On presidential records and the current controversy:
"Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first to assert presidential papers should be preserved for future generations. He considered presidents stewards, not owners, of their materials. The wealthy Roosevelt privately built a facility and then donated the papers and collections to the National Archives.
"Roosevelt's library sparked public awareness of these papers, and by the late 1940s the question about what the country should do with the president's papers came to a head. Roosevelt's successor, Harry Truman, was hesitant to make all his records fully public property, but he also was appalled to find out how many predecessors' records had been intentionally destroyed.
"'Such destruction should never again be permitted,' said Truman in 1949. 'The truth behind a president's actions can be only found in his official papers, and every presidential paper is official.'
"The Presidential Libraries Act was passed by Congress in 1955. It allowed private construction of locations to house presidential papers, but those libraries would be maintained by the national government. The presidential documents were still considered the private property of their chief executive, though most donated them to their libraries.
"In 1974, the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act was enacted to prevent the destruction of President Richard Nixon's materials in the wake of the Watergate scandal. In 1978, passage of the Presidential Records Act settled the question of ownership over presidential records: They were the property of the American public. As soon as a president leaves office, all records move immediately to the custody of the national archivist.
"The 1978 legislation stated that duplicate or truly nonrelevant records can be disposed of, but only after consultation with the archivist of the United States. In 2014, this act was updated to also include electronic records.
"Presidential records have occasionally stirred controversy. Many presidents have sought to shield possibly embarrassing or controversial information from public view."
