Nixon White House tapes

== Post-presidency ==
After Nixon's resignation, the federal government took control of all of his presidential records, including the tapes, under the [[Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act]] of 1974. From the time that the federal government seized his records until his death, Nixon was locked in frequent legal battles over control of the tapes. He argued that the 1974 act was unconstitutional because it violated the constitutional principles of [[Separation of powers under the United States Constitution|separation of powers]] and [[executive privilege]] and infringed on his personal privacy rights and the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] right of association.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lawnix.com/cases/nixon-gsa.html|title=Nixon v. Administrator of General Services – Case Brief – Nixon Tapes|access-date=February 14, 2012|publisher=Lawnix|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217165900/http://www.lawnix.com/cases/nixon-gsa.html|archive-date=February 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yuwtAAAAIBAJ&pg=5727%2C3233941|title=Three-year legal battle on Nixon tapes nearing end|date=April 21, 1977|work=UPI|publisher=The Rome News-Tribune|access-date=February 14, 2012|archive-date=August 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815220530/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yuwtAAAAIBAJ&pg=5727%2C3233941|url-status=live}}</ref>

The legal disputes would continue for 25 years, past Nixon's death in 1994. He initially lost several cases,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.wisc.edu/20004|title=Historian's work gives a glimpse of Nixon 'unplugged'|date=November 8, 2011|access-date=February 14, 2012|publisher=University of Wisconsin-Madison|archive-date=September 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930211322/http://www.news.wisc.edu/20004|url-status=live}}</ref> but the courts ruled in 1998 that some 820 hours and 42 million pages of documents were his personal private property that must be returned to his estate.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/01/news/mn-34946|title=Court Rules Some Nixon Tapes are Private|access-date=February 14, 2012|date=April 1, 1998|author=Wagner, Michael G.|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|archive-date=July 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715025238/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/01/news/mn-34946|url-status=live}}</ref> However, as Nixon had been dead for four years at the time of the court ruling, it may have been a moot development after years of legal battles over the tapes.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

On July 11, 2007, the National Archives was granted official control of the previously privately operated [[Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum|Richard Nixon Library and Museum]] in [[Yorba Linda, California]].<ref name="post article">{{cite news| title=Federal Archivists Take Control of Nixon Library – washingtonpost.com| access-date=July 25, 2007| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/11/AR2007071100483.html| newspaper=The Washington Post| first=Gillian| last=Flaccus| date=July 12, 2007| archive-date=January 23, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123004708/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/11/AR2007071100483.html| url-status=live}}</ref> The facility now houses the tapes and periodically releases additional tapes to the public that are available online and in the public domain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/virtuallibrary/tapeexcerpts/|title=Nixon White House Tapes – Online|website=nixonlibrary.gov|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration|access-date=March 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308061139/https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/virtuallibrary/tapeexcerpts/|archive-date=March 8, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/faq/tapes.php|title=Nixon White House Tapes FAQ|website=nixonlibrary.gov|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration|access-date=March 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319034932/https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/faq/tapes.php|archive-date=March 19, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>