Access to contemporary and historical information and documents created by the three branches of the United States federal government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.
Declassified documents are those that were formerly considered classified by the government because of their sensitive nature, such as those related to national security or presidential records, and are later made available to the public. Listed below are resources for locating declassified documents electronically.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law ensuring public
access to U.S. government records by request. If you need more information about FOIA go to the following sources.
An independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University, the Archive collects and publishes declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Developed by the Federation of American Scientist, the FAS Project on Government Secrecy works to challenge excessive government secrecy and to promote public oversight.
Collection of significant primary documents central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945. Declassified government documents obtained through use of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The resource comprises the following databases; Afghanistan: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1973–1990; The Afghanistan War and the United States, 1998-2017; Argentina, 1975-1980: The Making of U.S. Human Rights Policy; The Berlin Crisis, 1958–1962; Chile and the United States: U.S. Policy toward Democracy, Dictatorship, and Human Rights, 1970–1990; China and the United States: From Hostility to Engagement, 1960–1998; CIA Covert Operations: From Carter to Obama, 1977-2010; CIA Family Jewels Indexed; Colombia and the United States: Political Violence, Narcotics, and Human Rights, 1948-2010; The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962; The Cuban Missile Crisis: 50th Anniversary Update; The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited: An International Collection, From Bay of Pigs to Nuclear Brink; Death Squads, Guerrilla War, Covert Ops, and Genocide: Guatemala and the United States, 1954-1999; Electronic Surveillance and the National Security Agency: From Shamrock to Snowden; El Salvador: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1977–1984; El Salvador: War, Peace, and Human Rights, 1980–1994; Iran: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1977–1980; The Iran-Contra Affair: The Making of a Scandal, 1983–1988; Iraqgate: Saddam Hussein, U.S. Policy and the Prelude to the Persian Gulf War, 1980–1994; Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations, 1960–1976, 1877-1992, and Part III, 1961-2000; The Kissinger Telephone Conversations: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977; The Kissinger Transcripts: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977; Mexico-United States Counternarcotics Policy, 1969-2013; The National Security Agency: Organization and Operations, 1945-2009; Nicaragua: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1978–1990; Peru: Human Rights, Drugs and Democracy, 1980-2000; The Philippines: U.S. Policy During the Marcos Years, 1965–1986; Presidential Directives on National Security, Part I: From Truman to Clinton; Presidential Directives on National Security, Part II: From Truman to George W. Bush; South Africa: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1962–1989; The Soviet Estimate: U.S. Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947–1991; Targeting Iraq, Part 1: Planning, Invasion, and Occupation, 1997-2004; Terrorism and U.S. Policy, 1968–2002; U.S. Climate Change Diplomacy: From the Montreal Protocol to the Paris Agreement, 1981-2015; U.S. Espionage and Intelligence, 1947–1996; U.S. Intelligence and China: Collection, Analysis and Covert Action; The U.S. Intelligence Community: Organization, Operations and Management, 1947–1989; The U.S. Intelligence Community After 9/11; U.S. Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction: From World War II to Iraq; U.S. Military Uses of Space, 1945–1991; U.S. Nuclear History: Nuclear Arms and Politics in the Missile Age, 1955–1968; U.S. Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy, 1945–1991; U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part I (1954-1968) and Part II: (1969-1975); U.S. Policy toward Iran: From the Revolution to the Nuclear Accord, 1978-2015; and The United States and the Two Koreas, Part 1 (1969-2000) and Part II (1969-2010).
This collection is made up of U.S. government documents obtained from presidential libraries. These libraries receive declassified documents from various government agencies, including the White House, the CIA, the FBI, the State Department, and others.
Service developedby the Dept. of Energy to provide easy, timely access to recently declassified documents, including information declassified in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. Database is updated regularly as more information becomes available.
Collection includes documents on the Berlin Airlift, Cold War Decision to Drop the Atomic, Bomb Desegregation of the Armed Forces, Eleanor Roosevelt & Harry Truman, Election Campaign of 1948, Herbert Hoover & Harry Truman, Korean War, Japanese-Americans During WWII, Marshall Plan, NATO, Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes Trials, Truman Doctrine, Truman's Farewell Address, January 15, 1953, Recognition of the State of Israel, and the United Nations World War I Inter-War Years
