The U.S. Federal Governments' process of classifying, safeguarding and declassifying documents is outlined in Executive Order 13526. For additional information on declassified documents, visit the National Archives' main declassified page.
The FOIA Electronic Reading Room is provided as a public service by the Office of the Chief Information Officer's Information Management Services. Here you can view documents released through the FOIA and other CIA release programs.
The Department of State administers information access programs including the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and the Mandatory Declassification Review programs. These programs can be used to obtain access to a variety of Department records.
The Vault is the FBI's FOIA Library, containing 6,700 documents and other media that have been scanned from paper into digital copies. Search by keyword or browse by categories.
"As NSA/CSS reviews records under the Freedom of Information Act or Mandatory Declassification Review provisions of Executive Order 13526, we will make the material available to the public via the NSA.gov website on the Internet. In addition, NSA/CSS periodically conducts "Special Topical Reviews" of categories of records, such as the Gulf of Tonkin, USS Liberty, UKUSA, and posts those records to this site. Lastly, in accordance with the federal Open Government initiative, we will identify subjects and records for which there is a general public interest. We will meet transparency goals by reviewing those records and including them on this web page." (from website)
"Through research, advocacy, and public education, the FAS Project on Government Secrecy works to challenge excessive government secrecy and to promote public oversight."
The OpenNet database provides easy, timely access to over 495,000 bibliographic references and 147,000 recently declassified documents, including information declassified in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. In addition to these documents, OpenNet references older document collections from several DOE sources.
"Founded in 1985 by journalists and scholars to check rising government secrecy, the National Security Archive combines a unique range of functions: investigative journalism center, research institute on international affairs, library and archive of declassified U.S. documents ("the world's largest nongovernmental collection" according to the Los Angeles Times), leading non-profit user of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, public interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information, global advocate of open government, and indexer and publisher of former secrets." (from website)
The Digital Archive contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe, uncovering new sources and providing insights into the history of international relations and diplomacy. This archive focuses on foreign government documents declassified, with particular emphasis on the Cold War, nuclear proliferation, and Korea.
NARA Declassified Documents by Release Year
Topics: USSR • Middle East • Southeast Asia • Latin America • Far East • NATO • Psychological Strategy • Intelligence • Communism • Cotton • Minerals Stockpiling • Labor Issues • Military Assistance
Topics: Europe • South/Southeast Asia • Japan • Middle East • North Africa • Psychological Strategy • Nuclear Matters • Disarmament • Committees for a Free Asia/Free Russia • Defense • Communism • U-2/RB-47 Incident • USSR • Antarctica • Foreign Policy • Covert Operations Activities • Intelligence • Central America
Topics: Defense Matters • Doctrinal Programs • Europe • Intelligence Matters • Nuclear Matters • NSC 5412 • Reconnaissance • Middle East • Cultural Programs • Dominican Republic • Turkey • Latin America
Topics: PSB D-21/Germany/Berlin • Defense Matters • Psychological Warfare/Strategy • Intelligence Matters • NSC 5412 • Middle East/Far East • Singapore/Malaya
Topics: Psychological Warfare/Strategy • Latin America • Intelligence Matters • Southeast Asia • Cuba • Nuclear Matters • Tibet • NATO • Communist Party • National Security • North Africa • Middle East
Topics: Southeast Asia • Near East • NATO • Germany • Intelligence Matters • Poland • Atomic Weapons • White House Staff Notes • Civil Defense
Topics: Southeast Asia • North Africa • Japan • National Security Council • Cuba • German Escapees • Europe • International Monetary Fund • Jordan • Nuclear Policy
Topics: National Security • NATO • Taiwan • Intelligence Briefings • Suez • Atomic Energy • Military Programs • Soviet Defector Reports • Communist Party USA
Topics: OCB Daily Intelligence Abstracts • Atomic Nuclear Policy • NATO • Latin America • Intelligence Matters • Japan • NASA
"Use the links to view the folder title listing for the specified boxes in order to locate names, dates or topics of interest."
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force", was commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. Daniel Ellsberg, an early supporter of U.S. involvement in Indochina, worked on the preparation of the 1967 study. By 1969, however, Ellsberg had come to believe that the war in Vietnam was unwinnable. In 1971, Ellsberg leaked portions of the report to Neil Sheehan, a reporter at The New York Times.
From the National Security Archive. A post providing an overview of history and documents related to Area 51. Originally published: Oct 29, 2013
Created by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum. The Ford library staff reviewed for possible declassification nearly 40,000 pages of National Security Adviser files on Indochina. The exhibit illustrates the wealth of material now available for research.