When it comes to the office of the president, all official documents belong to history. That’s due to the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which Congress passed to avert another Watergate.
Before the Presidential Records Act, archiving presidential records was an unofficial norm. Franklin D. Roosevelt set the precedent in 1940 when he established the first presidential library and began donating his papers there. After that, records preservation became a policy that Congress didn’t feel the need to enforce through legislation until the 1970s, when Richard M. Nixon very publicly broke it.
Following more recent elaborate presidential scandals, it’s easy to forget that the 1972-74 Watergate scandal was a complex mess. One of the big legal questions involved whether or not Nixon had an obligation to turn over his secret tapes, which Congress suspected might contain incriminating information.
At the time, presidential records were still legally considered a president’s private property. Nixon could donate them to the National Archives, but the archives could not demand them—and Nixon didn’t think Congress could either. Rather than face impeachment, Nixon resigned in 1974 and threatened to destroy the tapes.
As a stopgap measure, Congress passed the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 to seize Nixon records pertaining to Watergate and government abuse and preserve them in the National Archives. The government obtained most of the recordings, though it never discovered what had been on one of the tape’s famous 18-and-a-half-minute gap.
Watergate at a Glance
Five men are arrested after breaking into the Democratic National Committee’s Watergate headquarters, stealing copies of top-secret documents and bugging the office’s phones. They later plead guilty to conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping. Two stand trial and are convicted. More
Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward has his first meeting with a source known as "Deep Throat." Woodward and his colleague, Carl Bernstein, later publish a story revealing that a $25,000 check earmarked for Nixon’s re-election campaign was deposited into the account of one of the men arrested for the Watergate break-in. Over nearly two years, Woodward and Bernstein break many stories about the Watergate scandal. More
Nixon refuses to turn over presidential tape recordings that might reveal his administration’s role in the Watergate break-in. The Senate Watergate committee then issues subpoenas for the tapes. When Nixon again refuses, the special prosecutor and Senate committee ask the Supreme Court to decide the issue. More
Nixon fires special prosecutor Archibald Cox and abolishes the office. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure to impeach President Nixon mounts in Congress. More
During a televised question-and-answer session, Nixon is asked about his role in the Watergate burglary scandal and efforts to cover up the fact that members of his re-election committee had funded the break-in. Nixon replies, “People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.” More
The House Judiciary Committee approves three articles of impeachment against Nixon: obstruction of justice, misuse of powers and violation of his oath of office, and failure to comply with House subpoenas.
After being ordered by a unanimous Supreme Court ruling to release a set of unedited tapes of presidential conversations, the White House finally relents and the so-called “smoking gun” tape becomes public. In the recording of a June 23, 1972 conversation, Nixon is heard approving a proposal from his chief of staff H. R. Haldeman to press the FBI to drop its investigation of the Watergate break-in. More
Nixon submits a signed letter of resignation to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, becoming the only U.S. president in history to resign from office. Vice President Gerald Ford becomes president. One month later, on September 8, 1974, Ford pardons Nixon. More
Four years later, Congress passed the broader Presidential Records Act that required every president to archive official records (the 1974 act only applied to Nixon). The new act went into effect in 1981, when Ronald Reagan began his term.
Crucially, the 1978 act established that presidential records are not a president’s private property; they are public property that belongs to the government. In 2014, Congress updated the act to include electronic records like email and Twitter, the latter of which President Donald Trump regularly used to make public announcements about firings, policy and foreign relations before being banned from the service.
