The Smithsonian ’s National Museum of American History (Washington) has confirmed the removal of references to President Donald Trump ’s two impeachment proceedings from the Limits of Presidential Power section within the permanent exhibition The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden. The news, anticipated by the Washington Post and later confirmed by ABC News, raised questions about the updating of exhibition content and the management of recent historical memory.
As reported by ABC News, the museum explained that the exhibition section has been temporarily reverted to its 2008 configuration, thus removing not only references to successive presidencies, but also those to Trump-related court cases. The decision is part of the internal review process and would not have been influenced by external or political pressures. According to the Smithsonian’s statement, the exhibit, which opened more than two decades ago, is undergoing a gradual update, with the goal of representing the historical evolution of the U.S. presidency in a more coherent and balanced way.
At present, the impeachment section includes only references to the cases of Andrew Johnson (1868), Richard Nixon (1973) and Bill Clinton (1998). Nixon was the only one of the three to resign, anticipating the conclusion of the proceedings. Missing, then, is reference to the impeachments involving Trump, the only president in U.S. history to have been impeached twice by the House of Representatives. The first proceeding dates back to Dec. 18, 2019, when Trump, during his first term, was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection with a controversial phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he allegedly conditioned the granting of military aid on the announcement of an investigation against political rival Joe Biden. The Senate, with a Republican majority, acquitted Trump on Feb. 5, 2020.
The second proceeding was initiated after the assault on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021. The House charged him with inciting insurrection on January 13, 2021, a week before the end of his term. Again, the Senate, while recording some Republican votes in favor of conviction, acquitted Trump on Feb. 13, 2021. The former president has always denied any charges in both cases. Following the first indictment, the Smithsonian had issued a statement on Jan. 21, 2020, explaining that curators were closely monitoring developments to assess which objects would best represent those moments for inclusion in the national collection. The decision to collect materials related to the indictment proceedings was part of the institution’s documentary mission.
The Smithsonian Institution has taken public action to clarify the reasons for the removal of a sign on impeachment from The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington. The panel, which had been included in July within the impeachment section, was removed because it was deemed not to meet the museum’s exhibit standards. The decision, the institution specifies, was made independently and not in response to political pressure or requests from the administration or government officials.
"The exhibition’s Limits of Presidential Power section is intended to reflect all prosecutions in our country’s history," the Smithsonian said in a note published through its official channels. The intervention, which took place in July, involved a sign introduced as a temporary element in an exhibit that is now 25 years old. According to the institution’s explanation, the panel presented several problems: it did not visually integrate with the rest of the exhibition, it was misaligned in its temporal placement with respect to the other contents, and, above all, it obstructed the view of the objects housed in the display case to which it was affixed.
The museum management stressed that the decision to remove it depended solely on museological criteria. “We were not urged by any administration or government official to remove content from the exhibit,” reads the statement released by the Smithsonian. The decision, therefore, can be attributed to internal evaluations and a review process affecting the entire exhibition section. The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden exhibition, which opened more than two decades ago, explores the role of the U.S. presidency throughout history.
“As custodians of the national memory, it is our privilege and our responsibility to tell accurate and comprehensive stories,” the institution’s official statement said. The museum confirmed that it will regularly update its permanent exhibits to reflect the most recent historical and political developments, while maintaining a high focus on the accuracy, balance and coherence of the museum narrative.
The decision, while the subject of media attention, was justified as part of an independent curatorial process aimed at ensuring faithful and sustainable long-term historical representation.
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| Smithsonian removes references to Trump impeachment from historical exhibit |
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