LETTER TO FELLOW CONSULTANTS: FROM JOHN C. BRODERICK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87-00058R000200210007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 19, 2012
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: March 29, 1985
• Content Type: LETTER

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ROUTING AND RECORD
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Att?e4 .18 the oat ..report
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,PrePatetr!for the donsuttants on
our neW,Etistorical*elitew
Program." The '-.413 now
being circulated to ;thet',, -
consultants :for -*,,gnatute.:
came out pretty such 116
we wanted it to and most of the
recommendations were approached
as we actually,proppaad.
Rea McDonald has now, been
tasked to prepare a draft of the
overall report due to Congress
on 1 June 1985. When we have
that draft, I will be calling
for a -meeting with you to
discuss the extent to which the
draft report to the Congress
should ,be coordinated within the
Agency. ,
Attachment:
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THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
WASHINGTON. DC. 30540
March 29, 1985
Fellow Consultants:
We had a great teleconference the other day for one thing:
we lost Gaddis Smith early on. Sorry about that, Gaddi i He provided his
revisions later in the afternoon, which ioare i to the text,
with no evident incompatibility.
When the original report reac ease si transmit
to the next destination in the follow Addresses tectuants.)
Your copy is enclosed herewith. I an informat on copy to
Ken mcDonald.
1. Caddis Smith
2. John Caddis
3. Dick
4. Bob Warner
Bob will da
moving
Snalosure
Dr. caddie Smith
468 Whitney Venue
Meat Haven, Connecticut 06511
inal to CIA. we should keep this
leaving in mid-April.)
Yours sincerely,
John C. Broderick
Assistant Librarian
for Research Services
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A REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
BY CONSULTANTS ON THE HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
Public Law 98-477, enacted October 15, 1984, requires that the
Director of Central Intelligence consult with the Archivist of the United
States, the Librarian of Congress, and appropriate representatives of the
historical discipline selected by the Archivist in preparing "a report on the
feasibility of conducting systematic review for declassification and release
of Central Intelligence Agency information of historical value." The
Archivist designated the following historians to serve as consultants:
John Lewis Gaddis, Distinguished Professor of History, Ohio University;
Richard W. Leopold, William Smith Mason Professor of History, emeritus,
Northwestern University; and Gaddis Smith, Lamed Professor of History, Yale
University. The Librarian of Congress was represented by the Assistant
Librarian for Research Services, John C. Broderick. The Archivist, Robert M.
Warner, was accompanied by two members of his staff: Frank G. Burke, Acting
Assistant Archivist for the National Archives, and Alan Thompson, Director of
the Records Declassification Division. On March 19, Mr. Thompson represented
the Archivist. (Biographical sunmaries about the consultants are attached to
this report.)
The Consultants met at CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia, March
18-19, 1985, to discuss with the Director and members of his staff the
Historical Review program established by the Agency to meet the requirements
of PL 98-477. The two-day program, arranged by CIA Chief Historian J. Kenneth
McDonald, provided the consultant group with an opportunity to acquaint itself
fl
Li
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with plans and procedures adopted by CIA and to discuss relevant issues with
the staff members responsible for implementing the Historical Review Program
in all its aspects. Following the briefings, the consultants met in
executive session to formulate their recommendations. (A full agenda of the
meeting is attached to this report.)
In the view of the consultants, PL 98-477 attempts to balance the
benefits of an informed public with the national security need for an
effective intelligence service. The Director of Central Intelligence has
accepted the validity of public and historical interest in CIA files,
consistent with the need to protect sources and foreign relations (Casey to
Durenberger, October 4, 1983). The consultants likewise recognize the need to
balance CIA's statutory obligation to protect intelligence sources and methods
with legitimate historical interest in CIA records. PL 98-477, the Agency's
Historical Review Program, and the work of the undersigned consultants seem to
be important steps toward achieving such a balance.
Nevertheless, the consultants urge recognition of the fact that, in
a society as open as that of the united States, excessive secrecy erodes
Government credibility and encourages distortions of the historical record.
The Department of State's decision in 1955 to release documentation on the
Yalta Conference, only ten years after the event, provides an excellent
example of how a policy of generous disclosure can pramote more balanced
discussion of controversial events without in any way compromising the
interests of national security. We hope to see the CIA historical review
program produce comparable results. We wish also to stress that the
availability of full and reliable historical documentation is indispensable
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for the education of students from whose ranks will come future officers of
the Executive Branch, legislators, and teachers and commentators dealing with
issues of national security policy.
We commend the decision by the Director and the Agency to assign a
prominent role to the Historical Office in providing insight and judgments on
historical value throughout the review process.
Aims and Methods. The aim of the Historical Review Program must
be release of inactive records, appraised as permanently valuable, to the
public via the National Archives, as the most effective means of serving the
public interest and especially that of historical research. To that end the
consultants recommend that (1) the Historical Review Program examine all
permanently valuable records chronologically, beginning with the earliest,
including the so-called "designated files" (i.e., those identified in
PL 98-477, under Sec. 701 (b)). It is understood that the Agency is required
to make a decennial review of exempted operational files. (CIA staff indicate
that such a review will occur more often than every ten years.) Nevertheless,
because records affecting a single activity of historical importance may
appear in several files, including "designated files," it is hoped that the
review program will include the latter files, in the expectation that one or
more of the following actions may take place: dedesignation, declassification,
and release to the public through transfer to the National Archives.
Ideally, whole office file systems, whole file series, and whole
documents should be released as a result of the Historical Review Program.
However, the consultants recommend that, when necessary, (2) release of
sanitized documents is preferable to withholding of whole documents, when the
following conditions are met: (a) the "sanitizing" may be accomplished with
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little additional staff effort and minimal impact on the Review Program, (b)
the essential significance of the record is retained, and (c) there is no
distortion of bibliographical identity, including authorship and recipient,
and use made of the record, even if details of internal dissemination are
excised.
The consultants recommend that (3) those involved in the
Historical Review Program, both permanent staff and those employed ad hoc,
take full account of the extent to which information about CIA activities
is already available other than through release of CIA files. They suggest
close consultation with the Historical Office to achieve this goal.
Criteria. The consultants recommend that (4) the Historical
Review Program adopt National Archives and Records Administration standards in
selecting records for review (e.g., oldest records first, coherent groups,
etc.). Further, the historical value and potential "yield" should be
considered, keeping in mind the principle stated above, that the review
program should ultimately lead to release of inactive files through the
National Archives. Throughout, it should be remembered that "historical value
equals that which is of value to historians," primarily those records that
illuminate major national policies in the area of foreign affairs and national
security. Although the basic approach in the review program will be
determined by the nature of information in the files examined, we urge that both
chronological and topical approaches be adopted. TWO other principles may be
expressed as follows: "finished first" and "top down." The final version of
an intelligence report will be of value to historians, even if the raw
material leading to the report remains classified and/or unreleased. It may
be that the final report is the only version which the policymaker had
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available to him or her, in any case. The second principle applies to the
order of priority. In other words, the files of the agency heads and
principal subordinates are likely to be of greatest historical interest and
value. Insofar as possible, such files should be high on the list of priori-
ties for review, assuming that the "yield" in releasable files makes such an
approach feasible. Ultimately, all records should be reviewed. Although
finished intelligence considered by high ranking officials should have first
priority, definitive history must be based on access to a mass of "unfinished,"
operational and administrative records. Furthermore, there is no way for one
generation to know with certainty what historians of subsequent generations
will consider most significant.
Organization and Procedures. The consultants were pleased to
find a strong sense of institutional and personal commitment to the Historical
Review Program on the part of those in charge of its implementation. We
especially commend the decision of the agency to allot a full-time,
dedicated staff to the effort, supplemented by qualified contractual
assistance when warranted. As stated earlier, another plus in the plan is the
significant role assigned to the revitalized and enlarged Historical Office.
That staff is best qualified to render judgment on the potential historical
value of certain files and records. That judgment is only a part of the
entire review program, we acknowledge, but an essential ingredient
nevertheless.
The consultants concluded that the important question of allocation
of resources could not be readily addressed at this time. Whether the dedi-
cated staff assigned to the Historical Review Program, including an augmented
Historical Office staff, is sufficient to make acceptable progress, we cannot
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say. For that reason, the consultants recannend that (5) the Director of
Central Intelligence reassemble these consultants or a comparable group in two
to three years to assess progress and to make further recommendations, as seem
necessary.
We also urge the Director of Central Intelligence to use his
authority as head of the Intelligence Community to insure that all relevant
agencies of Government cooperate in the important undertaking which his agency
has begun. The pace of the Historical Review Program should not be delayed by
necessary actions of review by other agencies. During the two-day
deliberations, National Archives and Records Administration representatives
indicated that, barring unforeseen loss of staff resources, the NARA staff is
equal to the task of keeping pace with the output of the Historical Review
Program in processing and making available releasable documents in the
National Archives.
Additional Considerations. The consultants discussed official
disclosure through publication as well as through release of retired files to
the National Archives. They also heard from representatives of the Department
of State Historical Office concerning the publication series Foreign
Relations of the United States (see agenda). The Foreign Relations volumes
are "the official record of the foreign policy of the united States," as their
successive prefaces avow. The volumes are, therefore, the appropriate and
preferred vehicles for publishing "finished intelligence" (National
Intelligence Estimates and the like) and other documents relating to intel-
ligence activities abroad affecting foreign relations and national security.
Indeed, without the inclusion of such documents, either in basic or supple-
mentary volumes, the history of American foreign relations is impoverished and
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incomplete. The consultants recommend, therefore, that (6) the Director of
Central Intelligence authorize the publication of selected declassified and
releasable intelligence reports and other intelligence related documents in
regular or supplementary volumes in the FOREIGN RELATIONS series, rather than
as separate publications by CIA.
The consultants are also concerned about the possible physical
condition of CIA files, in an age when the preservation of paper documents is
recognized as a costly and inescapable responsibility of archives and
libraries. Because of the generally longer period of retention of records in
CIA custody than would be customary for less sensitive material elsewhere, it
may be necessary to take special precautions to guard against undue
deterioration of records. The consultants recommend, therefore, that (7) the
Director of Central Intelligence satisfy himself that preservation needs of CIA
records are being met, through proper environmental conditions for storage
of historically significant but deteriorating records, through conversion to
a secondary format (microfilm, microfiche, optical disk, etc.), or other
means, as appropriate. (This recommendation is a precaution, not a commentary
based upon any observed shortcoming in the Agency's preservation program.)
Summary of Recommendations:
1. an inclusive, systematic review program,
leading to regular retirement of records
to the National Archives.
2. release of minimally sanitized documents
in preference to withholding of whole documents.
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3. awareness in the review program of information
about CIA already publicly known.
4. adoption of archivally-tested selection
criteria for review program.
5. assessment of progress of review program
in 2-3 years by comparable or identical
group of consultants.
6. publication of appropriate declassified CIA
documents in Foreign Relations of the
United States.
7. an ongoing concern for preservation
considerations.
The consultants express their appreciation to William J. Casey,
Director of Central Intelligence, and his staff for the courtesies extended
during the two days of deliberations. Special thanks are due to Chief
Historian Kenneth McDonald and to Director of Information
Services, under whose responsibility the Historical Review Program will
proceed. It was a productive two days of serious exchanges of information,
for which the consultants and the agencies and disciplines which they
represent are appreciative.
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Respectfully submitted,
e.._ ?
hn C. Broderick
John Lewis Gaddis
Richard W. Leopold
Gadd is Smith
Robert M. Warner
Date
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