http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/04/politics/main323121.shtmlStill locked up are 60,000 pages of Reagan records and tens of thousands of pages left behind by Mr. Reagan's vice president, George Bush. ... The Presidential Records Act kept the 68,000 pages of records closed for 12 years because they contained confidential internal advice and deliberations among government officials.
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The Bush White House, however, delayed opening the files for a year so it could review them and work on an executive order President Bush issued Nov. 1. It gives former presidents more authority to withhold certain papers and the sitting president the authority to overrule his predecessor.
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"This executive order is unlawful," said Public Citizen attorney Scott Nelson. "We shouldn't have to have this order governing the release of Reagan documents and Bush documents and other president's documents from here to eternity."
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Some historians have suggested the Bush White House is worried about what the Reagan papers might reveal about former Reagan officials who now work for Mr. Bush or about his father, Reagan's vice president and successor. Among former Reagan aides are Secretary of State Colin Powell, Budget Director Mitch Daniels Jr. and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.