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1The office of President of the United States has been held by fewer than fifty people in our country’s history. These leaders have always sparked Americans’ interest. Presidential libraries give the public the opportunity to learn more about their past leaders.
2Presidential libraries are not the same as typical public or private libraries. These buildings hold an array of items from American presidents’ terms in office and from their personal lives. The libraries are more like museums that hold artifacts and documents. The public is allowed to tour the libraries, and many historians use the original documents available at the facilities in their research.
3Before the mid-1900s, American presidents often gave their personal papers and artifacts to family members and friends. These heirs may have kept, sold, or donated the items. Although many of the artifacts from early presidents remain, some have been lost or destroyed. During his second term as president, Franklin D. Roosevelt realized that presidential papers were important and wanted his to stay unharmed for future generations. Historians and scholars suggested that Roosevelt store his papers where the public could access them. In 1939, President Roosevelt took their advice and donated his papers to the federal government. Then, a number of Roosevelt’s friends, advisers, and family members raised money to build a library to house the president’s donations.
4Roosevelt’s successor, Harry Truman, decided to build a presidential library in 1950. President Truman, however, wanted the government to pass a law that made donating presidential documents easier. When Truman left office in 1953, Congress had not yet passed this new law, so he took his presidential papers with him and promised to donate them to the federal government later. In 1955, Congress finally passed the Presidential Libraries Act. The Act states that the president is responsible for raising money for and constructing the library building. Then, once the president donates the land and the building, the federal government is responsible for the facility’s upkeep. After the law passed, President Truman broke ground for his library, which was dedicated on July 6, 1957—almost two decades after President Roosevelt donated his collection.
5Since the first two presidential libraries were completed, ten more federally operated presidential libraries opened to the public. Currently, former presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton have government-operated libraries. Other former presidents such as Lincoln, McKinley, Coolidge, and Wilson also have libraries; however, the federal government does not own or operate these facilities.
6The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the agency responsible for the federally operated libraries. In addition to caring for the libraries so that the public can browse the impressive collections, the NARA also makes materials available to citizens online. Today, citizens can visit the presidential libraries almost every day of the year and can browse the Internet collections at any time. Making these artifacts easily accessible is important for American citizens. They can learn more about their leaders and look at them from different points of view. By studying these collections, Americans can gain new perspectives on their former presidents.
