PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES

Presidential libraries are a unique American institution. Only in the United States do we gather the records documenting our highest office, that of the Presidency, in one place available to all. As one former President recently observed, "Americans have built presidential libraries both to document and to disseminate their history. . . these institutions mirror the nation they span."

The nine, and soon to be 10, Presidential libraries throughout the country have made, and are making, two significant contributions. One is the tirnely availability of a President's papers. Most often, archival research is under way within five years of a President leaving office. Compare this with the fact that the papers of Abraham Lincoln were not available for public use until 1948, or the even more extreme case of the papers of John Quincy Adams remaining locked up in the Massachusetts Historical Society until the 1950s.

The second contribution of these important establishments is public awareness. Presidential libraries are living institutions-- less personal monuments than classrooms of democracy. Presidential museums have raised public consciousness of the burdens of presidential decisions and the scope of presidential duties. The libraries achieve this mission not only through their museum exhibitions, but also by way of their conferences, education outreach programs, guest speakers and commemorative events. They have become popular places for all Americans to examine their past and explore a history not always learned in schools.

Gerald R. Ford Library [nara.gov]
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library [umich.edu]
Jimmy Carter Library
John F. Kennedy Library
Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library Gopher
Nixon Presidential Materials Staff
Ronald Reagan Library

Return to the George Bush Presidential Library Center
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