Timothy Naftali

And we were able in a sense to try as a team to set a standard for public history.

So I believe in these institutions

And I am worried at the development, at the turn that these institutions have taken.

You mentioned Barack Obama.

President Obama had an opportunity to set a high standard for public history.

We could debate his presidency, but what he did not have was a Watergate.

or an Iran contract.

He did not have the sort of overwhelming scandal that allies of any president would have a hard time sort of softening, if not deleting entirely.

So he had the opportunity to present a, or to create a model, a gem for public history.

allowing the National Archives to do its job overseeing a museum, but he didn't do it.

He decided that he wanted a private museum.

Now, I'm not suggesting that Barack Obama wanted to recreate what we inherited and had to change in Yorba Linda, but it was clear that he wanted and his team wanted to be in control of how his presidency is portrayed.

Now we talk about Trump.

Now, I'm not saying that President Trump would have would be doing what he's doing now if Barack Obama had chosen to have a standard presidential library.

But the fact that Barack Obama rejected the standard model of a presidential library just made it a little bit easier for President Trump to create what appears to be Trump land.

And I just think it's disappointing.

Our public institutions are under extreme stress.

You've talked about this in your podcast on multiple occasions.

And I think that as a people, our self-confidence

is directly proportional to how willing we are to talk about the peaks and valleys of our history.