Editing National Security Archive (section)

==Organization history and accolades==
[[File:Elvis-nixon (crop).jpg|thumb|Of all the requests made each year to the U.S. National Archives, one item has been requested more than any other: the December 21, 1970, photograph of Elvis Presley and Richard M. Nixon shaking hands during Presley's visit to the White House.]]
[[File:"Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US".jpg|thumb|The declassified August 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief warning "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."|alt=Corrected spelling of Ladin to Laden.]]

Led by founder [[Scott Armstrong (journalist)|Scott Armstrong]], former Washington Post Reporter and staff on the Senate Watergate Committee, journalists and historians came together to create the National Security Archive in 1985 with the idea of enriching research and public debate about [[National Security of the United States|national security policy]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gordon |first=Michael R. |date=January 6, 1987 |title=A Fight Over Government Information |pages=A19 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Directed by Tom Blanton since 1992, the National Security Archive continues to challenge national security secrecy by advocating for open government, utilizing the FOIA to compel the release of previously secret government documents, and analyzing and publishing its collections for the public.

As a prolific FOIA requester, the National Security Archive has obtained a host of seminal government documents, including: the documents behind the most requested still image photograph at the U.S. National Archives – a December 21, 1970 picture of President [[Richard Nixon]]'s meeting with [[Elvis Presley]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/elnix.html |title=The Nixon-Presley Meeting |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=The National Security Archive }}</ref> the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]'s "[[Family Jewels (Central Intelligence Agency)|Family Jewels]]" list that documents decades of the agency's illegal activities;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/index.htm |title=The CIA's Family Jewels |author=Thomas Blanton |website=The National Security Archive}}</ref> the [[National Security Agency]]'s (NSA) description of its watch list of 1,600 Americans that included notable Americans such as civil rights leader [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], boxer [[Muhammad Ali]], and politicians [[Frank Church]] and [[Howard Baker]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/foia-request-filed-for-national-security-agency-watch-list-that-included-threats-mlk-muhammad-ali-and-senator-church/ |title=FOIA Request Filed for National Security Agency Watch List that Included "Threats" MLK, Muhammad Ali, and Senator Church |author=Nate Jones |website=Unredacted |date=25 September 2013}}</ref> the first official CIA confirmation of [[Area 51]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB434/ |title=The Secret History of the U-2 — and Area 51 |author=Jeffrey T. Richelson |website=The National Security Archive |date=15 August 2013}}</ref> U.S. plans for a "full nuclear response"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb406/ |title=U.S. Had Plans for "Full Nuclear Response" In Event President Killed or Disappeared during an Attack on the United States |author=William Burr |website=The National Security Archive |date=12 December 2012}}</ref> in the event the President was ever attacked or disappeared; [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] transcripts of 25 interviews with [[Saddam Hussein]] after his capture by U.S. troops in December 2003;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB279/ |title=Saddam Hussein Talks to the FBI |author=Joyce Battle |website=The National Security Archive |date=1 July 2009}}</ref> the [[Osama bin Laden]] File,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB343/ |title=The Osama Bin Laden File |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=The National Security Archive |date=2 May 2011}}</ref> and the most comprehensive document collections available on the [[Cold War]], including the nuclear flashpoints occurring during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] and the 1983 "[[Able Archer 83|Able Archer]]" War Scare.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ablearcher/ |title=Able Archer 83 Sourcebook |author=Nate Jones |website=The National Security Archive | date=7 November 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Area-51-map (1).jpg|thumb|The CIA's declassified map of Groom Lake/Area 51 disclosed to the National Security Archive thanks to a FOIA request]]

In 1998, the National Security Archive shared the George Foster [[Peabody Award]] for the outstanding broadcast series, [[Cold War (TV series)|CNN's ''Cold War'']]. In 1999, the National Security Archive won the [[George Polk Awards|George Polk Award]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/polk/ |title=National Security Archive Wins 1999 George Polk Award for Journalism |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=The National Security Archive }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/866008729 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/866001910 cite #12 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> for, in the words of the citation, "facilitating thousands of searches for journalists and scholars. The archive, funded by foundations as well as income from its own publications, has become a one-stop institution for declassifying and retrieving important documents, suing to preserve such government data as presidential e-mail messages, pressing for appropriate reclassification of files, and sponsoring research that has unearthed major revelations."  

In September 2005, the Archive won the Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in news and [[documentary research]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20050920/ |title=National Security Archive Wins 2005 Emmy Award |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=The National Security Archive }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/866008729 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/866001910 cite #11 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> In 2005, Forbes Best of the Web stated that the Archives is "singlehandedly keeping bureaucrats’ feet to the fire on the Freedom of Information Act." In 2007, the Archive was named one of the "Top 300 web sites for Political Science," by the International Political Science Association. In February 2011, the National Security Archive won [[Tufts University]]'s Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/2011_Annual_Report.pdf |title=Annual Report for 2011 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=The National Security Archive }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/866008729 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/866001910 cite #10 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> for "demystifying and exposing the underworld of global diplomacy and supporting the public's right to know." 

From 2003–2014, the Archive received 54 citations from the University of Wisconsin's Internet Scout Report recognizing "the most valuable and authoritative resources online."  In 2018, the Association of College and Research Libraries' Choice magazine named the Digital National Security Archive one of the "Outstanding Academic Titles."  In 2021, journalist Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post wrote, "The National Security Archive provides an irreplaceable public service by prying loose records from federal agencies that prefer to operate in the dark."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Whitlock |first=Craig |title=The Afghanistan Papers |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-9821-5900-9 |pages=280}}</ref>