Anthony Clark, an independent researcher writing a book on the politics and history of presidential libraries, has written a provocative piece on access to National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records about administration of Presidential Libraries:

• Why Is It So Hard to Get Documents from the National Archives About the National Archives?, By Anthony Clark, History News Network, July 21, 2008.

Clark claims that NARA is "improperly withholding its own records." He says that as part of NARA's job of overseeing the twelve presidential libraries, it has records that detail the development of the libraries through 1964, when NARA created the Office of Presidential Libraries (NL), but none of NL's records are available. NARA is calling these records "operational," which makes them available only through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Clark quotes Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org, as saying, "It is hard to understand how records that are old enough to have been destroyed if the records schedule had been followed can be considered 'operational.' Presidential libraries are an area of keen congressional and public interest and information about them held by NARA should be affirmatively disclosed to the greatest extent possible."

Clark's article has produced an extensive discussion and Comments, including the NARA Response by Gary M. Stern on July 24, 2008.

Kate at ArchivesNext has posted a thoughtful response after talking off the record to archives staff: Access to records of the National Archives, July 24th, 2008.

The George W. Bush Library at at Southern Methodist University has been a source of controversy for some time. Now, a new story and video by the Times of London suggests more trouble.

• In New Headache for SMU's Bush Library, Lobbyist Hints at Cash-for-Meetings Deal, Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog, July 14, 2008

Do you want Vice President Dick Cheney’s undivided attention for an hour? Stephen P. Payne, a Texas-based lobbyist, has some advice about how to grease the wheels for such a meeting: Make a six-figure donation to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a library and museum complex that is scheduled to be built at Southern Methodist University.

Presidential libraries have historical problem, Commentary By Benjamin Hufbauer, Chicago Tribune, March 3, 2008. Also available here from NewsBank (subscription required).

The problem with presidential libraries is that there is often tension between what presidents want -- whitewashed memorials that attempt to enhance their reputations through propaganda -- and what historians and the public want -- accessible archives and good history museums.

Presidential Libraries: History Uncovered began this week. It is broadcast at 8PM Eastern Time on C-SPAN, and on C-SPAN Radio Saturdays at 3pm ET The series offers what presidential historian Richard Norton Smith predicts will be "a kind of history that people don't get out of their textbooks." The series covers Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton.  The first show (September 7 on TV, and September 8 on radio) was on Hoover. More material is online at the above link.

More about the series here:

C-SPAN Libraries series opens door to presidential history, by Jeannie Kever, Houston Chronicle Sept. 6, 2007.

Editorial Observer: The George W. Bush Library: Scholarly Mecca or $500 Million Oxymoron?. Dorothy Samuels, New York Times, 1/28/07.

Here's an interesting little tidbit in today's NYT about Southern Methodist University (SMU) -- where Laura Bush sits on the Board of Trustees -- and their plan to host the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Policy Institute (similar to the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University). There is growing concern within the SMU community that hosting Bush's library is not in keeping with the university’s scholarly mission, governmental integrity and the rule of law.

On 1/12/07, 68 theologians, professors and other past and present faculty members, citing complaints about President Bush's poor marks on civil liberties, the environment, gay rights and the war in Iraq, sent the university president a letter questioning whether visions of the library were "consistent with the school's religious and academic values." ("A Discordant Chorus Questions Visions for a Bush Library at Southern Methodist." Ralph Blumenthal, NYT 1/14/07 Subscription required to access the archives).

Samuels, the NYT editorial observer, is calling on the SMU trustees (hopefully Laura will recuse herself!) to withhold the final OK unless two basic conditions are met:

1. SMU should insist that Mr. Bush rescind Executive Order 13233, his 2001 directive that limits access to the records of former US Presidents.
2. The trustees should insist on disclosure of contributions to the library complex.

I think Samuels has the right idea. Nobody wants Bush's papers to end up in a black hole like the Nixon library, a private institute outside the NARA presidential library system where historians have struggled for years to gain access (see this article from the National Security Archives for more). Bush's papers should be under the control of a university in order to assure the widest public access and analysis by scholars. But she's also correct in calling for the university to set these conditions. What are the odds of Bush rescinding EO 13233?!

Two Leaders: both were presidents. One was a leader, and the other was a dictator.

Gerald R. FordGerald Ford was the only president who was not elected. He was appointed vice president by Richard Nixon when Spiro Agnew resigned in the fall 1973. He became president by default when Nixon resigned in August 1974.

Gerald Ford is undoubtedly one of my favorite U. S. Presidents. He was an "every man" who took the reigns of the nation during the difficult time following Vietnam and the resignation of President Nixon. The leadership skills of this average man helped to heal many of our nation's wounds. Some of us wondered why he pardoned Nixon, yet perhaps it was this act of forgiveness that allowed our nation to heal and reunite.

By the bicentennial celebration in 1976, citizens were once again proud to be American. In a pub the evening of July 3, 1776 the band began playing "It's a Grand Old Flag," and the entire audience began singing. One man in our group had escaped from Eastern Europe the previous year, and was concerned the police would arrest us for that display. We were happy to inform him that in America we could celebrate our Nation's birthday, and not fear about repercussions from our government.

The Federal Government has designated Jan. 2 as an official day of mourning for former President Gerald R. Ford. Flags are flying at half-mast and most government offices will be closed on January 2nd. Ford's funeral service will be televised that day.

Read a biography of President Ford at The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.
The Presidential Library and Museum recently posted a section of News, Special Events & Featured Pages on their home page.
Three image galleries contain 78 public domain photographs that chronicle the nation's 38th President.
No special permission or usage fees are required, but the library would like you to use the credit line included in the pop-up text for each photo.

Remembering Gerald R. Ford, July 14, 1913 - December 26, 2006 is a FirstGov.gov page with links to information about the former president.

Saddam Hussein
The Trial of Saddam Hussein at the Law Library of Congress provides essential information about the ongoing trials of the deceased Mr. Hussein, who was executed on December 30, 2006, for killing 148 men and boys in Dujail in 1982. .

The leader of Iraq from 1979 to 2003, Hussein gained infamy during the 1988 chemical weapon attack on Iraqui Kurds, as well as for his brutal tratment of his own citizens. A U. S. Department of State report, Saddam's Chemical Weapons Campaign: Halabja, March 16, 1988 descibes the mass murder which occured in the city of Halabja in 1988.

The White House issued a press release, President Bush's Statement on Execution of Saddam Hussein. Previously, the White House compiled theApparatus of Lies: Saddam’s Disinformation and Propaganda, 1990-2003 which chronicled the alleged attrocities of the Iraqui dictator for over a decade.

Saddam Hussein's Capture: One Year Later is a feature article in DefendAmerica the United States Department of Defense Official Website on the War on Terrorism.