Classified Docs // When to Release, or Not?
Along with the World Affairs Council of Charleston, we are pleased to host acting historian for the Department of State, John Powers to share about his impressive 34-year career working with government records and the ins and outs of safeguarding national security information. From the declassification of Richard Nixon’s and LBJ’s secret tapes to the work done on the JFK Assassination Records Collection, Powers will share stories about his time at the National Archives, the Department of State, and the White House, in documenting U.S. covert action and the history of America’s foreign service. Under his leadership, the Department has published seven volumes on the foreign policies of the Carter, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush administrations.
This program is in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Charleston.
About John Powers
John Powers is a 30-year public servant who joined the State Department in August 2023 to lead the Office of the Historian’s declassification, publication, and digital initiatives programs. He has served as the Acting Director of the Office since April 2025. In that role, he is responsible for leading a staff of 70 historians, information professionals, contractors, and retired/rehired part-time Foreign Service officers. John oversees process reforms that facilitate more cost-effective and efficient publication of the Foreign Relations of the United States series, the comprehensive and official documentary record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity that has been published since 1861. Before joining the Department, John served as the Associate Director for Classification Management in the Information Security Oversight Office at the National Archives and Records Administration. His directorate was responsible for advising Government agencies on policies for classifying, declassifying, and safeguarding national security information. Under his leadership, the Board published five reports to the President, including A Vision for the Digital Age: Modernization of the U.S. National Security Classification and Declassification System (2020), and a report to Congress on the feasibility of declassifying records related to U.S. nuclear weapons testing and cleanup activities in the Marshall Islands. John served twice at the White House on the National Security Council staff as the Director for Access and Information Management. He led a team responsible for reviewing and declassifying White House and NSC records for public access, including records for the Department of State’s Foreign Relations of the United States series and records related to President Kennedy’s assassination. He conceived of and led the U.S. Declassification Project for Argentina that involved 16 other departments and agencies and led to the declassification of almost 50,000 pages of records in 2019. John started his career in 1991 as an archives aide at the Richard Nixon Presidential Materials Project, eventually serving as acting director in 2007. He reviewed Nixon’s secret tapes for public access and served as an expert government witness in the Nixon v. U.S. civil compensation suit. He spent two years at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library declassifying LBJ’s secret recordings. John has a B.A. in International Relations from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. in American History from George Mason University. He speaks German and Italian and enjoys traveling in his free time.
About the World Affairs Council
The World Affairs Council of Charleston (WACC), formerly the Charleston Foreign Affairs Forum, was founded in the early 1980s as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. The Council works to deepen our community’s global perspective through speaker programs, discussion groups, and educational experiences. The membership represents a cross-section of individuals from the business community, academia, government service, and civic backgrounds. We welcome participants of all ages and from all backgrounds. The WACC is a 501(c)(3) organization and is a member of the World Affairs Councils of America, a network of 90+ independent, nonpartisan councils across 40 states.