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President Harry S. Truman at his desk in the Oval Office signing H.R. 5632, the National Security Act Amendments of 1949, August 10, 1949

Nagasaki

The Embrace of Truth

Mai Der Vang

The National Security Act Turns 75

1947 law enabled huge growth in Presidential powers

Long-Classified U.S. Estimates of Nuclear War Casualties During the Cold War Regularly Underestimated Deaths and Destruction

“There is Future if There is Truth”: Colombia’s Truth Commission Launches Final Report

Investigation utilized declassified U.S. documents

From History to Poetry:

Mai Der Vang Explores the Archival Record in Her Celebrated Volume "Yellow Rain"

Notice to Researchers:

In response to COVID-19, GWU's Gelman Library is closed to outside researchers.

Archive staff continue to work remotely and monitor phone messages and e-mails.

You can still access our declassified holdings here. And please check the site for updates.

Latest Postings

Atomic Bomb Damage In Nagasaki, Japan

77th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings: Revisiting the Record

Aug 8, 2022 | Briefing Book

President Harry S. Truman at his desk in the Oval Office signing H.R. 5632, the National Security Act Amendments of 1949, August 10, 1949

The National Security Act Turns 75

Jul 26, 2022 | Briefing Book

Atomic bomb destruction, Nagasaki, August 10, 1945

Long-Classified U.S. Estimates of Nuclear War Casualties During the Cold War Regularly Underestimated Deaths and Destruction

Jul 14, 2022 | Briefing Book

The Embrace of Truth

“There is Future if There is Truth”: Colombia’s Truth Commission Launches Final Report

Jun 28, 2022 | Briefing Book

From History to Poetry: Mai Der Vang Explores the Archival Record in Her Celebrated Volume "Yellow Rain"

Jun 27, 2022 | Briefing Book

waterboarding-haspel-collage

Haspel Personally Observed CIA Waterboarding, Witness Testifies

Jun 23, 2022 | News

The Capitol Riot: A Chronology

Jun 13, 2022 | News

WH log mising pages

The Capitol Riot: Trump’s Shadow Call Log

Jun 9, 2022 | News

Potential Global Effects

Nuclear Winter: U.S. Government Thinking During the 1980s

Jun 2, 2022 | Briefing Book

Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Environmental Security Sherri Goodman

Climate Change and the Military: Examining the Pentagon’s Integration of National Security Interests and Environmental Goals under Clinton

May 26, 2022 | Briefing Book

More Postings >>

Special Exhibits

special exhibits

The National Security Archive timeline: 1985-2021

Nixon meets Presley

CIA IG torture report – what were they hiding?

The Cuban missile crisis 50th anniversary

Art before power: Jenny Holzer showcase

Dubious Secrets

The Carter-Brezhnev Project

Blog

Pentagon Joins DHS In Destroying Potential January 6 Evidence, Calls Records Retention Schedules Into Question: FRINFORMSUM 8/4/2022

Aug 4, 2022

DEA Says FOIA Requests Can No Longer Be Submitted Via Email, and Much More: FRINFORMSUM 7/21/2022

Jul 21, 2022

Colombia Truth Commission’s Final Report Bolstered by National Security Archive Documents

Jul 8, 2022

Weekend Read: Documents from the Origin of ‘Nuclear Winter’ Theory, and the Environmental Impacts of Nuclear Fallout

Jun 17, 2022

SCOTUS Refusal to Hear Prepublication Review Case Highlights Need for the Director of National Intelligence to Update Prepublication Rules, and More: FRINFORMSUM 5/26/2022

May 26, 2022

DNSA

The Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) is an invaluable online collection of more than 100,000 declassified records documenting historic U.S. policy decisions.

Read the documents that shaped U.S. responses to the Cold War, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, nuclear weapons proliferation, and beyond.

Talk to your university or local librarian about getting a subscription!

From the Vault

The CIA File on Luis Posada Carriles

Jan 11, 2011

Washington Broadcast Set for Torturing Democracy

Oct 17, 2008

77th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings: Revisiting the Record

Aug 8, 2022

U.S. Had Plans for "Full Nuclear Response" In Event President Killed or Disappeared during an Attack on the United States

Dec 12, 2012

Silk Road: Investigation of a DEA and Secret Service agents' involvement with an online black market site

Dec 13, 2019

More From the Vault >>

Search documents

Virtual Reading Room

Browse and search through thousands of declassified primary-source materials.

Visit Virtual Reading Room >>

Researcher Guide

Check our new guide to the Archive's published documents and other important online resources

Click here if you're part of GWU >>

All others, please click here >>

Archive in the News

Comparing Hillary Clinton’s emails and Donald Trump’s boxes of files

Poynter.

Aug 10, 2022

Mystery at Mar-a-Lago: What were FBI agents looking for and what are the consequences?

NPR

Aug 9, 2022

Revelan archivos desclasificados de EEUU sobre Colombia

Associated Press

Aug 4, 2022

At 75, the CIA is back where it started – countering the Kremlin

National Public Radio

Jul 26, 2022

More In the News>>

Editors' Picks

Awards

George Polk Award

National academy award

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