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This is a tough time for truth. Politics, as I’ve mentioned before, is a dirty game, and all administrations lie, but eventually history will own the lies if the truth emerges. These days that seems like an ever-growing “if.”
Discovering the truth behind lies and obfuscation can take time. If you remember Watergate, you’ll recall that we can thank a security guard for discovering a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Otherwise, we may have never learned about the dirty tricks behind Nixon’s re-election campaign.
In 2022, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., mounted an exhibit called Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue. Some of the items that were on display can be viewed at https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/watergate.
Part of the narrative accompanying the exhibit stated that “Watergate brought the delicate play of checks and balances of U.S. governance to the forefront of the public’s mind. Who restricts presidential power? Congress? What role should the media — including social media — play? Are politicians, including the president, above the law? Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue provides a new window through which to consider these questions.”
These questions are timelier than ever, yet the current president recently fired the director of that facility, calling her an “ardent supporter of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).” The Smithsonian is overseen by a 17-member board of regents, and they hold the power to hire and fire.
So, when the portrait gallery’s director, Kim Sajet, rebuffed the president’s bogus decision and continued to show up for work, one might rejoice in thinking that the board supported her.
Less than two weeks after being fired-but-not-really, Sajet resigned. One might wonder what the board said or did during all this sturm und drang until one learns that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Vice President J. D. Vance are ex-officio members of the board.
Another reason the president gave for her not-really-dismissal was that she was too partisan. This administration just doesn’t understand irony.
Still, there’s something to be said about Sajet going out on her own terms, no matter how miserable those last days may have been.
The National Portrait Gallery is one of 19 separate facilities that make up the Smithsonian (a couple are located outside of DC), and the president is currently out for blood on eight of these.
You may have heard that the president recently demanded that Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III remove references to the president’s two impeachments from the Limits of Presidential Power display in the Museum of American History.
Bunch’s acquiescence drew ire from many corners, and the label was restored after several days, although the National Coalition Against Censorship reported that the label was revised and sported “softer” language.
But wait, there’s more.
Even more recently, the White House sent a letter to Secretary Bunch referencing the president’s Executive Order 14253, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. In accordance with that order, the letter said that it “will be leading a comprehensive internal review of selected Smithsonian museums and exhibitions. This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
One wonders what the administration considers American exceptionalism. Economist and former labor secretary Robert Reich surmises that the president equates himself with America. In other words, President = America.
If true, then the statement makes perverted sense. Rules apply to everyone except himself. In this fractured worldview, exceptionalism is doing whatever the hell you want, no matter who gets hurt. In fact, does anyone else even matter?
As for the Smithsonian itself, the museums selected for internal review, in addition to the National Portrait Gallery, are:
Of course, the president did not actually write the letter. What was sent to Secretary Bunch was well-written (NO CAPS!!!) and highly detailed (and did not thank Bunch for his “attention to this matter.”) It was signed by three assistants to the president, one of whom is Russell Vought, key mastermind of Project 2025, in addition to serving as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Some readers may recall that the Smithsonian was named in honor of its donor, James Smithson, whose aim was to make “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Vought and the two other signers of the letter intend to betray this mission.
They mean to narrow and decrease the understanding of history. When combined with an ever more poorly educated populace, who will ever question any museum display that receives the overblown imprimatur of the Great and Powerful Oz (or his minions)?
Some like to call the White House “the people’s house,” but that term has never seemed quite right to me. Now, that slogan seems like a sick joke with the tacky, gold spray-painted gewgaws plastered throughout the Oval Office and the Rose Garden buried under pavers, to say nothing of the proposed monstrous ballroom.
On the other hand, I have no trouble calling the Smithsonian “the people’s school.” Like any good public education, admission to the Smithsonian is free and is meant to build a strong society.
See it while you still can.
Joan Zwagerman is an archivist and a supporter of local, state, and national history, and she hopes you are, too.
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