Reading the Riot Act: American Reaction to Leaks in the Foreign Press

Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The leak of sensitive information to the American press is a perpetual problem for U.S. Government officials.  See here, here, and here for earlier posts on that subject.  The U.S. government, however, is not … Continue reading Reading the Riot Act: American Reaction to Leaks in the Foreign Press

Vietnam Negotiations, 1968: The Problem of Leaks

Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The fall of 1968 leading up to the Presidential election on November 5, saw active peace negotiations between the United States and North Vietnam.[1] One (among many) aspect of the situation that threatened to … Continue reading Vietnam Negotiations, 1968: The Problem of Leaks

Leaks in the Department of State, 1963: Antecedents

By David Langbart An earlier blog post discussed the November 8, 1963, memorandum on the problem of leaks Under Secretary of State George W. Ball sent to President John F. Kennedy.  Since then, more documentation on what led to that memorandum has come to light. By early September 1962, President Kennedy and Under Secretary Ball … Continue reading Leaks in the Department of State, 1963: Antecedents

Leaks in the Department of State, 1963

By David Langbart In recent years, the subject of leaks of classified information from U.S. Government agencies has received a great deal of attention.  This is not a new problem; I have seen references to such leaks as early as World War I.  In the early 1960s, however, the Department of State suffered a spate … Continue reading Leaks in the Department of State, 1963