Executive Order 10501 is a very easy to understand document. It never strays from Safeguarding Official Information in the Interest of the Defense of the United States. Here it explains what happens when information is over classified. Classification was never intended to be used as a cloak to hide behind.
Executive Order 10501 signed by President Eisenhower.
HEW copy of Executive Order 10501 "Safeguarding Official Information in the Interest of the Defense of the United States." HEW October 15, 1954 with Supersedes to January 2, 1969.