US
Government Cold War-related Sites
National Archives and Records Administration
NARA is an independent federal agency that helps preserve our nation's history by overseeing the management of all federal
records. It seeks to ensure ready access to the essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens,
the actions of federal officials, and the national experience. A special NARA page on Cold War-related records is also available.
The US State Department's Office of the Historian
The Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, is headed by William Slany. The Historian's Office publishes the official
documentary history of U.S. foreign policy and provides historical research and advice for the Department of State.
Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS Volume)
Presidential Libraries
The Presidential Library system is made up of ten Presidential Libraries and one Presidential Project. These nationwide facilities are overseen by the Office of Presidential Libraries within theNational Archives and Records Administration, located in Washington, D.C. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials of Presidents since Herbert Hoover. Each Presidential library contains a museum and provides an active series of public programs.
The United States Intelligence Community
The Intelligence Community is a group of 13 government agencies and organizations that carry out the intelligence activities of the United States Government. The site also contains links to Community members with sites on the internet.
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency's main home page is an effort to provide insight and information to the public about the
Agency and its mission.
Recently-Released CIA Documents
The Family Jewels Documents
Caesar-Polo-Esau Documents
CIA Activities in Chile
This report by the CIA was released in response to Section 311 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000, the so-called "Hinchey Amendment." It attempts to address specific questions about CIA involvement in Chile during the period 1963-1973.
Library of Congress European Reading Room
In 1996 the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Library of Congress (LC) inaugurated a program to microfilm
military records and inventories in former Soviet-bloc countries primarily from World War II and the early Cold War years.
Projects are now underway at three institutions: the Central Military Archive (Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe) outside
Warsaw, the National Defense Ministry Archives (Archivele Militarie ale Ministerului Apararii Nationale)
in Bucharest, and the War History Archives (Hadtortenelmi Leveltar) in Budapest. Similar projects with the Slovak
Military History Institute in Bratislava and the Russian Central Naval Archive at Gatchina near St. Petersburg
are being considered.
Center for the Study of Intelligence
The Center for the Study of Intelligence conducts research on intelligence; publishes classified and unclassified editions
of the Studies in Intelligence journal as well as books, monographs and a quarterly newsletter; hosts conferences and
symposia; manages the systematic declassification review of historically valuable CIA records; coordinates a number of
academic outreach programs.
U.S. Army Center of Military History
The Center of Military History (CMH) is responsible for the appropriate use of history throughout the U.S. Army. Traditionally,
this mission meant that the Center recorded the official history of the Army in both peace and war, while advising the Army Staff
on relevant historical matters. In recent times, CMH has produced detailed series on the Army's role in the Korean and
Vietnam Wars and is beginning a series on the U.S. Army in the Cold War. These works, supplemented by hundreds of smaller
monographs and other volumes on a wide range of military subjects of interest to the Army, have made the Center of
Military History one of the major publishers of military history in the world.
United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
The mission of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency is to strengthen the national security of the United States
by formulating, advocating, negotiating, implementing and verifiying effective arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament
policies, strategies, and agreements. In so doing, ACDA ensures that arms control is fully integrated into the development and
conduct of United States national security policy.
Library of Congress Soviet Archives Exhibit
The SOVIET ARCHIVE EXHIBIT is the first public display of the hitherto highly secret internal record of Soviet Communist rule.
The willingness of the new Russian Archival Committee under Pikhoia to cooperate in preparing this exhibit with the Library of
Congress dramatizes the break that a newly democratic Russia is attempting to make with the entire Soviet past. This exhibit
illustrates both the domestic and the foreign policy of Soviet rule.
Redstone Arsenal's role in the Cold War
Articles relating to Redstone Arsenal's role in the Cold War. Profiles of achievements of the U.S. Army Missile Command, U.S.
Army Air Defense Command, and related developments.
National Security Agency - Venona Project
In July 1995 the Intelligence Community ended a 50-year silence regarding one of cryptology's most splendid successes -
the VENONA Project. VENONA was the codename used for the U.S. Signals Intelligence effort to collect and decrypt the text
of Soviet KGB and GRU messages from the 1940's. These messages provided extraordinary insight into Soviet attempts to infiltrate
the highest levels of the United States Goverment. NSA has declassified over 3,000 messages related to VENONA.
National Security Agency - Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was one of the turning points of the Cold War between the United States and the
Soviet Union. At that time the two superpowers came close to war, possibly with nuclear weapons; after it,
both countries began to seek ways to adjust to each other, in particular, to prevent the use of nuclear weapons. The
events of the Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated the maturity of the U.S. intelligence community, especially in its ability to
collect and analyze information. The crucial roles of human intelligence (HUMINT) and photographic intelligence
(PHOTINT) in the Cuban Missile Crisis have been known from the beginning. Documents declassified and released in 1998
now reveal that signals intelligence (SIGINT) also played an exceedingly important part in managing the crisis.
The US State Department Electronic Reading Room
The State Department's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room features frequently-requested declassified
documents, points of reference for State Department records and information access, and other helpful links to sites with
State Department materials.
The US State Department's Office of the Historian
The Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, is headed by William Slany. The Historian's Office publishes the official documentary history of U.S. foreign policy and provides historical research and advice for the Department of State.
The Vietnam War Declassification Project
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh and Saigon, the staff of the Gerald R. Ford Library
reviewed for possible declassification nearly 40,000 pages of National Security Adviser files.
The Hanssen Affidavit
The FBI "Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint, Arrest Warrant, and Search Warrants" in the investigation of Russian
counterspy Robert Hanssen.
OSTI OpenNet
The Department of Energy is committed to openness. In support of that commitment, we have developed OpenNet to provide easy,
timely access to recently declassified information, including information declassified in response to Freedom of Information
Act requests. This database will be updated regularly as more information becomes available.
U.S. Department of Justice FOIA Reference Materials
This site contains information and links pertaining to U.S. Department of Justice materials released under the auspices of the
Freedom of Information Act.