Nixon v. General Services Administration, 433 U.S 425 (1977), is a landmark court case concerning the principle of presidential privilege and whether the public is allowed to view a President's “confidential documents”.

Given that he was not liable to criminal prosecution, as he had been pardoned, Nixon's concern for his reputation appears to be the primary reason that he did not want his private documents to be inspected by historical archivists and made available to the public.

[4] These are some of the underlying personal motives as to why Richard Nixon chose to file a lawsuit against the Administrator of General Services the day after President Ford signed the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act into law.

This confidentiality agreement stated that both Richard Nixon and the General Service Administration could not access the former President's tapes and documents located near his California home without each party's respective consent.

Therefore, shortly after this confidentiality agreement was announced, Congress decided to introduce a bill that would provide for greater public access to Richard Nixon's records.

[5] The main conflict in this case was whether a federal statute authorizing that the President would have his records inspected by government archivists violated the principles of separation of powers and executive privilege.

In addition, Burger contended that the Administrator was also encroaching on President Nixon's Executive Privilege and that this Act amounted to an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder.