§§ 2201–2209,[3] is an Act of the United States Congress governing the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents created or received after January 20, 1981, and mandating the preservation of all presidential records.

Enacted November 4, 1978,[4] the PRA changed the legal ownership of the President's official records from private to public, and established a new statutory structure under which Presidents must manage their records.

The law superseded the policy in effect during Nixon’s tenure that a president’s records were considered private property, making clear that presidential records are owned by the public.

The PRA requires the President to ensure preservation of records documenting the performance of his official duties (44 U.S.C.

[6] During his federal indictment for retaining sensitive government records after he left office and storing them at his personal residence in Florida, former president Donald Trump asserted that the PRA authorized him to keep documents from his own presidency and shielded him against legal reprisals for doing so.