Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library

The Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library is an archive of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in which state papers related to the presidency of Joe Biden have been deposited following his term as President of the United States, as well as a proposed presidential center on Joe Biden.

Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library

Available in	English
Headquarters	TBD
Country of origin	United States
Owner	National Archives and Records Administration
Created by	Archival Operations Division – Biden Presidential Library
Key people	Joe Biden
URL	bidenlibrary.gov
Commercial	No
Launched	January 20, 2025; 28 days ago (2025-01-20)
Content license	Public domain

Background

Presidential Libraries are archives and museums, bringing together the documents and artifacts of a U.S. president and his administration.^[1] While libraries and their contents are maintained by NARA, other costs have traditionally been borne by private donors.^[2] According to NARA, each former president selects the architect for the library and is "solely responsible for choice of the final location for the Library building and for the construction costs".^[1]

Location

The library is located in Room 1510 of 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland, a U.S. government office building in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.^[3][4]

Following the second inauguration of Donald Trump, on January 20, 2025, NARA announced it had "assumed custody of the records and artifacts of the Biden administration".^[5] According to NARA, Biden had not — as of that date — formally "indicated his intentions with regard to a Presidential Library".^[5]

History

According to Joe Biden, in a story related by him to Robert Hur during Hur's investigation of the Joe Biden classified documents incident, the topic of his presidential library was first broached by Jill Biden in July 2023 following remarks he gave at the Harry Truman Presidential Library, after which he began thinking about it more closely.^[6] Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal were subsequently designated by Biden to organize fundraising for the library's construction.^[7]

The University of Delaware in Wilmington, Delaware, and Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, were both initially cited by Biden as possible locations for the library facility. As of July 2024, however, the University of Delaware reported it was "unaware of any conversations on this topic" while a spokesperson for Syracuse said at the same time that "there have been no conversations to date on this".^[8][9]

In November 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that some donors were putting up "resistance" to giving funds for the library.^[10] The next month, following Biden's pardon of Hunter Biden, several major Democratic Party donors reportedly signaled their intent to withhold donations for the proposed library facility altogether.^[2][7]

As of December 2024, NARA was recruiting staff to prepare the Biden library document collections.^[11] In January 2025, Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker expressed interest in lobbying for the library to be built in her city.^[12]

Design

One unsolicited plan advanced by civic leaders in Wilmington involved repurposing the Daniel L. Herrmann Courthouse to serve as the Biden library.^[9]

References

1. "Frequently Asked Questions". National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on December 30, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
2. Baio, Ariana (December 5, 2024). "Furious Dems threaten to withhold donations to Biden's presidential library after Hunter's pardon". The Independent. ISSN 1741-9743. OCLC 185201487. Archived from the original on January 2, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
3. "Contact Us". bidenlibrary.gov. National Archives and Records Administration.
4. "The National Archives at College Park, Maryland". archives.gov. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
5. "Frequently Asked Questions". nara.gov. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
6. Misiaszek, Emma (March 13, 2024). "Syracuse University vies to become home to President Joe Biden's presidential library". WSTM-TV. Archived from the original on January 2, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
7. VandeHei, Jim; Allen, Mike (December 5, 2024). "Behind the Curtain: Biden's haunting twin sins". Axios. Cox Enterprises. Archived from the original on January 2, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
8. Powers, Kelly (July 30, 2024). "Where will President Joe Biden build his presidential library?". The News Journal. Gannett. Archived from the original on January 2, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
9. Vincent, Charlie (August 27, 2024). "VIEWPOINT: Reimagining Wilmington's Future with the Biden Presidential Library". Delware Business Times. Archived from the original on January 2, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
10. Linskey, Annie (October 30, 2024). "'Garbage' Comments Push Sidelined Biden Back Into Campaign Spotlight". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 30, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2025. Biden's team has encountered some resistance raising the roughly $200 million to $300 million Biden's allies think will be required for it based on past presidential libraries, according to people familiar with the discussions.
11. Dufalla, Lucas (December 3, 2024). "Clinton Center leaders tout economic and civic impact". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. WEHCO Media. ISSN 1060-4332. OCLC 50767083. Archived from the original on January 2, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
12. MacDonald, Tom (January 9, 2025). "Philly mayor to lobby for Biden's presidential library". WHYY-TV. Retrieved January 14, 2025.

 This article incorporates public domain material from Presidential Libraries, Frequently Asked Questions. National Archives and Records Administration.

External links

• NARA Office of Presidential Libraries