Obama falling short of openness pledge
Since 1995, classified documents with permanent, historical value have been made available to the public 25 years after being originally classified. In his first three years in office, President Barack Obama has lagged behind previous presidents despite a pledge to declassify more documents.
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See how quickly this adds up for each president
See how quickly this adds up for each president
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Pages declassified
1997-2000
Averaged 409,750 pages a day
2001-2004
Averaged 147,829 pages a day
2005-2008
Averaged 93,006 pages a day
2009-2011
Averaged 74,566 pages a day
Newly-classified
documents
1997-2000
Averaged 470 documents a day
2001-2004
Averaged 728 documents a day
2005-2008
Averaged 635 documents a day
2009-2011
Averaged 489 documents a day
Source: National Archives' Information Security Oversight Office
© MCT 2013
Graphic: Danny Dougherty