Reading Room Document

Application of Freedom of Information Act to Private Letters Written to the President

The document discusses the means available to protect the privacy of private persons who write to the President and whose letters are referred to various Federal agencies for response. The conclusion reached is that the privacy of those who write to the President can best be preserved through the use of some form of guidance to the agencies to which the correspondence is referred. The document presents questions for review, such as whether the President could use an express bailment to reserve ownership and control over the release of letters, and whether the names and addresses of private correspondents and other personally identifying data in letters to the President, after referral to agencies for reply, would usually be withholdable under the sixth exemption of the Freedom of Information Act.

October 17, 1977