I remember exactly when I caught the presidential tourism bug. It was the day I encountered a joke-telling, animatronic LBJ.
One day, as part of a Texas road trip, two friends and I visited the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin. I’m not really sure how this ended up on our itinerary. A site dedicated to Lyndon Baines Johnson does seem like kind of an odd choice for a trio of 20-something girls born in the 80s who had just a day and a half to experience Austin. I think we all expected it to be kind of lame, but time we left we were all surprised with how much we enjoyed it (the animatronic LBJ was a big part of it).
It wasn’t the first presidential history site I’d been to and it wasn’t the first time I showed interest in history or the presidency (I mean, the West Wing was and still is, one of my all-time favorite TV shows), but something clicked during that visit and it just became a thing. Immediately I wanted to go all the presidential libraries. Within 2-3 years I had added a goal of visiting all presidential burial sites, and over time this had evolved into my current, Pokémon-esque, “gotta visit ’em all” mentality when it comes to presidential history sites of all stripes.
In the 11 years since LBJ, I’ve been to eight other presidential libraries, and while Reagan’s and Clinton’s stand out as favorites, I have thoroughly enjoyed each one. To be clear, when I say I have visited “presidential libraries,” I’m really talking about the museum portion, which is the main thing people visit, not the archives, which are mainly for research.
So how did presidential libraries start? How many are there? Which one was first? The answers aren’t as obvious as they may seem. To make sense of this, it’s important to distinguish between the libraries that are part of the National Archives (aka National Archives and Record Administration, aka NARA) system and which are not.
NARA is the federal agency responsible for running presidential libraries for all presidents from Herbert Hoover forward. These are the official, federally run libraries. In addition, there are various independent, one-off presidential libraries and museums for prior presidents, usually run by non-profits or state/local government. I’m not saying these aren’t quality, well-run institutions worthy of visiting, but as they aren’t part of the official presidential library system, I consider them non-canonical, much like the Gospel of Thomas or the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special.
The history of the NARA system of presidential libraries came about is actually really interesting (at least I think so). The National Archives has a lot of information about the history and operation of the libraries here, but I’ll try and sum it up briefly here.
Back in the day, presidents owned their own papers and got to do whatever they wanted with them after they left office–preserve them, destroy them, donate them, make origami, whatever. FDR thought these these records should be available to the public. Before he died, be began to construct a library and museum and asked NARA to administer his records. Harry Truman followed suit, and advocated for the Presidential Libraries Act, which, once passed in 1955, formally created a system for the government to receive, and NARA to preserve, a president’s historic materials. But it took time to become the system it is today.
While things were established during the 1950s, up through 1981, presidential records were still technically property of the president to do as he wished, and all the government could really do is suggest to presidents that it would be a swell idea to donate their stuff to the government. Starting with the Regan administration, these records officially became government property to start with. Ultimately, all presidents from Hoover to Carter did voluntarily turn their records and libraries over to the government, but not necessarily right away–for example, Eisenhower’s library opened in 1962 but was not turned over to NARA until 1966. Nixon’s library (which didn’t open until 1990) was run independently for 17 years.
NARA-administered Presidential libraries and museums are not cookie-cutter by any means, partly because NARA doesn’t design or build the libraries. It’s up to a president, or those working on his behalf, to raise non-federal funds to build the library. They get to decide on the location, design, initial exhibits, etc. (although NARA does weigh in to make sure archival standards are met for document preservation). Once the president leaves office, NARA takes care of the records at a temporary location until the physical library is built and turned over to the government to run. More recent presidents have also had to provide an endowment to cover the maintenance of the facility.
Looking ahead, the next upcoming NARA-run library is Obama’s. He’s actually changing things up quite a bit while still staying true to the laws regulating libraries. His museum will be administered privately by his foundation (while the museum is typically handed over to NARA along with the library, this is not required). Also, his library will be digital instead of a physical location researchers visit. The funds that Obama’s foundation would traditionally spend on a physical building will instead be used to pay NARA to digitize the records. No word yet on Trump’s library (insert Twitter joke here).
Other presidential libraries that are not part of the NARA system are a mixed bag. Most include a museum about the president which could fit in with the variety of museums found at the NARA libraries. But then you have McKinley’s, where the museum for some reason is part exhibits about McKinley, part hands-on science center, complete with a mastodon skeleton and planetarium.
The actually library portions are mostly not in line with the NARA system. Since these libraries are for presidents who served before preserving presidential records was cool, they generally have to draw on other materials for the bulk of their collection. This often includes books owned by the president, or books and other materials written about the president. Monroe’s library primarily consists of a recreation of his personal library, based on a list of books he owned at one point. But, while this might sound inferior, it’s important to remember that the museum is the main thing that people visit, and a non-NARA museum could be just as awesome as a NARA-administrated one, regardless of what’s in the library. Although, I doubt McKinley’s mastodon tells bette jokes than the animationic LBJ.
