Presidential Legacies: Libraries and Museums (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Oct. 10, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12781 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Meghan M. Stuessy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
At the conclusion of a presidency, former Presidents and
their supporters may seek to construct facilities to
commemorate their terms of office and house presidential
materials. In 1955, Congress enacted the Presidential
Libraries Act (PLA; P.L. 84-373) to create a system of
privately erected and federally maintained libraries to house
presidential materials and artifacts.
Section 2112 of Title 44 of the U.S. Code provides the
Archivist of the United States (the head of the National
Archives and Records Administration, or NARA) with the
authority to accept—for and in the name of the United
States—land, a facility, equipment, and gifts for the
purpose of creating a presidential archival depository when
the Archivist considers it to be in the public interest.
The presidential library system consists of the both the
collections of presidential materials and the physical
depositories that hold the materials. Currently, the
presidential library system comprises 15 presidential
collections (and 13 depositories) documenting Presidents
Herbert Hoover through Donald Trump. In FY2022, the
presidential libraries welcomed 985,800 visitors.
Construction on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago,
IL, is underway. Plans for a depository for former President
Trump’s materials and for President Joe Biden’s materials
have not been announced.
In the decades since the PLA’s enactment, both Congress
and NARA have reconsidered what would constitute a
donation in the public interest and how presidential libraries
should be administered. This In Focus provides information
on the current presidential library system and the ownership
and control of records held in presidential libraries, and it
concludes with information on the funding for construction,
building, and records maintenance within presidential
libraries.
