Executive Order 13489 was signed by President Barack Obama on January 21, 2009, his first day in office; that much is true. However, it applies to presidential work product, not personal records of presidents.
President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12667 on January 18, 1989, authorizing the United States Archivist to release presidential records for past presidents and for future presidents who did not object within 30 days of notification of release. Executive Order 12667 was in effect until November 5, 2001, when President George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13233, revoking it. The Bush order made presidential records unavailable for 12 years following the end of a presidency and extended the notification period from 30 days to 90 days.
President Obama’s Executive Order 13489 revoked Bush’s order and substantively reinstated Reagan’s, thereby expanding access to presidential records, rather than narrowing it, as Birthers choose to think. But most importantly, as far as Birther mythology goes, no president’s birth records were involved in any of the three Executive Orders; therefore, President Obama did not seal his birth records with Executive Order 13489. His birth records are sealed by law in the State of Hawaii, where he was born, like anybody else’s.
Filed under: Biography, Executive Order, False!
