Current History needs to be preserved -- Presidential taping.needs to resume

[aceplace57]

I’ve been reading transcripts from the Kennedy and Johnson presidential tapes. The history there is just fascinating. They just released the final Kennedy tapes.

It is such a travesty that such a valuable resource for future historians has been lost. All because of the court decisions on Nixon’s Watergate tapes. Presidents can’t tape anymore because the tapes can be subpoenaed by Congress or by the courts.

We’ve been at this insane impasse for thirty plus years. Yes, Congress can subpoena any emails or tapes created by the President. Therefore the President can’t record anything for history.

The stupidity of this is just beyond belief. Consider what was lost during the Reagan years. The end of the cold war and the breakup of the Soviet Union is one of the most significant historical events in the 20th century. All of that Presidential history is lost. What about the Presidents conversations during 9/11? That’s lost too.

We can literally hear audio of Kennedy discussing options for invading Cuba. Why can’t we hear Regan talking candidly to Gorbachev about pulling out of East Germany?

Isn’t there some way they can agree to create historical tapes without turning them into political weapons that can be used against the President?

IMHO creating a historical record is vital. We’ve lost a valuable academic resource for future historians.

“Kennedy did not tape as systematically as Johnson or Nixon. But what he did tape was often very important discussions,” he said.

“What you have is an unusually rich collection of decisions being made in real time.”

The recordings also are valuable because they’re a raw look inside the Kennedy White House, Coleman said.

“It’s all unfiltered,” he said. “It hasn’t been massaged by committees or by the White House press machine.”

Historians may gravitate most to Kennedy’s recordings about Vietnam to see where his policy was heading when his presidency ended, Coleman said.

Kennedy kept the recordings a secret from his top aides. He made the last one two days before his death.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/kennedy-tapes-jfk-library_n_1228231.html

[Marley23]

@aceplace57

Isn’t there some way they can agree to create historical tapes without turning them into political weapons that can be used against the President?

I doubt it. Even if there was an embargo on use of the tapes until they were out of office, presidents might be reluctant to allow themselves to be recorded.

[RealityChuck]

@aceplace57

Isn’t there some way they can agree to create historical tapes without turning them into political weapons that can be used against the President?

No. A subpoena is a subpoena.

[aceplace57]

I guess the 60’s were a simpler time. We should be so grateful to have Kennedy, Johnson, and even Nixon on tape.

I can’t recall this ever happening before in any government, anywhere in the world. It’s like being a fly on the wall during histories most important moments. I’ve listened to Johnson audio tapes using phone calls to strong arm members of Congress for support of the war. We’ve heard Kennedy discuss the Cuban Missile Crisis as he talked with his advisers. Just incredible stuff. For anyone that studies history like I do this is pure gold. It will be even more important to historians a hundred or more years from now. Imagine hearing tapes of Lincoln in the oval office. That’s what Kennedy will seem like to historians in 2350.

It seems like they should be able to pass a law granting immunity to Presidential Audio tapes. Make them a permanent part of the Presidents library xx number of years after leaving office. Probably 25 years out of office would be enough and sensitive classified items could be protected longer.

That’s the only way any President would ever allow a taping system in the oval office again.