Halt Transfer of Museum Control at the George W. Bush Presidential Library from NARA to the George W. Bush Foundation

In office he was a disgrace to our Nations Flag violating his oath by going to war based on clearly fabricated intel against his advisers recommendations. 4,223 courageous U.S. military men and women lost their lives, along with 30,000+ wounded, based on his dubious claim of the imminent danger of Iraqi WMD's.

As a historian with extensive experience in several Presidential libraries and archives, I appreciate the work that NARA archivists do to present the whole history of a president’s life and service. Allowing private and specifically interested parties control over significant aspects of that history is contrary to NARA’s goals and the interests of the wider public.

The public deserves a fair and unbiased interpretation of a president's legacy, and that will not happen in the hands of private entities.

Keep the presidential library in NARA's hands and keep what small degree of trust Americans may still have in their government to be transparent and fair.

Such a move would further erode public confidence in museums and quite possibly present a biased, distorted view of this period of American history.

A disgusting abrogation of the rights of the American people to transparency

Archivist

Public records should not be in private hands. Period.

Presidential foundations exist in order to burnish the reputation of their President, even at the expense of historical accuracy. It is extremely likely that a Museum and education program run by the Bush Foundation would present an even more slanted and untrue version of his presidency. Can we afford to allow more false narratives at this point in our country's history? Also it is important to realize that the general public cannot and does not distinguish between a NARA Presidential Library and a Presidential Foundation. Any information presented in Museum exhibits will be viewed by visitors and school groups as a product of NARA, even if government archivists and curators had no control over the content. This is a horrible precedent and will undermine the entire mission of the National Archives. Please do not allow the transfer to proceed.

Presidential foundations or private staff should never have a say in accessioning, appraisal, or access to presidential records. In every case, they will curate a repository that tells the narrative that is most favorable to their boss. This violates NARA's fundamental duty to the American public as custodians of information about what the government does in our name. This serves AOTUS and leadership so that they can say they're "streamlining operations" or "forging public/private partnerships" or other meaningless business speak. It does not serve taxpayers, voters, researchers, or the ability of future generations to assess the Bush legacy independent of the Foundation's vested interest. This is not consistent with NARA's mission. Reverse this decision.

Distrust is not in service to the American people or history.

Presidents are public servants of the people. Their history is American history. I strongly oppose presidential records being in private hands, subject to private interpretation. Such a move further erodes public trust.

Control over presidential libraries & museums cannot be given to private entities.

Keep presidential libraries and museums in the hands of NARA!

This transfer needs to not go forward. NARA needs to continue to administer all of the presidential libraries and museums.

The transfer of ownership of a presidential museum from NARA into private hands merits further Congressional oversight. In my work with individuals, organizations and in communities of color it is very clear that the general public does not believe that that private instutiions and partisan organizations are fair and honest interpreters of American history. Much progress has been made by museums and archives to be more inclusive of other voices and experiences. This action will only reinforce the idea that this is an attempt to institutionalize the wealthy and powerful with the NARA name as a rubber stamp.

Presidential libraries and their records must remain under the custodianship of NARA. We cannot allow this, nor can we allow this precedent. It would be absolutely damning and catastrophic.

It is essential that presidential libraries, like other museums, maintain neutrality in order to maintain trust in a democracy.

Archivists and museum professionals cannot allow the real or perceived agendas of funding agencies to interfere with our obligations to accurately represent history.

Please ensure the integrity of museum curation, archival selection, and truthful interpretation remain in the purview of neutral management. NARA would better manage the library than a personal foundation.