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President Barack Obama stands with former presidents, from second from left, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter at the dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, on April 25, 2013.<\/p>\n
AP Photo\/Charles Dharapak<\/p>\n
Welcome to the world of debatable truth presented in the Dallas library dedicated to America\u2019s 43rd president and at the 12 other presidential libraries dotted across the United States. Together, those libraries drew about 1 million visitors in the fiscal 2024 year (from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30). For comparison, Chicago\u2019s Field Museum alone brought in about 1.2 million visitors for the calendar year 2024.<\/p>\n
A uniquely American institution, presidential libraries \u2014 actually archival depositories hinged to a museum of artifacts and curiosities \u2014 have been variously described as monuments to \u201cmegalomaniacal self-promotion\u201d and \u201clegacy-polishing temples that all but ignore controversy or criticism.\u201d And when a library visitor does encounter an ugly truth about a president, it may not be framed the way they remember it.<\/p>\n
But the declassified documents from those same flawed libraries have also offered an unequaled window into the lives of the men holding America\u2019s highest office.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe books we have on presidents, the research we have \u2026 only exists because we have these places where they are centralized, where you have archivists who really know the material and can help you. Our history would be much more shallow [without them],\u201d said Julian E. Zelizer, a Princeton University historian who has done research at six of the libraries.<\/p>\n
Just how valuable the Obama Presidential Center will be to historians remains to be seen. Unlike the 13 existing physical libraries (plus the Biden and Trump collections that don\u2019t yet have permanent homes), Obama\u2019s doesn\u2019t have a National Archives and Records Administration-run research facility as part of the campus. So technically, it\u2019s not a library. All of the material will instead be stored remotely<\/a> but available to researchers online. The Obama Foundation has said the decision to go online is, in part, about saving itself money.<\/p>\n Hyde Park, New York, is home to the nation\u2019s first federal presidential library, opened in 1941 and illuminating the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Artifacts include a wheelchair (with a modified kitchen seat) the polio-stricken president used, as well as a lead bullet, one of five fired in a failed attempt to assassinate then-President-elect Roosevelt in 1933.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lights reflect off a railroad bridge on the grounds of Bill Clinton\u2019s presidential library as the lighted center is reflected in a fountain in Little Rock, Arkansas. Inside, you\u2019ll find Clinton\u2019s saxophones on display and an exhibit about the impeachment framed as \u201cThe Fight For Power.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier presidents typically received a monument \u2014 and only decades after they had died. Many presidential records were lost. Roosevelt sold the idea of a library to the U.S. Congress and to the public, saying in part that his records would be saved for future generations and available to historians as soon as possible, says Benjamin Hufbauer, a professor at the University of Louisville and author of \u201cPresidential Temples: How Memorials and Libraries Shape Public Memory.\u201d<\/p>\n Roosevelt donated his documents. The Presidential Records Act of 1978 made it law that records detailing presidential constitutional, statutory and ceremonial duties belong to the U.S. government.<\/p>\n A private foundation typically raises the funds to build the library. Then, in most cases, it is run and staffed by the federal National Archives in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A view of the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., in 2005. The pavilion houses the Boeing 707, which was used as Air Force One by presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, and George H.W. Bush. <\/p>\n Robyn Beck\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Only a tiny portion of the visitors to presidential libraries are researchers. The rest entails the general public coming to see the museums, which include exhibits featuring everything from George W. Bush\u2019s interactive \u201cDecision Points Theater\u201d to President Bill Clinton\u2019s tenor saxophone to the actual Air Force One (Boeing 707) in which President Ronald Reagan flew. A top draw at several presidential libraries is a full-scale replica of the Oval Office. Obama\u2019s museum will also have one<\/a>.<\/p>\n Given the public interest, it is vital that museums limit the spin, argues Anthony Clark, one of the more vocal critics of presidential libraries and author of \u201cThe Last Campaign: How Presidents Rewrite History, Run for Posterity and Enshrine Their Legacies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe National Archives and the presidential libraries in total are probably the single greatest source of historical records of the last 100 years in American politics. So how they put things \u2014 whether it\u2019s how they describe something in an exhibit or whether they withhold or delay records that might be inconvenient \u2014 they have a great influence,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n And Clark, who spent a month at each library doing research for his book, said it is problematic that while presidential boosters decide what goes into those exhibits and often have a big say in who runs the library, it is the federal government that has spent hundreds of millions in maintenance costs and upgrades.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a private citizen, I would prefer that any organization, private or public, tell the truth. But from a taxpayer perspective, all I really care about is whether the government is helping to fund and support and give approval to rewritten history,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n Mark Updegrove, chairman and CEO of the private foundation supporting President Lyndon Johnson\u2019s library and museum, cautioned against generalizing about the institutions; each is different, he said.<\/p>\n The Johnson library doesn\u2019t shy away from showing that the Vietnam War under Johnson\u2019s leadership was a \u201cquagmire.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a failure, a major failure,\u201d Updegrove said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a value in offering civics education through these institutions through stirring interest in not only the presidency, but in our history writ large,\u201d he added. \u201cWe suffer today from people not knowing enough about our system of government and about our history as a people.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Saxophones and a portrait of Virginia Kelley, former President Bill Clinton\u2019s mother, top right, are among items displayed at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. <\/p>\n When a presidential library first opens, they all display a layer of gloss that may not be deserved \u2014 because as several historians pointed out, the original fundraisers are typically the president\u2019s own family, members of his administration and other supporters.<\/p>\n And what of a president\u2019s well-publicized lapses in judgment \u2014 say, Clinton\u2019s affair with then-intern Monica Lewinsky and her infamous blue dress? You\u2019ll find an exhibit in Clinton\u2019s library in Little Rock, Arkansas, dedicated to his impeachment. It is framed, though, as \u201cThe Fight for Power.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark said that while he was researching his book about presidential libraries, if he asked the head of a Republican library foundation about a historical inaccuracy in one of their exhibits, they\u2019d often respond, \u201cWell, why doesn\u2019t Clinton\u2019s [library] have the blue dress?\u201d<\/p>\n Over time, some museums evolve to offer a more clear-eyed view of a president\u2019s time in office.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s often about 40 to 50 years after a president leaves office before that happens, and there are no guarantees even then,\u201d Hufbauer wrote in a 2015 piece in Politico titled \u201cTurning Presidents Into Pharaohs.\u201d<\/p>\n President Richard Nixon\u2019s library originally whitewashed the Watergate scandal that toppled his presidency. At the time, the library and museum were privately run in Yorba Linda, California, Nixon\u2019s birthplace. In the early 2000s, Nixon\u2019s family decided they wanted the federal government to take over running the museum and library. As part of the changeover, American historian Timothy Naftali was recruited to be the new director.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the litmus tests for determining the credibility of this new library was how it dealt with Watergate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Nixon loyalists fought Naftali\u2019s proposed changes but ultimately lost.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was difficult,\u201d Naftali recalled, adding, \u201cThe health of the political community of any society can be assessed by looking at how honest it is with itself about the hardest moments in its history.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark said the library that gets closest to something \u201csubstantively negative\u201d belongs to President Harry S. 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