The Origins of the Presidential Libraries System and the Evolution of the U.S. Presidency

Abstract

The article deals with the emergence of the presidential museums and libraries system in the United States of America in the mid-twentieth century. The aim of the article is to investigate two cases of the first institutions of this type, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum and the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, and, based on that, the establishment of the presidential museums and libraries system in the USA against the backdrop of the evolution of the American presidency. The research design of this article is based on the understanding of a museum as an institution created to meet a certain demand of the state and the society. It is highlighted that while the President Roosevelt initiated his Library as a unique project, this institution was part of his efforts to institutionalize the American presidency. This contradictory basis and the rise of the confrontation in the early years of the Cold War that elevated the symbolic significance of the presidency in the U.S. allowed the President Truman, who had, in contrast to his predecessor, less political weight, not only to create his own Library, but also to facilitate the establishment of the system of presidential libraries and museums by Congress that enabled the emergence of other institutions of this type in the USA.

Acknowledgements
This article is based on the qualification thesis during the professional development program at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences. The author is grateful to Dr. Mikhail B. Gnedovskyi for his helpful comments.