TABLE OF PRESIDENTIAL E.O.s ON CLASSIFICATION
from: FOIA and the Emergence of Federal Information Policy in the 1980s and 1990s

Published as chapter 4 of
G. David Garson (ed), Handbook of Public Information Systems
(NY: Marcel Dekker, 2000).

Draft as submitted by Jeremy R. T. Lewis
Huntingdon College, Montgomery Alabama

| Text of article I Table of Contents | Table of Executive Orders | Bibliography |

Table 1: Presidential Executive Orders on National Security Classification 
President: Truman

(1951)

 Eisenhower 

(1953)

 Kennedy

(1961)

 Nixon

(1972)

 Carter

(1978)

 Reagan

(1982)

 Clinton

(1995)
Provisions: EO No.: 10,290 10,501 10,964 11,652 12,065 12,356 12,958
Declassification date or event on document at time of classification No 
(Optional)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes Optional 
(OADR)*		 Yes
Portion marking of paragraphs in a document No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Balancing test of public's right to know versus need to protect No No No No Yes No No
Appeals or oversight structure No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Scheduled automatic declassification review No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Formal mandatory review No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Source: Adapted from Moynihan Report 1997, pp.54-56. Data added from Zobrist (1973) and from US House and US Senate Hearings on Executive Privilege, Secrecy in Government, Freedom of Information. Volume III: Appendix (1973) pp. 579-620. 

* The option of "Originating Agency's Determination Required" became a nearly universal stamp, replacing the date of automatic declassification. By 1992, 95% of new classified documents had this marking, according to GAO Report GAO/NSIAD-93-127 (1993).