at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library released nearly 60,000 pages of presidential papers Friday, a move expected to draw a wave of scholars, researchers and historians to the mountaintop museum near Simi Valley.

The materials, approved for public review by the National Archives earlier this week, include everything from Reagan’s weekly radio addresses and annual State of the Union speeches to reports on civil rights, voting rights and human rights.

The collection also includes the office files of dozens of Reagan staffers, including such notables as Colin Powell, Edwin Meese and Oliver North.

Only a few news crews were on hand for Friday morning’s unveiling, but library Director Duke Blackwood said he expects the presidential records to spur plenty of attention.

“Any time we can open more documents that tell the story of the Reagan administrations, we feel it’s important,” Blackwood said. “I think we are going to have, from a research standpoint, a steady stream of interest.”

The documents were among about 68,000 pages of Reagan records that had been withheld from public review under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which allows former presidents to keep under wraps papers that contain confidential advice and information.

The law sets a 12-year period of confidentiality, meaning Reagan’s papers should have been available for public inspection last January.

However, in a controversial move, President Bush issued an executive order late last year to override the 1978 act, barring archivists from releasing any former president’s records until the sitting president and the former president’s representative give their approval.

The order was challenged by historians and journalists eager to get at the confidential communications from Reagan’s White House.

In the meantime, the National Archives cleared 8,000 pages for release earlier this year, followed by the 59,850 pages of documents disclosed Friday. Still at issue are 150 additional pages of Reagan papers currently under review by the White House.

There is no scheduled release date for those documents.