LBJ signs Freedom of Information Act creating first statutory right to executive records

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into law, establishing for the first time a statutory right for the public to access records held by executive branch agencies. The original legislation required agencies to respond to requests but set no firm deadline, contained broad exemptions for classified and internal agency materials, and provided no mechanism for fee waivers. Senator Edward Long of Missouri and Representative John Moss of California shepherded the bill through a decade of congressional resistance from executive branch agencies hostile to mandatory disclosure.