Access to vice presidential records in the aftermath of Executive Order 13,233: From haphazard past to uncertain future

Abstract

Because the vice presidency of the United States was for so many years considered a “nonjob,” it is hardly surprising that preserving its records has been a nonissue for most of the nation's history. However, the vice presidency in recent years has emerged as an executive rather than a decorative role, and vice presidential papers have been included both in legislation to promote access to historical documents, and presidential orders delaying that access, such as Executive Order 13,233. The end result is that researchers arguably have less access to vice presidential records than before the groundbreaking Presidential Records Act of 1978, which should have opened doors to this increasingly rich source of government information.