The Presidential Records Act, or PRA, was passed in 1978 after President Richard M. Nixon sought to destroy White House tapes during the Watergate scandal. It says presidential records belong to the public and are to be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of a presidency. The act also covers vice-presidential records and applies to classified documents, which are also governed by other laws.
Before Nixon, presidential records had been considered private property. The law defines “presidential records” as documentary materials received by the president, his immediate staff or members of the executive office “to advise or assist the President, in the course of conducting activities which relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President.”
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