The Presidential Libraries Act and the
Establishment of Presidential Libraries

Wendy R. Ginsberg
Analyst in Government Organization and Management
Erika K. Lunder
Legislative Attorney
December 1, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41513
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress

The Presidential Libraries Act and the Establishment of Presidential Libraries

Summary
The Presidential Libraries Act (P.L. 84-373; 69 Stat. 695), as originally enacted in 1955, sought to
create a system of government “preservation and administration … of papers and other historical
materials of any President or former President of the United States.” Pursuant to the law, the
General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) Administrator could, among other actions,
accept … the papers and other historical materials of any President or former President of the
United States, or of any other official or former official of the Government, and other papers
relating to and contemporary with any President or former President of the United States.
(P.L. 84-373)
Amid concerns about growing costs of the libraries, the act was substantially amended in 1986
(P.L. 99-323; 100 Stat. 495) to “shift the burden of on-going building operations costs of future
libraries from the taxpayer to endowment funds.”
Through the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the federal government
currently operates and maintains 13 presidential libraries, and it may soon assume responsibility
for a new facility for the records of former President George W. Bush. The libraries, which
primarily serve as archival repositories and museums in which the records and memorabilia of the
former Presidents are held and made available to researchers, are privately constructed on behalf
of former Presidents. Upon completion, and with approval from both the Archivist of the United
States and Congress, the land, buildings, and sometimes other amenities for the library may be
deeded to or otherwise placed under the control of the federal government.
Among some concerns associated with the construction and maintenance of presidential libraries
is the role of the private organizations that build and, sometimes, continue to inhabit the
buildings. The private organizations, commonly referred to as presidential library foundations,
support the construction of the libraries and sometimes provide funding for the exhibitions
displayed within the library or its museum. Each library and foundation has a unique partnership.
Such a relationship, however, may also lead to difficulties over which exhibits are displayed at
the libraries as well as concerns over which spaces are publicly owned and which are privately
owned.
Moreover, some presidential library scholars have raised concerns over whether library exhibits,
which are often funded by the library foundations, present a balanced version of each President’s
administration or if they tend to portray the President in an inaccurate or, at least, more favorable,
light.
This report details the legislative history of the Presidential Libraries Act. The report then
provides information on existing library facilities and their locations. It also analyzes legislative
options for the act, including increasing endowment requirements for the library foundations and
clearly delineating the relationship between NARA and the libraries’ supporting organizations.
Congress, for example, might consider consolidating the libraries into one centralized location or
could attempt to create standards for the historical exhibits at the libraries.

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The Presidential Libraries Act and the Establishment of Presidential Libraries

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
Library Facilities and Location.................................................................................................... 3
History of the Presidential Library............................................................................................... 5
Franklin D. Roosevelt ........................................................................................................... 5
Harry S. Truman ................................................................................................................... 7
Legislative History of the Presidential Libraries Act .................................................................... 8
The Presidential Libraries Act of 1955 .................................................................................. 8
The Case of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library..................................................... 10
Interest in Revamping the PLA ........................................................................................... 10
The Presidential Libraries Act of 1986 and Changes to the Endowment Formula ................. 11
Subsequent Amendments to the Endowment Requirement ............................................. 14
Presidential Library Foundations ............................................................................................... 15
Scholarship on Presidential Libraries......................................................................................... 16
Library Exhibitions ............................................................................................................. 16
The Federated System ......................................................................................................... 19
Clarifying the Relationship Between the Foundation and the Federal Government............... 20
Analysis.................................................................................................................................... 21

Tables
Table 1. Presidential Library Facilities and Locations .................................................................. 2

Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 24
Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... 24

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The Presidential Libraries Act and the Establishment of Presidential Libraries

Introduction
The Presidential Libraries Act (P.L. 84-373; 69 Stat. 695),1 as originally enacted in 1955, sought
to create a system of government “preservation and administration … of papers and other
historical materials of any President or former President of the United States.” Pursuant to the
law, the General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) Administrator could, among other actions,
accept … the papers and other historical materials of any President or former President of the
United States, or of any other official or former official of the Government, and other papers
relating to and contemporary with any President or former President of the United States.
(P.L. 84-373)
As the presidential library system continued to grow after the 1955 act, funding and construction
issues became a policy concern. Amid the concerns about growing costs of the libraries, the act
was substantially amended in 1986 (P.L. 99-323; 100 Stat. 495) to “shift the burden of on-going
building operations costs of future libraries from the taxpayer to endowment funds.”2
Today, presidential libraries are funded through a combination of congressional appropriations
and private sources.3 In general, funds for archiving and management of a President’s papers are
appropriated to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), while funds raised
by private organizations support facility construction, programming, and other activities related to
a President’s legacy. Under the act, the Archivist of the United States has the authority to accept
and take title to land, facilities, and equipment for a library—or to enter into an agreement with
certain public or private entities to use their land, facilities, and equipment.4 Prior to accepting
title to the property or entering into the agreement, the Archivist must submit a report to Congress
that includes, among other information, estimates of the costs and funding requirements of the
proposed library. Congress then has 60 days of continuous session to disapprove of the
acquisition or agreement. If Congress does not act, NARA may take title to the property or enter
into the agreement for use of the property, so long as the statutorily required endowment for
maintenance and similar costs contains sufficient funding.5 Congress most recently updated
funding requirements in 2008.
Through NARA, the federal government currently operates and maintains 13 presidential
libraries, and may soon assume responsibility for a new facility for the records of former
President George W. Bush. Table 1 includes all of the current NARA presidential library
facilities.

1 The act is currently codified at 44 U.S.C. § 2112.
2 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Reduction of Costs of Presidential Libraries, to
accompany H.R. 1349, 99th Cong., 1st sess., May 15, 1985, H.Rept. 99-125 (Washington: GPO, 1985), pp. 1-2.
3 For additional information on presidential libraries and presidential records, see CRS Report R40238, Presidential
Records: Issues for the 111th Congress
, by Wendy R. Ginsberg; and CRS Report R40209, Fundraising for Presidential
Libraries: Legislative and Policy Issues in the 111th Congress
, by R. Sam Garrett.
4 44 U.S.C. § 2112(a).
5 44 U.S.C. § 2112(g).
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Table 1. Presidential Library Facilities and Locations
Facility Name
Location
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
West Branch, Iowa
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Hyde Park, New York
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Independence, Missouri
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum Abilene, Kansas
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Boston, Massachusetts
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
Austin, Texas
Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Yorba Linda, California
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Jimmy Carter Library and Museum
Atlanta, Georgia
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum
Simi Valley, California
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
College Station, Texas
William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum
Little Rock, Arkansas
George W. Bush Presidential Library6 Lewisville,
Texas
Source: Hebert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, http://www.hoover.archives.gov/; Franklin D.
Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/; Harry S. Truman Library and
Museum, http://www.trumanlibrary.org/; Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum,
http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/; John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum,
http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK+Library+and+Museum/General+Information/
Visit+Directions+and+Public+Accessibility.htm; Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum,
http://www.lbjlibrary.org/; Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/index.php;
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/; Jimmy Carter Library and
Museum, http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/; Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum,
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/; George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/;
William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/; and George W. Bush
Presidential Library, http://www.georgewbushlibrary.gov/.
The libraries, which primarily serve as archival depositories for presidential records and
memorabilia, are privately constructed on behalf of former Presidents. Upon completion, the land,
buildings, and sometimes other library amenities are deeded to or otherwise placed under the
control of the federal government.
Among some concerns associated with the construction and maintenance of presidential libraries
is the role of the private organizations that build and, sometimes, continue to inhabit the library
buildings. The private organizations, commonly referred to as presidential library foundations,
support the construction of the libraries and sometimes the exhibitions displayed within the
library or its museum. This close association with the library may create an amicable public-
private partnership at library facilities. Such a relationship, however, may also render unclear

6 The repository for the George W. Bush materials is under construction at Southern Methodist University in Dallas,
Texas. The presidential papers of former President George W. Bush are currently stored at a NARA facility in
Lewisville, Texas. The Lewisville facility is included as one of the 13 presidential libraries maintained by NARA. See
George W. Bush Presidential Library, http://www.georgewbushlibrary.gov/. This facility will be replaced by the one
that is under construction as part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the Southern Methodist University
Campus. For more information on the George W. Bush Presidential Center, see Southern Methodist University, “SMU:
Home of the George W. Bush Presidential Center,” http://smu.edu/bushlibrary/index.asp.
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which portions of the library and its exhibitions are funded by government appropriations and
which portions are not.
Moreover, some presidential library scholars have raised concerns over whether library exhibits
present a balanced version of each President’s administration or if they tend to portray the
President in an inaccurate or, at least, more favorable, light. The concerns of these scholars have
grown as presidential libraries began to share their materials with K-12 schools as educational
programming. 7
Although there have not been recent modifications to the Presidential Libraries Act, there is
legislation pending in the 111th Congress that seeks to make library foundation fundraising more
transparent. For example, H.R. 36 would require library fundraising organizations to file quarterly
reports itemizing contributions totaling at least $200.8 Under the bill, the reports would be filed
with NARA, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.9 The House passed the Presidential
Library Donation Act of 2009 (H.R. 36) on January 7, 2009. On January 8, 2009, H.R. 36 was
referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. No further
action has been taken on this bill. The bill is substantially similar to H.R. 1254, which was passed
by the House during the 110th Congress. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs reported an amended version of H.R. 1254, but the measure did not receive
floor consideration.
This report details the legislative history of the Presidential Libraries Act. It then provides
information on existing library facilities and their locations. The report also discusses the private
organizations that financially support their construction and, sometimes, their exhibitions. It then
analyzes legislative options for the act, including changing endowment requirements; creating a
single, centralized presidential library; or more clearly identifying the role of the libraries’
supporting foundations. This report does not address the laws governing the collection,
processing, and archiving of presidential records.10
Library Facilities and Location
Although there are 13 distinct presidential libraries, some traditions and patterns have emerged in
their location and operation. For example, the first four presidential libraries—Roosevelt,
Truman, Hoover, and Eisenhower—established two patterns: the facilities were located at what
was considered to be the particular former President’s hometown (birthplace or principal
residence) and the libraries’ buildings, grounds, and holdings were deeded to the federal
government.

7 Sharon K. Fawcett, “Presidential Libraries: A View from the Center,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer
2006), p. 25.
8 For more information on H.R. 36 see CRS Report R40209, Fundraising for Presidential Libraries: Legislative and
Policy Issues in the 111th Congress
, by R. Sam Garrett.
9 The bill refers to reports being filed with “the Administration.” Although the bill does not define that term, H.R. 36
would amend 44 U.S.C. § 2112, which defines “the Administration” as NARA.
10 For information on presidential records, see CRS Report R40238, Presidential Records: Issues for the
111th Congress
, by Wendy R. Ginsberg.
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Change in this practice first occurred with the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, which
was located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The university could not legally
deed its land to the federal government, so another provision of the PLA was relied upon to effect
federal supervision of the facility. Rather than taking title to the presidential archival facility, the
Archivist of the United States relied upon his authority to
make agreements, upon terms and conditions he considers proper, with a State, political
subdivision, university, institution of higher learning, institute, or foundation to use as a
Presidential archival depository land, buildings, and equipment of the State, subdivision,
university or other organization, to be made available by it without transfer of title to the
United States, and maintain, operate and protect the depository as a part of the national
archives system.11
Pursuant to this authority, an agreement or memorandum of understanding was executed
regarding the federal supervision of the Johnson Presidential Library. The Gerald R. Ford
Presidential Library was similarly not deeded to the federal government because of its location on
the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. A separate Ford museum is located in the
former President’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The museum, which shares the same
director as the Ford library, is part of the NARA presidential library system.
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and William J. Clinton presidential
libraries, while deeded to the federal government—in part or in whole12—are located in major
cities in close proximity to respective presidential hometowns. The George W. Bush library is
currently under construction on the campus of Southern Methodist University, the alma mater of
his wife, Laura Bush.
In addition to funding the 13 “official” presidential libraries, Congress has occasionally provided
specific funding for private facilities honoring former presidents. These libraries, which hold the
documents of former Presidents who served prior to Franklin D. Roosevelt, may receive a direct
line item in the annual appropriations process. For example, Congress appropriated $1 million in
1996 for the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation,13 $500,000 in 1997 for the Rutherford B.
Hayes home,14 $3 million in 1999 for the Abraham Lincoln library,15 and $365,000 in 2000 for
the Ulysses S. Grant boyhood home.16 Such funds have been used to support construction,
maintenance, or other projects. Because they are not part of the federal library system, however,
facilities such as these are beyond the scope of this report.

11 See 44 U.S.C. § 2112(a) (1982); and 44 U.S.C. § 2112(a)(1)(B)(i) (1988).
12 The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the William J. Clinton Presidential Library each have more square
footage than the federal government can accept without having to raise the endowment requirement for the buildings.
Any square footage over 70,000 square feet statutorily requires a higher endowment percentage rate. Pursuant to
statute, the endowment percentage increases with each square foot the edifice is in excess of the 70,000 cap. Parts of
these libraries, therefore, are deeded to the federal government while other parts of the buildings are owned by the
organizations that supported the buildings’ construction. The foundations do not have to pay additional endowment fees
if they maintain control of the additional square footage. The endowment calculations will be discussed in greater
length later in this report.
13 See 110 Stat. 3009-258 for appropriations language and 110 Stat. 3868 for authorizing language.
14 111 Stat. 1550.
15 113 Stat. 1501A-143.
16 114 Stat. 930.
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All of the presidential libraries have also adapted to the Internet. A large number of the records
available at the various libraries around the nation are now available online or in other electronic
formats. The presidential libraries and their support foundations use the Internet for more than
just giving researchers access to records: many libraries now offer virtual tours of their facilities
online.17 Use of these electronic resources can make presidential records available to researchers
anywhere in the country, rather than requiring researchers to visit the library facilities.
History of the Presidential Library
Starting with President George Washington and going through the first century and a half of the
American republic, the papers of the President were regarded as personal property to be taken
with a President when he left office.18 In many cases, records were given to the Library of
Congress for archiving, but the Library did not have the staff or funding to “service these
collected papers adequately and make them easy for the general researcher to use.”19 In other
cases, the records were “burned, lost, purloined or destroyed. Impecunious heirs sought to sell
them to the [g]overnment, and in the course of some of these transactions, some parts of the
collections were withheld or separated out and passed on to relatives or sold to collectors.”20
According to one scholar, the records of the Presidents are “a whole epoch of American history as
seen from the office of the Chief Executive,” that may include “letters and memos … on which
great decisions and official acts were based.”21 As scholars, the general public, and Presidents
themselves began to understand the value of these records, interest grew in creating standards for
their preservation.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
After Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Executive Office of the President (EOP) in 1939, the
maintenance and archiving of presidential records became a more pertinent issue to him.
President Roosevelt sought to return presidential papers to the public realm and create a “rich
deposit of historical source materials for his particular era in American history”22 through a new
type of institution: the presidential library. When President Roosevelt advanced the concept of the
presidential library in 1938,23 two prototype libraries were already in existence—the Rutherford
B. Hayes Memorial Library and the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace.

17 The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, for example, has an online photo archive available on its website
that allows users to enter a search term and find a variety of archived presidential photographs. See Lyndon Baines
Johnson Library and Museum, “Online Photo Archive Search,” http://www.lbjlibrary.org/collections/photo-
archive.html. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation hosts a virtual online tour of the Ronald Reagan Library and
Museum on its website. See The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library, “Reagan Library Video Tour,”
http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan-library-video-tour.aspx.
18 See Waldo Gifford Leland, “The Creation of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library: A Personal Narrative,” American
Archivist
, vol. 18 (January 1955), p. 13. Certain papers from the presidencies of George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson were maintained at the Library of Congress, but no laws existed that required outgoing
Presidents to maintain these records.
19 David Demarest Lloyd, “Presidential Papers and Presidential Libraries,” Manuscripts, vol. 8 (Fall 1955), p. 5.
20 Id.
21 Id., p. 4.
22 Id.
23 On December 10, 1938, Franklin D. Roosevelt told 18 people assembled at a luncheon his plans to donate to the
(continued...)
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In 1916, the state of Ohio completed the Hayes Memorial in Fremont, Ohio.24 At that time, the
library was maintained jointly by the state of Ohio and the Rutherford B. Hayes-Lucy Webb
Hayes Foundation.25 Today the repository, still run by Ohio and the foundation, is known as the
Rutherford B. Hayes Library. In 1919, Herbert Hoover pledged $50,000 to Stanford University in
Palo Alto, California, to establish an institution that would serve as a repository of records of both
Hoover’s military and political careers, and would later hold President Hoover’s personal
materials.26 The record-keeping repository and research institution was completed for $600,000,
and was named the Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace.27
President Roosevelt built upon these two models and developed the concept of a privately built,
publicly maintained presidential library. In December 1938, he organized an executive committee
to create a presidential library for his records and recruited Waldo Gifford Leland, a distinguished
historian and leader in the archiving field, to be chairman of the committee.28 Prior to the
committee’s first meeting, Mr. Leland outlined a roster of issues that would need to be addressed,
including the following:
• Determining the functions and responsibilities of the executive committee
• Outlining the relationship of the proposed archive to the federal government
• Investigating the possible creation of new legislation to authorize federal
participation or acquisition of the project
• Determining the types of and quantities of materials that should be kept in the
future repository
• Determining space requirements in both architectural and structural terms for the
repository
• Calculating the cost of the building and its equipment29

(...continued)
federal government a plot of his mother’s land five miles north of Poughkeepsie on which to store his documents,
books, correspondence, pamphlets, pictures and other objects of both personal and historical interest. See Waldo
Gifford Leland, “The Creation of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library: A Personal Narrative,” American Archivist, vol.
18 (January 1955), p. 11.
24 Thomas A. Smith, “Before Hyde Park: The Rutherford B. Hayes Library,” The American Archivist, vol. 43, no. 4
(Fall 1980), p. 485.The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library is part of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential
Center. The library holds more than 70,000 books that include volumes on a variety of topics that go beyond the former
President’s administration records. Included in this collection are volumes on genealogy and local history of Fremont,
Ohio. For more information about the center and the library, see Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, “About the
Library,” http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/library/.
25 Thomas A. Smith, “Before Hyde Park: The Rutherford B. Hayes Library,” American Archivist, vol. 43 (Fall 1980),
pp. 485.
26 Hoover Institution, Stanford University, “Library and Archives: History,” http://www.hoover.org/library-and-
archives/history.
27 David Demarest Lloyd, “Presidential Papers and Presidential Libraries,” Manuscripts, vol. 8 (Fall 1955), p. 15;
President Hoover’s presidential records were transferred to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch,
Iowa, when that facility was completed and turned over to the government in 1964.
28 Waldo Gifford Leland, “The Creation of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library: A Personal Narrative,” American
Archivist
, vol. 18 (January 1955), pp. 11-29. See also Donald R. McCoy, “The Beginning of the Franklin D. Roosevelt
Library,” Prologue, vol. 7 (Fall 1975), pp. 137-150.
29 Waldo Gifford Leland, “The Creation of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library: A Personal Narrative,” American
Archivist
, vol. 18 (January 1955), p. 14.
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At the initial organizational meeting on December 17, 1938, the seven-member committee
determined its role should be strictly advisory, and should not involve raising funds for the
construction or operation of the repository.30 The members also concluded that “new legislation
would have to be enacted … to enable the [g]overnment to accept the gifts of collections, land,
and building and to provide for their administration.” The executive committee then decided to
create a larger 30-member National Advisory Committee, consisting of historians and scholars to
help determine what should be included in the repository.31 In addition, the executive committee
formalized the creation of a so-called Committee on Ways and Means—a group of 63
underwriters for the repository project. The Committee on Ways and Means made a collective
guarantee of $450,000 for the project.32 Finally, the executive committee created a corporation,
the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Inc., which had the “power to solicit, accept, borrow, invest,
and expend money, to transfer property to the United States provided that adequate legislation
should have been enacted for the acceptance of such property and for its permanent care and
maintenance.”33
In 1939, Congress enacted chartering legislation for the Roosevelt library.34 The Archivist of the
United States, acting on behalf of the federal government, accepted the completed library edifice
on July 4, 1940. The museum portion of the facility was opened to the public approximately a
year later. Visitors to the museum were charged a quarter.35 Library materials were available for
research use by the public in the spring of 1946.
Harry S.36 Truman
President Harry S. Truman also had concerns about the preservation of his records. In the
aftermath of his 1948 election, Truman—following the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential
Library model—oversaw the creation of a Missouri corporation in 1950 to collect donations and
establish a presidential library on his behalf.37 While the Truman Library Corporation was

30 Id., p. 15. The advisory committee itself was funded through a grant of $1,500 provided by the Carnegie Corporation.
Leland wrote that nearly $800 of the $1,500 grant was later refunded to the Carnegie Corporation because it was not
used by the committee.
31 Id., p. 16.
32 Id.
33 Id., p. 17-18. According to Leland, creating the corporation also provided a “hedge” if Congress did not enact
legislation that would have allowed for the acquisition of the repository. If such legislation were not enacted, “the
corporation would have been obliged to seek endowment or other permanent funding for the perpetual maintenance of
the establishment.” More than 28,000 people contributed a total of $400,000 to the library (p. 25). Construction costs
totaled $367,000 (p. 23).
34 53 Stat. 1052.
35 Id., p. 21. President Roosevelt was adamant that a variety of objects and gadgets associated with his life be displayed
in the museum, despite Leland’s concern that too much space was allotted to the museum functions of the library.
According to Leland, President Roosevelt responded by saying, “Well, you know, if people have to pay a quarter to get
into the library they want to see something interesting inside.”
36 Some editors argue that there is no period after the “S” in Harry S. Truman. This report follows the recommendation
of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, which states that “S.” is correct. See Harry S. Truman Library and
Museum, “Use of the Period After the ‘S’ in Harry S. Truman’s Name,” http://www.trumanlibrary.org/speriod.htm.
37 Background information on the establishment of the Truman Presidential Library was provided by NARA. See also
David D. Lloyd, “The Harry S. Truman Library,” American Archivist, vol. 18 (April 1955), pp. 107-110; and Philip C.
Brooks, “The Harry S. Truman Library—Plans and Reality,” American Archivist, vol. 25 (January 1962), pp. 25-37.
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endeavoring to raise funding for the construction of the archival edifice, however, Congress
enacted the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955.
Legislative History of the Presidential Libraries Act
The Presidential Libraries Act (P.L. 84-373; 69 Stat. 695), as originally enacted in 1955, sought to
create a system of government “preservation and administration … of papers and other historical
materials of any President or former President of the United States.”38 Amid concerns about
growing costs of the libraries, the act was substantially amended in 1986 (P.L. 99-323; 100 Stat.
495) to “shift the burden of on-going building operations costs of future libraries from the
taxpayer to endowment funds.”39
These two laws, in addition to several other amendments, currently shape how and where
presidential records are collected, preserved, and administered. The following sections of the
report detail the legislative history of the PLA.
The Presidential Libraries Act of 1955
On June 2, 1955, Representative Edward Herbert Rees of Kansas introduced H.J. Res 330 “To
provide for the acceptance and maintenance of Presidential libraries and for other purposes.” On
June 29, 1955, the House Committee on Government Operations favorably reported the bill with
amendments.40 According to the report, H.J. Res 330 sought to give the Administrator of the
General Services Administration (GSA)41 the authority to accept for preservation the “papers and
materials” of a President or former President of the United States, as well as papers relating to
and contemporary with any President or former President of the United States, and of any other
official or former official of the United States.”42
The committee report detailed the need for a presidential library system, saying that the lack of a
systematic arrangement for such documents “has resulted in irreparable loss or dispersion of
important bodies of Presidential documents during the 166 years of our Nation’s existence.”43 In
addition, the report said the new law
would enable our Presidents and former Presidents to plan for the preservation of their
papers at the place of their choice with the knowledge that the Government has made
provisions to receive them in the archives of the Nation with adequate provisions for their

38 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Presidential Libraries, report to accompany H.J. Res.
330, 84th Cong., 1st sess., June 29, 1955, H.Rept. 84-998 (Washington: GPO, 1955), pp. 1-2. This report details the
legislative creation of the presidential library system.
39 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Reduction of costs of Presidential Libraries, to
accompany H.R. 1349, 99th Cong., 1st sess., May 15, 1985, H.Rept. 99-125 (Washington: GPO, 1985), pp. 1-2.
40 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Presidential Libraries, report to accompany H.J. Res.
330, 84th Cong., 1st sess., June 29, 1955, H.Rept. 84-998 (Washington: GPO, 1955).
41 At the time the H.J. Res. 330 was being debated in Congress, the National Archives was under the aegis of the
General Services Administration.
42 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Presidential Libraries, report to accompany H.J. Res.
330, 84th Cong., 1st sess., June 29, 1955, H.Rept. 84-998 (Washington: GPO, 1955), p. 2.
43 Id.
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preservation, with proper safeguards for their administration, and with restrictions on their
use that recognize and protect the President’s rights.44
The report also noted the bill’s goal of “housing within one establishment … all types of materials
that help to explain the history of a President and his period.” It also mentioned the bill’s
requirement to decentralize the collections, permitting each President or former President to
decide where in the United States his records would be located, which the report said would be a
“highly desirable objective at any time, particularly in this atomic age.”45
On July 5, 1955, the bill passed the House. On July 7, 1955, the bill was referred to the Senate
Committee on Government Operations. The committee favorably reported the bill on July 28,
1955.46 On August 2, the Senate passed H.J. Res 330 with technical amendments. That same day,
the House agreed to the Senate amendments. On August 12, 1955, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower signed the Presidential Libraries Act (PLA) into law (P.L. 84-373).
Pursuant to the new statute, the GSA Administrator could
• accept the papers and other historical materials of any President or former
President of the United States, or of any other official or former official of the
government, and other papers relating to and contemporary with any President or
former President of the United States;47
• accept and take title to, for and in the name of the United States, after a detailed
report to Congress in each instance, land buildings, and equipment offered as a
gift to the United States to be utilized as a presidential archival depository;
• enter into agreements, after a detailed report to Congress in each instance, with
any state, political subdivision, university, institution of higher learning, institute,
or foundation, to utilize as a presidential archival depository land, building, and
equipment of any such state, subdivision, institution, or organization to be made
available by it without transfer of title to the United States;48
• maintain, operate, and protect such presidential archival depositories as part of
the national archives system; and
• accept gifts or bequests of money or other property for the purpose of
maintaining, operating, protecting, or improving any presidential archival
depository.49

44 Id.
45 Id.
46 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Government Operations, Providing for the Acceptance and Maintenance of
Presidential Libraries
, report to accompany H.J.Res. 330, 84th Cong., 1st sess., July 28, 1955, S.Rept. 84-1189
(Washington: GPO, 1955).
47 The law stated that the Administrator should “accept for deposit … documents, including motion-picture films, still
pictures, and sound recordings, from private sources that are appropriate for preservation by the government as
evidence of its organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and transactions.” 69 Stat. 695.
48 This authority was transferred to the Archivist in the NARA Act. P.L. 98-497. Under it, the Archivist may “make
agreements [with a foundation or other entity], upon terms and conditions the Archivist considers proper ….” 44 U.S.C.
§ 2112(a)(1)(B)(i). Thus, the Archivist may agree to use restrictions imposed by, for example, a foundation.
49 69 Stat. 695; P.L. 84-373. The authority to solicit and accept gifts or bequests was transferred to the Archivist in the
NARA Act. P.L. 98-497. The trigger for the Archivist’s authority to solicit and accept gifts or bequests is that he or she
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The authorities granted to the GSA Administrator were subject to strict congressional
approval and oversight. Prior to entering into any agreement to accept an archival
depository for presidential materials, the administrator was required to write a report to
Congress about the agreement that included cost estimates for “maintaining, operating,
and protecting” the depository.50 The descriptive report was also to include any terms or
conditions placed on the materials to be deposited in the archive.51
Once the administrator submitted the report, he would have to wait for the expiration of
“sixty calendar days of continuous session of the Congress” before he could accept the
title of any land or depository. The 60 days of continuous session were to provide
Congress with “an opportunity to review proposals … and to take action within 60 days
disapproving any such proposal.”52
The enactment of the PLA did not eliminate continued disagreements between the
executive and legislative branches over the size of, the costs associated with, and the
records to be included in presidential records depositories.
The Case of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
The acquisition of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library involved unique context. Herbert
Hoover preceded Franklin D. Roosevelt as President. No law governing the future of Hoover’s
records or legacy, however, existed when Hoover left office. As noted earlier, however, in 1919,
Hoover established the Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University.53 In
1960, former President Hoover took advantage of the Presidential Records Act and created the
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa.
Interest in Revamping the PLA
In the 1980s, as the size and maintenance costs of presidential libraries increased, so, too, did
congressional interest in finding non-federal funding sources that could supplement appropriated
funds. According to a Senate report on the Presidential Libraries Act, the annual cost of
maintaining the presidential library system had grown from $63,745 in 1955 to $15,734,000 in
1985.54

(...continued)
“considers it to be in the public interest.” 44 U.S.C. § 2112(g)(1). This section seems to expressly authorize the
Archivist to accept gifts on a continuing basis since it does not appear to have any temporal limitation and speaks to
ongoing, post-construction actions taken in connection with a library.
50 69 Stat. 695; P.L. 84-373.
51 Id.
52 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Presidential Libraries, report to accompany H.J. Res.
330, 84th Cong., 1st sess., June 29, 1955, H.Rept. 84-998 (Washington: GPO, 1955), p. 5.
53 Hoover Institution, Stanford University, “Library and Archives: History,” http://www.hoover.org/library-and-
archives/history.
54 Id. According to a 1982 Government Operations Committee Report (H.Rept. 97-732), much of the increasing costs
for presidential libraries was “artificial—the result of the imposition of inappropriate space rental and unduly large
service charges on the Archives by its parent agency, the General Services Administration.” For more information, see
U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Presidential Libraries: Unexplored Funding
Alternatives
, 97th Cong., 2nd sess., August 12, 1982, H.Rept. 97-732 (Washington: GPO, 1982), p. 2.
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In the 96th and 97th Congresses, legislators introduced bills55 that attempted to stop the
construction of presidential libraries, and, instead, to create one, central location to serve as a
depository for the records of all Presidents.
On March 24, 1981 (97th Congress), Senator Lawton Chiles introduced S. 1325, a bill that would
have required the GSA Administrator and the Archivist of the United States to promulgate
architecture and design standards for presidential archive depositories. These standards were to
include limits on the size of a depository that was to be donated to the federal government. The
Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs held a hearing and a markup on the bill. The bill,
however, was not reported from committee. Senator Chiles introduced a bill identical to S. 1325
in the 98th Congress (S. 563). A companion bill (H.R. 5478) was introduced in the House on April
12, 1984. The Committee on Governmental Affairs favorably reported S. 563 on September 27,
1984. No further action was taken on S. 563. H.R. 5478 was not reported from committee.56
On April 24, 1984 (98th Congress), Senator David L. Boren introduced legislation (H.R. 2567)
that sought to authorize the GSA Administrator to create separate accounts within the National
Archives Trust Fund.57 These new accounts could be used to pay exclusively for the
“maintenance of depository land, buildings, and equipment.” The bill would have allowed donors
to the trust fund to limit the use of their donations for maintenance and utility costs. H.R. 2567
would have also prohibited the GSA Administrator from accepting any land or building donated
as a presidential library unless the donation included an endowment large enough to cover
maintenance and utility costs for the entity. The bill was not reported from committee.58
Although many bills related to presidential record depositories were introduced in the 98th
Congress, only one was enacted: S. 905, the National Archives and Records Administration Act
of 1984. On October 19, 1984, Congress enacted S. 905 (P.L. 98-497), which gave the Archivist
of the United States many of the responsibilities formerly assigned to the GSA Administrator.
Included in this transition of duties were those delineated in the Presidential Libraries Act.
The Presidential Libraries Act of 1986 and Changes to the
Endowment Formula

Like the 98th Congress, the 99th Congress included the introduction of several bills related to
presidential libraries. Only the Presidential Libraries Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-323) was enacted.59
The Presidential Libraries Act of 1986 was prompted by congressional concerns about the
escalating “taxpayer costs associated with Presidential libraries” as well as a desire to “strengthen

55 In the 96th Congress, see S. 2408; H.R. 7224; H.R. 7713. In the 97th Congress, see H.R. 3904 and H.R. 4671.
56 Additional bills that included restrictions similar to those in S. 563 and H.R. 5478 were also introduced in the 97th
Congress, including H.R. 2446; H.R. 5843; and H.R. 6335.
57 The 1955 Presidential Libraries Act (84-373) also authorized the GSA Administrator to collect certain fees and
deposit them in a National Archives Trust Fund to help defray each library’s operating costs. H.R. 2567 referred to the
trust fund as the Presidential Library Trust Fund.
58 H.R. 3138, introduced by Representative Glenn English, was similar to H.R. 2567. H.R. 3138 was modified and later
incorporated into H.R. 5798, which passed both the House and Senate as different versions. After the bill went to
conference, however, only the House agreed to the conference report. No further action was taken on the bill. Other
bills that were introduced and not enacted in the 98th Congress included H.R. 3987; H.R. 4017; H.R. 4786; H.R. 5584;
and S. 2490.
59 The bills not enacted were H.R. 1236, H.R. 2113; H.R. 4320; H.R. 4890; S. 1047.
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the role to be played by the Archivist of the United States in preserving, protecting and sharing
our nation’s heritage.”60
Introduced on February 28, 1985, by Representative Glenn English, the Presidential Libraries Act
was favorably reported by the House Committee on Government Operations on May 15, 1985. In
the House Report (H.Rept. 99-125), the committee wrote that the bill would “shift the burden of
on-going building operations costs of future libraries from the taxpayer to endowment funds
required to be provided by the same private parties who build and donate the library buildings.”61
The report continued:
Without bowing to any illusions, the Committee hopes that this requirement will act as
somewhat of a brake on grandiose plans which have caused some to refer to some existing
Presidential libraries as “pyramids.”62
The bill passed the House on June 6, 1985, and was then sent to the Senate Committee on
Government Operations. The Senate committee reported the bill on March 7, 1986.
On March 21, 1986, the Senate passed the bill with one substantive amendment, which limited
library facilities to 70,000 square feet “unless additional endowment requirements” were met.63
On May 13, 1986, the House agreed to the Senate’s amendments. On May 27, 1986, President
Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law. The act applies to “any Presidential archival depository
created as a depository for the papers, documents, and other historical materials and Federal
records pertaining to any President who takes the oath of office as President for the first time on
or after January 20, 1985.”64
Among a variety of changes to the 1955 act, the 1986 amendments required that the Archivist
could not accept and take title to, or enter into an agreement to use, any land, facility, or
equipment for a library unless he or she determined the library’s endowment is sufficient to cover
at least 20% of the total costs of acquiring, constructing, and installing the facility and its
equipment, plus either (1) 20% of the total costs of acquiring the land (or another measure of the
land’s value that is mutually agreed upon by the Archivist and donor) if the United States is
taking title to the land, or (2) 20% of the total costs to the donor of any improvements to the land
if the government is not taking title to it.65 Similarly, the act required the endowment to have
sufficient funding before changes or additions could be made to a library if they would result in
increased operational costs. These requirements applied only to presidential depositories built for
Presidents who took the oath of office for the first time after January 20, 1985.66 Congress

60 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Presidential Library Act of 1985, report to accompany
H.R. 1349, 99th Cong., 2nd sess., March 7, 1986, S.Rept. 99-257 (Washington: GPO, 1986), p. 2.
61 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Reduction of Costs of Presidential Libraries, report to
accompany H.R. 1349, 99th Cong., 1st sess., May 15, 1985, H.Rept. 99-125 (Washington: GPO, 1985), pp. 1-2.
62 Id. p. 12.
63 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Presidential Library Act of 1985, report to accompany
H.R. 1349, 99th Cong., 2nd sess., March 7, 1986, S.Rept. 99-257 (Washington: GPO, 1986), p. 4.
64 P.L. 99-323; 100 Stat. 498.
65 100 Stat. 497; codified at 44 U.S.C. § 2112(g). The 20% (or other relevant amount) funding is deposited in a
National Archives Trust Fund account. See 44 U.S.C. § 2112(g)(1). As later discussed, Congress increased the
threshold to first 40% and then 60% for libraries built for Presidents who take the oath of office for the first time after
July 1, 2002.
66 P.L. 99-323, Sec. 4; 100 Stat. 498. The statute did not, therefore, apply to then-President Reagan. It currently applies
to the presidential depository libraries of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton—as well as the
(continued...)
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subsequently increased the 20% requirement to first 40% and then 60% for presidential
depositories built for Presidents who take the oath of office for the first time after July 1, 2002, as
discussed below.
In addition, the 1986 PLA also placed additional endowment requirements on facilities larger than
70,000 square feet.67 Under the law, foundations may construct facilities larger than 70,000
square feet, but the endowment requirements for the library increases with each square foot the
edifice is in excess of 70,000 square feet.68 Specifically, the additional amount is equal to the total
costs multiplied by the percentage determined by dividing the number of square feet that the
library exceeds 70,000 by 70,000.69
It is important to note that foundations may maintain control of certain portions of the library for
their own use, and therefore a foundation and NARA, in some cases, concurrently occupy office
space in a single presidential archival depository. The endowment percentages have historically
been applied only to the portions of the library that were “NARA program space or usable space
and was not applied to support space,” which excluded foundation-controlled space from the
calculation.70
While pursuing avenues for private funds in some circumstances during consideration of the 1986
PLA, Congress also drew a distinction between how different funding sources reflect different
responsibilities. Although appropriated funds would still be largely responsible for archiving of
materials, endowment funds would be relied on to support operations, maintenance, and
programming. As the House Committee on Government Operations noted in 1985 while
considering the legislation, endowment income “is intended to offset ... building operations costs
and reduce ... the amount of appropriations required for building operations.”71 The Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee concurred, noting that “income from the endowments is to be
applied to functions beyond the ‘core’ archival responsibilities [which would be covered by

(...continued)
depository under construction for former President George W. Bush.
67 The Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs explained, during consideration of the act, that “The purpose of the
additional endowment requirement is effectively to eliminate added taxpayer costs that would be associated with the
operation and maintenance of space exceeding 70,000 square feet. A facility of 70,000 square feet is adequate for a
Presidential library. While larger facilities are not precluded, an additional endowment would be necessary.” U.S.
Congress, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 99th Cong., 2nd Sess., March 7, 1986, Rpt. 99-257 (Washington:
GPO, 1986), pp. 2-3.
68 According to NARA, no current presidential library facility has more than 70,000 square feet under federal
government control or ownership.
69 For example, assume a library is built for a President who first takes the oath of office before July 1, 2002, and,
therefore, the relevant endowment percentage is 20%. The library is 100,000 square feet in area and the total relevant
costs of the creating the library are $200 million. The total endowment required for this library would be $125.8
million. The first step in computing this amount is multiplying the total cost of the library’s creation ($200 million) by
20%, which equals $40 million. Next, the total cost of $200 million is multiplied by 42.9% (which is determined by
dividing 30,000—the number of square feet the building is more than the 70,000 cap—by 70,000), which equals $85.8
million. These two amounts are then combined for an endowment requirement of $125.8 million.
70 National Archives and Records Administration, Report on Alternative Models for Presidential Libraries Issued in
Response to the Requirements of P.L. 110-404
, September 25, 2009, p. 34, http://www.archives.gov/presidential-
libraries/reports/report-for-congress.pdf.
71 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Reduction of Costs of Presidential Libraries, report to
accompany H.R. 1349, 99th Cong., 1st sess., May 15, 1985, H.Rept. 99-125 (Washington: GPO, 1985), p. 15.
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appropriated funds]. The basic responsibility to preserve and care for Presidential records is a
government responsibility.”
In addition, the law required the Archivist, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and the
National Capital Planning Commission to study “the demand for, and the cost, and space and
program requirements of” creating a museum of the Presidents.72 Specifically, the ad hoc
coalition was to examine ways to create a museum of the Presidents without using federal funds.
The 1986 NARA annual report included the coalition’s findings, which stated “there would be
serious difficulties in establishing a full-scale museum with permanent collection for research and
exhibition.”73 The report did find “[m]ore optimism … for a modest exhibition program as part of
a White House visitors center.”74 Unless a full museum were created, however, the report said it
would not be appropriate for the Smithsonian Institution or the National Archives to “administer
the center.”75 Such a museum has not been constructed.76
Subsequent Amendments to the Endowment Requirement
There have been two significant amendments to the endowment requirement since the 1986 act.
First, in 2003, Congress increased the endowment funding requirement from 20% of the total
costs to 40% of such costs for libraries of Presidents who take the oath of office after July 1,
2002.77 The 2003 act also gives the Archivist the authority to reduce the endowment funding
requirement if he or she determines that the proposed library will have construction features or
equipment that are expected to result in quantifiable long-term savings in operational costs to the
U.S. government. The funding reduction cannot exceed 20% of the amount that would have
otherwise been required. A similar reduction may be provided for endowment funding required
for changes or additions to an existing library.78
The second major amendment occurred in 2008, when Congress increased the 40% endowment
threshold to 60%.79 This requirement will apply to libraries for Presidents who take the oath of
office after July 1, 2002. The 2008 act also required, among other things, the Archivist to report to
Congress on alternative models for presidential libraries that would reduce costs to the
government, improve record preservation, and reduce delays in public access to presidential
records.80 The report was produced in 2009.81

72 P.L. 99-323 Sec. 5; 100 Stat. 499.
73 National Archives and Records Administration, Annual Report for the Year Ended September 30, 1986,
(Washington: GPO, 1986), p. 37.
74 Id.
75 Id.
76 The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History—located on the National Mall in Washington,
D.C.—contains a permanent exhibition entitled “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden,” which “explores the
personal, public, ceremonial and executive actions of the 43 men” who have served as President. The exhibit contains
“[m]ore than 900 objects, including [items] from the Smithsonian’s vast presidential collections.” Smithsonian National
Museum of American History, “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden,” http://americanhistory.si.edu/
exhibitions/exhibition.cfm?key=38&exkey=87. An online version of the exhibition is available on the Smithsonian’s
website at http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/.
77 Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, P.L. 108-7, Div. J, Title V, § 513, 117 Stat. 462.
78 Id., codified at 44 U.S.C. § 2112(g)(5)(C),(D).
79 Presidential Historical Records Preservation Act of 2008, P.L. 110-404, § 6, codified at 44 U.S.C. § 2112(g)(5)(B).
80 See id.
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Presidential Library Foundations
Private organizations typically raise funds to support facility construction, programming, and
other activities related to a President’s legacy. These entities are commonly referred to as
presidential library foundations, and they play key roles in raising private funds to support the
endowments necessary for NARA to take possession of a library facility.
The library foundations are separate legal entities from the libraries. It appears that all of the
currently operating presidential library foundations are structured as tax-exempt public charities82
described in § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).83 As such, they are subject to
regulation under the federal tax laws. Among other things, § 501(c)(3) status requires that the
earnings of library foundations not be used to benefit any person having a personal and private
interest in the organizations’ activities, and they are limited in the amount and types of political
activities they may engage in.84 Additionally, federal law may impose other requirements or
restrictions on their activities. For example, the tax laws look disfavorably upon transactions of §
501(c)(3) organizations that provide an economic benefit to a disqualified person (e.g., certain
organizational insiders or related individuals), and if such a transaction occurs, the disqualified
person and organization managers may be subject to a penalty tax.85
Certain information about the library foundations’ income and expenses is publicly available,
although the identities of their donors generally do not have to be publicly disclosed. As §
501(c)(3) organizations, the library foundations are required to file with the IRS an annual
information return (Form 990) that discloses information relating to the organizations’ finances
and operations. These returns are open to public inspection, along with the library foundations’
application for exempt status and, if applicable, unrelated business income tax return.86 However,
while the organization must disclose donors who have contributed at least $5,000 during the year
to the IRS,87 no identifying information about these donors is subject to public disclosure.

(...continued)
81 National Archives and Records Administration, Report on Alternative Models for Presidential Libraries Issued in
Response to the Requirements of P.L. 110-404
, Washington, DC, September 25, 2009, available at
http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/reports/report-for-congress.pdf.
82 Presidential library foundations, despite being referred to as foundations, are public charities, and not private
foundations, under the tax laws. Public charities receive broad public support, while private foundations have a small
number of donors, who often have significant control over the organization. Due to fears of abuse, private foundations
are subject to additional regulation that would not be applicable to the presidential library foundations.
83 IRC § 501(c)(3) describes organizations “organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific,
testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports
competition ... or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the
benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda,
or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation ... and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the
publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for
public office.”
84 IRC § 501(c)(3). For more information, see CRS Report 96-264, Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Exempt
Organizations
, by Erika K. Lunder; CRS Report RL33377, Tax-Exempt Organizations: Political Activity Restrictions
and Disclosure Requirements
, by Erika K. Lunder; and CRS Report 96-809, Lobbying Regulations on Non-Profit
Organizations
, by Jack Maskell.
85 IRC § 4958.
86 IRC § 6104, see also IRC § 6652 (imposing penalties on an organization for failing to disclose).
87 IRC § 6033; see also IRC § 6652 (imposing penalties on the failure to file).
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While contributor information generally does not have to be disclosed, there are limited
exceptions. In particular, under the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007
(HLOGA), registered lobbyists who contribute $200 or more to library foundations (in the
aggregate and over six-month reporting periods) must disclose the contributions in reports filed
with the Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate.88 These requirements also apply to
organizations employing registered lobbyists and political action committees (PACs) maintained
or controlled by lobbyists. It should also be noted that libraries may choose to publicize additional
information about contributions.89
Scholarship on Presidential Libraries
This section of the report reviews scholarship on the presidential libraries. Among the issues that
scholars discuss in their work is the accuracy of the history presented in exhibitions at the
presidential libraries, the wisdom of maintaining a federated system, and the costs and benefits of
the close relationship between the presidential foundations and the federal libraries.
Library Exhibitions
As noted earlier in this report, private foundations often pay for the exhibits that are displayed in
the presidential libraries and their accompanying museums. Private funding, therefore, supports
the research and design of the exhibits that may inhabit areas that are owned and run by the
federal government.
In 2002, one scholar wrote of an internal tension in the design of presidential libraries, which
have become both archival depositories and history museums.90 The scholar wrote,
While the libraries were built originally for housing the records, it is the museums today that
seem to get the most attention, with more than one and a half million visitors annually
walking through the exhibitions.…91
It is difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of these libraries as tourist attraction, cultural
center, and educational institution, but it is not difficult to understand that these rationales are

88 121 Stat. 743. HLOGA is devoted primarily to other lobbying and ethics issues. For additional discussion, see CRS
Report RL34166, Lobbying Law and Ethics Rules Changes in the 110th Congress, by Jack Maskell; and CRS Report
RL34377, Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007: The Role of the Clerk of the House and the Secretary
of the Senate
, by Jacob R. Straus On campaign finance provisions in HLOGA, see CRS Report RL34324, Campaign
Finance: Legislative Developments and Policy Issues in the 110th Congress
, by R. Sam Garrett and CRS Report
R40091, Campaign Finance: Potential Legislative and Policy Issues for the 111th Congress, by R. Sam Garrett.
89 A recent and prominent example concerns the William J. Clinton Foundation, which supports the William J. Clinton
presidential library, among other activities. In December 2008, amid concerns about potential conflicts of interest
surrounding then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s nomination as Secretary of State, the foundation agreed to
voluntarily disclose names and donation ranges of its contributors. On the relationship between the library and the
foundation, and the disclosure agreement between the foundation and the Obama Presidential Transition Foundation,
see William J. Clinton Foundation and Obama Presidential Transition Foundation, Memorandum of Understanding,
December 12, 2008. A copy of the Memorandum of Understanding is available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/politics/documents/memorandum_of_understanding_clinton.pdf
90 Richard Cox, “America’s Pyramids: Presidents and Their Libraries,” Government Information Quarterly, vol. 199
(2002), http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/106274/1/AmericasPyramids.pdf.
91 Id., p. 46
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a bit of an afterthought to their original purposes of creation––as repositories for the
protection of the papers and their use by researchers and the public.92
He continued by saying that the libraries had become “a system that is more useful for tourism,
the local economy, and unbridled hero worship than any useful role in keeping Presidents
accountable to Congress and the American people.”93 The presidential libraries, therefore, can
become “a system not providing sufficient oversight and impartial decisions.”94
Another scholar wrote that the Reagan and Kennedy libraries, “as well as some other libraries in
the system,” fail to meet the ethical standards of the National Council on Public History, which
require “the historical truth insofar as it can be determined from the available sources.”95 That
same scholar argued that the libraries have become like temples that shape public memory.96 The
scholar also suggested that the libraries tend to morph presidential history into presidential
myth.97
In 2006, The Public Historian, a scholarly journal that focuses on public history, published an
issue that focused on presidential libraries. Within the issue, several scholars—including a
representative from NARA—expressed concerns about the practices at presidential libraries.
In the issue, scholar Benjamin Hufbauer, for example, described the dual nature of presidential
libraries as follows:
Because federal presidential libraries are built and their operations are then partially
supported by private foundations created by a president and his supporters, but are run by the
federal government’s National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the
museum’s exhibits display a tension between history and “heritage.” The heritage industry,
as Michael Kammen has written, advances “an impulse to remember what is attractive and
flattering and to ignore all the rest.”98
Mr. Hufbauer noted, for example, that the Reagan library’s “museum displays do not have ‘any
coverage’ at all of the [Iran-Contra] scandal.”99 The JFK Library Museum, he noted, “does not
address in detail JFK’s numerous health problems and extramarital affairs, even though they have
been thoroughly documented.”100 The Nixon library does not mention that Gerald Ford pardoned
President Nixon for his participation in the Watergate cover up.101

92 Id., p. 57.
93 Id., p. 61.
94 Id.
95 Benjamin Hufbauer, Presidential Temples: How Memorials and Libraries Shape Public Memory (Lawrence, KS:
University Press of Kansas, 2005), p. 124.
96 Id.
97 Id., p. 8.
98 Benjamin Hufbauer, “Spotlights and Shadows: Presidents and Their Administrations in Presidential Museum
Exhibits,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer 2006), p. 118.
99 Id., p. 124.
100 Id.
101 Id. Ms. Sharon K. Fawcett noted that NARA has requested changes to proposed exhibits to offer a more balanced
history, but NARA does not “expect an exhibit in a presidential library to denigrate the president’s legacy.” Sharon K.
Fawcett, “Presidential Libraries: A View from the Center,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer 2006), p. 31.
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Also in The Public Historian, Sharon K. Fawcett, who currently serves as NARA’s Assistant
Archivist at the Office of Presidential Libraries, cited a handbook on presidential libraries that
required “exhibits in Presidential libraries … be consistent with the dignity of the presidency and
… present historically accurate and balanced interpretations of the former President and major
events.”102 Ms. Fawcett continued:
The manual, now largely obsolete, offers no suggestions for achieving this important goal
other than a requirement, not strictly enforced when funding for new exhibits shifted from
the government to the foundations or other non-appropriated revenue sources, that exhibit
plans be submitted to the assistant archivist for approval.103
Ms. Fawcett, however, said that in all cases, “the library and the supporting foundation often
work seamlessly together to provide a wide variety of public programming.”104
Scholar Larry J. Hackman argued in The Public Historian, that the Office of Presidential
Libraries within NARA has not instituted “significant policies or guidelines” for the
establishment of educational and public programs at the libraries, and the programs that are on
display “do not appear to have received meaningful evaluation.”105 Mr. Hackman suggested that
this lack of policy may be the result of NARA feeling that “it should not be held fully accountable
if it cannot fund, or adequately control, the development of this major museum component of
each library. Most of all, the Archives may fear that a more formal and extensive policy on
exhibits would create high tension with influential individuals interested in such exhibits,
especially in new libraries and those of living presidents.”106 Hackman argued for centralized
policies and procedures for vetting permanent exhibits within the libraries.
Ms. Fawcett pointed out, however, that the supporting foundations could choose not to fund any
exhibits that contain content with which they do not agree.107 Later in the article Ms. Fawcett said
NARA and, specifically, the Office of Presidential Libraries can offer “to those who view the
exhibit a better understanding of what they are seeing by explaining that the exhibit is donated to
the government by the president’s foundation.”108
Although foundation-sponsored exhibits may prompt some concern, some libraries have
partnered with their supporting foundation to create what Ms. Fawcett called “a remarkable
program of temporary exhibits, scholarly conferences, and other public programs.”109

102 Sharon K. Fawcett, “Presidential Libraries: A View from the Center,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer
2006), p. 18. Ms. Fawcett’s position at the NARA was noted in the article, but it is unclear whether she was writing as
an official representative of the Archives.
103 Id.
104 Id., p. 17.
105 Larry J. Hackman, “Better Policies and Practices for Presidential Libraries,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3
(Summer 2006), p. 172.
106 Id., p. 174.
107 Sharon K. Fawcett, “Presidential Libraries: A View from the Center,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer
2006), p. 25.
108 Id., p. 31.
109 Id., p. 26. The National Archives also has the right to refuse any exhibit proposed or created by the foundation, but
Ms. Fawcett notes that NARA has never rejected any exhibit. Ibid., p. 30.
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The Federated System
As discussed earlier in this report, the presidential library system is federated—not centralized—
with each library in a different physical location. The reasons for this separation of libraries were
varied. In a 1955 scholarly article on presidential papers and presidential libraries, one observer
argued that keeping presidential libraries in the hometowns of the Presidents allows researchers to
understand “first-hand, that Independence, Missouri or Abilene, Kansas does not leave the same
mark upon the personality of a man as Hyde Park, New York or Fremont, Ohio.”110 And, as stated
in the House report that accompanied the PLA, having such important records dispersed in
various locations is a “highly desirable objective at any time, particularly in this atomic age.”111
Since the 1955 enactment of the PLA, Members of Congress and scholars have debated whether
the federated system is the most practical system for the presidential libraries. During the
congressional debate surrounding the enactment of the PLA of 1986, for example, Senator
Lawton Chiles feared the increasing size of the newer presidential libraries and thought that a
single centralized library would prevent any attempts to build ever grander edifices.
At the same time, other Members of Congress argued that the architectural limitations on the
library buildings penalized two-term presidents because “the final act that passed provided for no
such distinctions” between one- and two-term presidents, “thereby essentially penalizing a two-
term president whose records would require substantially more storage space.”112 For example,
Ms. Fawcett wrote in The Public Historian in 2006 that the William J. Clinton Presidential
Library “has almost no space for the growth of collections through donations or to house all the
papers expected from President Clinton’s active postpresidential life.”113 She continued: “Any
substantial growth of the collections will require using off-site storage space.”
In the same 2006 edition of The Public Historian, Mr. Hackman argued that the federated system
inhibits collaborative efforts among the presidential libraries—“beyond lending documents and
artifacts.”114 Mr. Hackman stated that such collaboration “would make possible exhibits on
important issues that cut across some or all presidencies, as most of them do, as well as offer an
exhibit quality not ordinarily possible by a single library.”115 According to Mr. Hackman, the
exhibits would then be more balanced because they would offer a wider variety of perspectives
on the topic or event. Creating a centralized presidential library, therefore, could mitigate any
concerns about the balance of historical views in creating museum and library exhibits.

110 David Demarest Lloyd, “Presidential Papers and Presidential Libraries,” Manuscripts, vol. 8 (Fall 1955), p. 8.
111 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Operations, Presidential Libraries, report to accompany H.J. Res.
330, 84th Cong., 1st sess., June 29, 1955, H.Rept. 84-998 (Washington: GPO, 1955), p. 2.
112 Sharon K. Fawcett, Assistant Archivist at the Office of Presidential Libraries in NARA, “Presidential Libraries: A
View from the Center,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer 2006), p. 23.
113 Id.
114 Larry J. Hackman, “Better Policies and Practices for Presidential Libraries,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3
(Summer 2006), p. 176.
115 Id.
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Clarifying the Relationship Between the Foundation and the
Federal Government

As noted earlier, most presidential libraries currently have a partnership with a nonprofit
foundation that supported construction of the library building and may continue to support the
library through such activities as funding exhibitions.116 The relationship between the foundation
and the library is different at each facility. Some foundations have relationships that Mr. Hackman
said “appear tense, even volatile at times,” while others are “smooth and settled.”117 Ms. Fawcett
also noted that some foundations “support other institutions including associated schools of
public affairs, policy, or service, and charitable causes of the former president.”118 Some libraries’
supporting foundations also maintain control of portions of the actual library facility and, in fact,
inhabit the facility. According to Ms. Fawcett, for example, “[t]he foundation-operated portions of
the libraries have increased to include many public spaces once operated by the government,
especially event venue space that can generate revenue for the foundation.”119
Most major public and private museums now rely heavily on income from corporate and
private use of event spaces. At the George H.W. Bush Library, the rotunda/lobby and
museum store spaces are operated by the Bush Foundation. The Clinton Foundation owns the
Great Hall, the off-site museum store, the café, and the verandas surrounding the Clinton
Library. Libraries built before the amendments have also been reshaped by this new model.
The Reagan Foundation owns the Air Force One Pavilion, which houses the plane that flew
five presidents, and the museum store. The Nixon Foundation owns a stunning reproduction
of the White House East Room. These public spaces were built to be available for a fee as
event venues. Library foundations need these revenue sources to pay construction loans, to
meet their commitments to provide continuing support for library programs, and in some
cases, to support their other charitable endeavors.120
Additionally, Fawcett added, “[w]ithout government support for their public programs and
exhibits, the libraries are now much more dependent on their foundations for support.”121
In some cases, the library director, which is a government position, has concurrently served as the
chief executive officer of the supporting foundation.122 Ms. Fawcett argued that this dual role
“helps to align foundation and government goals for the library.”123 On the other hand, Mr.

116 The Carter library is the only library that does not have a foundation that directly support its initiatives. The Carter
library, however, does have a working relationship with the Carter Center, an educational research center at Emory
University that is dedicated to working on human rights issues.
117 Larry J. Hackman, “Better Policies and Practices for Presidential Libraries,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3
(Summer 2006), p. 179.
118 Sharon K. Fawcett, “Presidential Libraries: A View from the Center,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer
2006), p. 24.
119 Id.
120 Id.
121 Id.
122 Larry J. Hackman, “Better Policies and Practices for Presidential Libraries,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3
(Summer 2006), p. 176, and Sharon K. Fawcett, “Presidential Libraries: A View from the Center,” The Public
Historian
, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer 2006), p. 21. Fawcett noted that the CEO positions, in these cases, were unpaid. The
libraries in which this dual position was held were the Reagan and Truman libraries.
123 Sharon K. Fawcett, “Presidential Libraries: A View from the Center,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer
2006), p. 21.
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Hackman argued that “little information is made available about these organizations [t]he
foundations—or even requested about them by the National Archives.”124
Mr. Hackman argued that the relationships between the foundations and the libraries should be
made more transparent—“to make certain that they operate effectively in the public’s interest.”125
Moreover, Mr. Hackman noted that NARA’s Office of Presidential Libraries has historically “not
gathered … lists of the boards of directors of these organizations or their annual reports or the
reports they are required to file under federal statutes.”126 Mr. Hackman said it is in the interest of
NARA to obtain and “report to the public information about the plans, activities, methods, and
support of these organizations.”127 To clarify the relationship between the foundations and
NARA, Mr. Hackman outlined a series of desired characteristics for the partnership:
• Clarity in roles, goals, and priorities; responsibility; and authority in order to
minimize friction and maximize success in the relationship between the
presidential library and its nonprofit partners
• Collaboration in annual and long-term planning, resource development, and
budgeting so that all resources are used to achieve maximum impact
• Dedication of financial support from the nonprofit partner to programs that
address library priorities and that are highly unlikely to be supported from federal
operations or library earned revenue
• Library coordination of programs supported by the partner where these programs
related to basic library functions including exhibitions, education, and, when
possible, other programs for the public
• Library participation in the planning and decision making of the nonprofit
partner, ordinarily by having the library director serve as a member of the board
of the nonprofit and as its coordinator of library-related programs128
Analysis129
The National Archives and Records Administration currently oversees 13 separate presidential
libraries, which serve as repositories for presidential archival materials. Since enacted in 1955,
the Presidential Libraries Act has provided for the preservation and administration of the
historical materials of an outgoing President by authorizing the federal government to accept
land, buildings, and other materials. A private nonprofit organization funded the construction of
each presidential repository and provided the required endowment. Almost every library is
associated with that nonprofit, which often supports library and presidential museum exhibitions.
As this report has noted, the Presidential Libraries Act has placed various requirements on both

124 Larry J. Hackman, “Better Policies and Practices for Presidential Libraries,” The Public Historian, vol. 28, no. 3
(Summer 2006), p. 170.
125 Id., p. 180.
126 Id., p. 181.
127 Id., p. 182.
128 Id.
129 This report does not consider possible legal issues that might arise from changing the location of the Presidential
libraries or their relationships with their foundations.
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libraries and foundations to assist in the preservation of presidential legacies. Congress has the
authority to legislate the mission and operation of all of the presidential libraries. Congress may
choose to clarify the best method of preserving a President’s legacy—by creating accurate and
balanced exhibits on the presidency and each administration or by providing a user-friendly
repository of each president’s records.
Congress may determine that the current operation of presidential libraries should continue, and
that foundations should continue to fund and oversee the creation of public museum exhibits.
NARA has final approval of all exhibit content, but the foundations, in many cases, have assumed
control of creating the public exhibit portions of the libraries. Congress, however, may determine
that NARA should play a more active role in the creation and display of library exhibitions. With
greater control, NARA could coordinate exhibits among the 13 current libraries and, possibly,
offer a more thorough and balanced treatment of the presidency as an institution as well as the
historical context of each individual presidential administration.
Congress may also reconsider having a disparate collection of presidential libraries around the
country. Congress could determine that having all historical presidential materials in one location
is a less expensive and more accessible option than operating 13 or more distinct libraries.
Congress would have to determine what to do with library buildings they currently own that
would no longer be used as repositories.130 Congress would also have to appropriate funding for
the construction and use of a single facility. Moving all materials into a single facility could make
the total collection of presidential materials more accessible to researchers. Such a change,
however, could make materials from individual former Presidents less accessible to other
researchers.
If a new single archive for presidential materials were constructed in Washington, D.C., then
researchers living in California who had interest in materials on Richard Nixon may have to
travel across the country instead of to Yorba Linda (the current location of the Richard Nixon
Library) to access them—or a scholar living in Kansas may have to leave the Midwest to learn
more about Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Moreover, keeping the presidential libraries in the hometowns of the presidents may, arguably,
help scholars better understand the environmental and social factors that shaped a President’s
earlier years and influenced his decisions. If the libraries of former Presidents are no longer
constructed in the hometowns of the Presidents themselves, as will occur with the future
repository for George W. Bush, this argument is rendered invalid. Congress, therefore, may have
an interest in requiring the construction of future presidential libraries in the hometown of the
President. On the other hand, the location of presidential materials may become increasingly
irrelevant as the records of earlier former Presidents are put online and a majority of the records
of more recent Presidents are electronic, making all presidential records more accessible to
researchers no matter their location.

130 This is just one possible model for the presidential library system outlined in the following report: National Archives
and Records Administration, Report on Alternative Models for Presidential Libraries Issued in Response to the
Requirements of P.L. 110-404
, Washington, DC, September 25, 2009, p. 43, http://www.archives.gov/presidential-
libraries/reports/report-for-congress.pdf. Other models included requiring smaller presidential library facilities as
records become increasingly electronic and require less storage space, prohibiting presidential libraries and museums
from existing in the same building, or creating a presidential museum that could accompany a single, centralized
presidential records archive.
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One centralized presidential archive could eliminate the need to replicate certain resources that
are essential to a records repository. For example, moving all presidential records into one facility
run exclusively by NARA would eliminate the need for each individual presidential library to
have a specialized facility to protect classified presidential documents.131 Currently, each
presidential library has had to construct and maintain facilities for such sensitive materials. Other
services that may currently be required in each library are technology services and security
personnel. Moving the materials into a central library, however, could render them susceptible to
destruction by a single fire, flood, or other disaster. Additionally, construction of a centralized
library could influence the type of research that scholars conduct. Research may focus on the
institution of the presidency, as a whole, rather than on the individual Presidents.
Congress may also be concerned about the relationship between the presidential libraries and the
library foundations that provide financial support.132 Congress, of course, has the authority to
legislate whether one person can or should concurrently hold a position in the federal government
and an unpaid position within the supporting organization. Such an arrangement may make
certain that the foundation and NARA have similar missions and ideas about the future of the
entities. On the other hand, Congress may determine that one person holding a position in both
the foundation and NARA may present a conflict of interest in which the person could advance
private sector preferences over the interests of the federal government.
To reduce the public costs associated with presidential libraries, Congress has the authority to
legislate the percentage of the required endowment to accompany the deeding of any presidential
library facility. Congress may determine that the current required endowment to accompany the
deeding over of a presidential library to the federal government (60%) should be raised, lowered,
or maintained at its current level.
As this report has suggested, the federal presidential libraries and their private funding sources
typically fulfill different roles. Because of the varied and unique relationships between the
libraries and foundations, however, the precise division of labor and property is sometimes
unclear. In addition, as noted previously, relatively little information about private funding
sources must be publicly disclosed. If the various funding relationships among public and private
sources are a concern, Congress could mandate public disclosure of additional information about
funding, division of duties, or office space. H.R. 36 would require library fundraising
organizations to file quarterly reports itemizing contributions totaling at least $200. Under the
bill, the reports would be filed with NARA, the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform, and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. As noted
earlier, H.R. 36 passed the House in January 2009 and was referred to the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. No further action has been taken on the bill.
NARA, in its report on presidential libraries, suggested a possible alternative to the current
libraries system that would require foundations to provide the government with a library-only

131 This is just one possible model for the presidential library system outlined in the following report: National Archives
and Records Administration, Report on Alternative Models for Presidential Libraries Issued in Response to the
Requirements of P.L. 110-404
, Washington, DC, September 25, 2009, p. 43.
132 For example, a 2009 NARA report on presidential libraries noted that the goals of the foundations “are not always
aligned with NARA’s view of our stewardship responsibilities.” The report suggested that prior to accepting control of
any new presidential library facilities, “a clearer understanding between the [f]oundation and the [g]overnment should
be memorialized in agreement.” Ibid., p. 33.
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building and “no museum component.”133 Any museum associated with the corresponding
President could be placed “in the same general vicinity,” but the facility would be separate and
distinct from the library.134 Removing the foundation from the library facility could clarify to
visitors what is privately owned space and what is publicly owned.
Finally, the presidential libraries and museums often charge visitors an admission fee. In some
cases, this fee is then divided between the federal government and the foundation. This fee
division, however, is not always made clear to visitors. In fact, in some libraries, the foundations
pay the federal government for access to federal government-owned portions of the library
facility. At the Reagan and Clinton libraries, for example, each foundation pays the federal
government a per person fee after it holds events at which attendees are given free access to the
library’s museum. In addition to collecting fees from foundations in certain circumstances,
Congress has the authority to require NARA to clearly identify to visitors what portion of their
fees go to the federal government and what portion does not. Congress also has the authority to
enact legislation that would allow visitors to pay only for access to the areas of the library or
museum that interest them. Regardless of ownership of that portion of the facility, the visitor
would pay only for those parts of the facility he or she visited. Congress could, therefore, require
visitors to pay separate fees for access to federal property and non-federal property.

Author Contact Information

Wendy R. Ginsberg
Erika K. Lunder
Analyst in Government Organization and
Legislative Attorney
Management
elunder@crs.loc.gov, 7-4538
wginsberg@crs.loc.gov, 7-3933

Acknowledgments
Historical portions of this report are based on CRS Report 95-389 Federal Presidential Libraries by Harold
Relyea, who has retired from CRS. R. Sam Garrett, Analyst in American National Government, contributed
to this report.


133 Ibid., 40.
134 Ibid.
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