No one seems to know, yet.
President Joe Biden stepped away from his reelection bid earlier this month, clearing the way for his Vice President Kamala Harris’ rapid ascension to the presumptive nomination on the Democratic ticket. In doing so, regardless of the final outcome in some three months’ time, this Delaware president will no longer hold the White House after Jan. 20, 2025.
Biden still has months in office ahead. Previous administrations have taken their time in announcing the final location for presidential records. Others have chosen largely virtual archives. But the question remains to be pondered.
Where would Biden place his presidential library?
Biden actually discussed as much with special counsel Robert Hur last fall, among others, according to a transcript made public in March. He mentioned First Lady Jill Biden encouraged him to start thinking about the possible institution, after visiting that of President Harry Truman.
“She said, ‘Joe, have you decided on your library?'” Biden recalls in the transcript. “I said, ‘I have no idea where I’ve got — I mean — and I don’t think I’m supposed to, while I’m president, think about the library.'”
He hadn’t yet made considerations, then. But the president did mention Syracuse University, the University of Delaware and Washington D.C. as possible locales in that interview. This month, on July 22, the White House had no official comment on the subject.
“My recollection is there’s people competing,” Biden said back in October 2023.
So where?
[Your ideas: Where do you think a “Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library” should take shape? What could it look like? Send your thoughts to kepowers@gannett.com]
Considering the University of Delaware
First of all, the University of Delaware said it is “unaware of any conversations on this topic” on July 26.
Delaware’s largest university had “no information to share” at the moment. Biden earned his bachelor’s degree there in 1965, while the first lady also earned her bachelor’s and doctoral degree from the same Newark institution. Today it already hosts the Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, among other connections.
“My guess is that a presidential library in Delaware might be located/associated with UD,” said Annie Norman, Delaware’s own state librarian, in an email. Norman had not yet been consulted, or learned anything more, but the leader within Division of Libraries already found herself excited by the idea.
Over in Wilmington, a spokesperson for Mayor Mike Purzycki’s office said the city had “no comment or information to offer regarding your questions” concerning the library possibilities, on July 20.
Looking down in Dover, Biden did not mention his state’s only HBCU, Delaware State University, in his musings last fall. However, the president has been touted for his contributions to Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the state, particularly by DSU president and head to his Board of Advisors on HBCUs, Tony Allen.
“It’s super exciting, though,” Norman continued, “to know that there will be one in DE at some point in the future… It seems there is quite a process around those decisions.”
There is.
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Truman, Obama, Trump: A brief history
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration will automatically assume responsibility for the custody and preservation of presidents’ records by term’s end, according to federal law.
This was only fully formalized in 1978.
“Though many pre-Hoover collections now reside in the Library of Congress, others are split among other libraries, historical societies and private collections,” writes the administration to its website. “Sadly, many materials have been lost or deliberately destroyed.”
The presidential library system began back in 1939, as President Franklin Roosevelt donated his personal and presidential papers to the government. By 1950, Harry Truman decided that he would build a library, too.
Fast forward, and the Presidential Libraries Act established a system of “privately erected and federally maintained” libraries in 1955. Then, in 1978, the Presidential Records Act made all presidential records officially property of the country. Before that, the National Archives “successfully persuaded” former administrations to donate.
Now, presidents can choose to build and donate a presidential library to the National Archives, but they’re not required.
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President Barack Obama decided against a physical presidential library. Instead, the Obama Foundation plans to build and operate a private museum and presidential center — while maintaining the first all-digital presidential library. Some 95% of his records were already digital, according to the foundation.
The National Archives will store and preserve materials after digitalization, while some items will be lent for display at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago. This separate center will focus on the wider story of both the president and his family, before and after the White House, and is still scheduled to open in 2026.
There is yet no announced plan to erect a library for President Donald Trump, currently in the throws of running for his own reelection. For now, the former president’s library is also digital, taking the form of a website of records from his term overseen by the National Archives.
Biden will have plenty of choices to make.
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Considering New York’s Syracuse University
The president also made mention of another alma mater, farther north.
Biden said Syracuse University, where he earned a law degree back in 1968, may also have interest in hosting his presidential library. Biden has said he “did not graduate in the top half of the class” at its College of Law — but today, he still boasts the highest federal office ever held by any graduate, according to the university. Actually, he already claimed such distinction with his vice presidency in 2009.
Biden’s first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, was a Syracuse alumna. And later, his son Beau attended the same law school in the Class of 1994.
Back in upstate New York, the university did not confirm or deny its interest in a presidential library. However, Senior Associate Vice President for Communications Sarah Scalese said: “There have been no conversations to date on this.”
Possibilities abound.
Maybe a case could be made for the president’s birth city, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Maybe the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, in which Biden has taught and a Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement already stands in Washington? Perhaps Delaware’s largest city, Wilmington, in a neighborhood without such investment?
Regardless, the National Archives will have to ensure the historic term is captured.
Got a story? Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@gannett.com or follow her on X @kpowers01.
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Publish date : 2024-07-30 05:09:05
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