More Clinton presidency papers released

Saturday, June 7, 2014

WASHINGTON -- The National Archives and Records Administration released Friday about 2,000 more pages of records from Bill Clinton's time as president, some of which detail how he had planned to handle his 1996 re-election bid.

Like previously released documents, the records made public Friday show a snapshot of life inside the Clinton White House. They were divided into 61 topics with titles like "Gays in the Military" or "Kennedy Assassination."

Under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, presidents can seal records dealing with appointments to federal office or containing confidential advice from advisers for 12 years after their presidency ends. Clinton left office on Jan. 20, 2001, and the restriction expired in January 2013.

Friday's release is the fifth since February, when Politico reported that 33,000 pages of Clinton's records had not been made public after the seal expired. The Archives has released about 22,000 pages of records since then.

Each category represents information requested under a Freedom of Information Act request that fell under the Presidential Records Act exemption. The documents are available at the Clinton presidential library and online at clintonlibrary.gov/previouslyrestricteddocs.html.

Interest in Clinton's papers has escalated because of how they may reflect on Hillary Clinton, former first lady, U.S. senator, secretary of state and 2008 presidential candidate, who is thought to be weighing a 2016 White House bid.

Several of the documents released Friday show Bill Clinton's advisers planning for his re-election efforts years in advance.

A Dec. 30, 1994, memo from Deputy Secretary of Energy Bill White lays out challenges facing Clinton and his staff ahead of the 1996 election. White helped with Clinton's first presidential campaign.

The list notes that "No matter how repetitious it may seem to those speaking, everyone must always talk incessantly about the President's achievements or he never shall get credit for them." It states that staff shouldn't publicly second-guess the president, first lady, vice president or chief of staff.

It also states Clinton needs to appear in settings that maintain the office's dignity.

"Dignity is especially important given the President's youth, the public's intimacy with his personal life, and the stridency of the new opposition," it states.

As the election neared, with Clinton ahead in the polls, staffers were confident enough of victory to begin preparing for a second term.

A October 1996 memo about postelection messaging from adviser Donald Baer to Chief of Staff Leon Panetta says the White House needs to define what the president's re-election means before the media can. It lays out a timeline from the days before the election to the inauguration.

The White House needed to show that "his record, his vision, and his plans for leading the country were the reasons for the victory, not reactions to a weak opponent [former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole] or the Republican Congress," it states.

Other interesting tidbits found in the documents include:

"I recommend that over the holidays, the President give a homily at his church in Arkansas about bringing peace home to our country. ... I know the President is sensitive to not using his church for political purposes, however this is a topic that he has talked about around the world," Emanuel states.

In the letter, they argued that some of the documents included the names of confidential informants or showed how the U.S. cooperated with foreign governments. The agencies also said the release would give away the intelligence gathering methods the FBI used in the 1960s.

"The [group deciding to release the documents] should not assume that these methods are antiquated and of little value in today's computer and satellite world just because we employed them as long ago as the 1960's," it states.

Metro on 06/07/2014