Presidential Visits to the National Archives Building: 20th Century

Although there wasn't an actual building yet, the first President to visit the site of the National Archives Building was Herbert Hoover.

President Hoover, architect John Russell Pope, and Secretary of the Treasury Ogden Mills each took turns spreading the mortar with a silver trowel. Inside the cornerstone, Hoover placed an American flag and copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

In a speech to a small group of invited guests and officials, Hoover remarked, “The Temple of our history will appropriately be one of the most beautiful buildings in America, an expression of the American soul." These words live on in the National Archives Building today.

Throughout his Presidency, Franklin D. Roosevelt took a keen interest in the nation’s archives, visiting the building in 1937 and again in 1943. At the time of his first visit on June 16, 1937, staff had begun moving records into the nearly completed building.

The tour included the Central Search Room, where researchers could examine records. Noting the comfortable chairs and desks throughout the room, the President joked, “When my term is up, I’m coming here to work.”

Two days later, President Truman attended the unveiling in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building. After the curtain was pulled aside, the three founding documents were on permanent display together for the first time in history.

It was another decade before a President returned to the National Archives Building. On June 27, 1962, John F. Kennedy opened an exhibit that he conceived of on U.S. Navy prints and paintings at the National Archives Building titled The Old Navy, 1776–1860.

Kennedy hoped that visitors would learn more about America’s “life at sea” and FDR’s enduring legacy: “We will be the first of a great number of Americans who will touch, through this exhibit, not only the life of President Roosevelt but also the old Navy." 

The next President to visit the National Archives was Richard Nixon, who came to honor the beginning of the Bicentennial era on July 3, 1971.  His opening address was aired live on television and radio from the Rotunda of the National Archives Building.

With the Bicentennial celebration now in full swing, President Gerald Ford visited the National Archives on July 2, 1976. Following the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War and Watergate, Ford hoped the Bicentennial era might symbolize a new chapter in the nation’s history.

Ronald Reagan was the only President to attend the swearing-in ceremony of an Archivist of the United States. On December 4, 1987, President Reagan stood alongside Congressman Dick Cheney as Don W. Wilson took his oath as the seventh Archivist of the United States. 

President Bill Clinton was the last President to visit the National Archives Building in the 20th Century. He came on three occasions—first, in 1995, to advocate for federal affirmative action programs, and second, in 1997, to launch his White House Millennium Program.

But President Clinton’s third visit was most notable for National Archives history. On July 1, 1999, as part of the President’s “Save America’s Treasures” initiative, the President and First Lady came to the National Archives Building to announce the Charters of Freedom Project.

President Clinton spoke with optimism as the nation looked toward not only a new century, but a new millennium: “We can all take pride in our efforts to renew our national treasures, for in a larger sense, the story of our Nation is the story of constant renewal."