I agree with the disappointment expressed by Margaret and by Bill Leonard in his letter at the decision by the Washington Post to publish the article about Matthew Aid.  I direct most of that disappointment at the editors of the Post and, to some degree, at the reporter.  Don't reporters usually receive their assignments from superiors?  At any rate, I can't tell if someone directed Christopher Lee to write this story or if he wrote it on his own iniative.

As to the retired Federal employee, she probably had a narrow perspective on the issue.  For some reason, she chose to focus on what she knew old records showed about Mr. Aid's past, not on how the National Archives best could serve the nation as a whole.  I would hope that any former Federal employee's reaction to the reclassification flap would be, "well, these are complex issues that need to be worked out properly between the National Archives and the records creating agencies -- everyone needs to preserve trust and integrity and protect the governental processes, to the extent possible."  I believe that agencies have a stewardship obligation, not just in protecting records, but in acting in such a way that preserves institutional integrity and credibility.  But you never know how any Fed is going to view this.

Unfortunately, we don't know exactly why the woman whose husband filed the FOIA focused instead on Aid.  It sounds like a shoot the messenger reaction.  It did come across as vindictive to me, but, as I've explained, I'm very sensitive about mud slinging in stories about archival matters so that affects my ability to judge her actions.  Something about the fact that Aid complained to NARA about historical records triggered the reaction it did for this woman.  I'm guessing she didn't stop and think this through very carefully.  Of course, it wasn't her job to take a big picture view. 

Few people outside the Archives think in broad arcs and with a longterm perspective about NARA's mission.  And the press has become so tabloid in nature, it's probably easy to find a media outlet which breathlessly will print sensational news about someone, especially when that person becomes a public figure.  (We certainly see this ad nauseum during political campaigns, such tactics are used against and on behalf of candidates of all parties.)  I happen to prefer focusing on policies, practices, positions articulated, etc., rather than personal "dirt."

In the case of Mr. Aid, I don't condone the actions that became the subject of court martial.  But, as Mr. Leonard points out, they are not relevant to the complaint he made about the classification reviews.  And they occurred decades ago.  (I know, there are people who go digging into political figures' youthful actions, early jobs or early military careers all the time, hoping to find dirt to throw at them.  For some, this simply is a way of doing business.)  I think the Post's editors should have thought more carefully about whether there was a broad public interest  served in writing about the Aid matter - just as I hope they would do that with any information received about any of us.  Or about well known public figures.

At any rate, good for Bill Leonard for speaking up on this.  If I were an archivist, I would feel comfortable working for Mr. Leonard.   Given a choice to speak on even more controversial matters, his predecessor as ISOO director, Steve Garfinkel, once made a different choice in the past.  Anyone who read Sy Hersh's Nixon tapes article in 1992 will know why I'm saying that.  Although the article is part of the public record, I'd rather not get into the issues here.  I'll just say that people build up and use their professional capital in different ways, that's what makes Washington such an interesting place to work. 

Maarja
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