U.S Archivist Allen Weinstein Will Step Down, Cites Health Reasons
Andrew Albanese -- Library Journal, 12/11/2008
- Will step down December 19
- Deputy Archivist Adrienne Thomas to serve on interim basis
- Weinstein earned good reviews
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In a move that largely caught librarians and archivists by surprise this week, historian Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, submitted his resignation to President Bush on December 7, citing health reasons. He will step down effective December 19, with Deputy Archivist of the United States Adrienne Thomas set to serve as acting archivist until a replacement is appointed by President-elect Barack Obama—it is considered unlikely Bush would nominate Weinstein’s replacement in his final weeks in office. Weinstein has Parkinson’s disease. He was nominated by President Bush—amid controversy—on April 8, 2004, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 10, 2005. He succeeded John Carlin, a 1995 Clinton appointee.
Controversial start
By most accounts, Weinstein has earned high marks from librarians and archivists for his work at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), after an initially rocky nomination process. In 2004, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the American Library Association (ALA), and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) joined with other groups to protest Weinstein’s nomination. While not specifically opposing Weinstein, librarians and archivists were concerned that the president named his nominee without public input. Although not required by law to seek such input, Weinstein’s nomination was the first since NARA was established as an independent agency not to be open for public discussion and input.
At the time, groups including the National Coalition for History (NCH), a Washington, DC–based nonprofit educational organization, voiced concerns that the White House might be eager for an archivist switch before the November 2004 elections because of the “sensitive nature of certain presidential and executive department records.” Such concerns were exacerbated by a perceived culture of secrecy from the Bush Administration, fueled by the controversial executive order 13233, a measure that increased the power of the president to claim executive privilege in withholding documents, and expanded that privilege to the vice president.
In an interview with the New York Times before his confirmation, Weinstein defended his nomination, declaring himself a “raving moderate” who was not “in anybody’s pocket” and was “committed to maximum access.”
Positive reviews
Indeed, Weinstein has won positive reviews from the public as well, proving an efficient leader, an engaging speaker, and, true to his word, a forceful proponent of public access. Over the past four years, his achievements include increasing the agency’s budget to $411.1 million for 2008, up from from $318.7 million in 2005, a range of electronic records initiatives, reducing the backlog of unprocessed collections, and bringing the once-private Nixon library into the National Archives system of Presidential libraries—a move that saw approximately 320,000 pages and 363 hours of audio recordings related to the Nixon Presidency opened for research since 2005.
Weinstein also raised the profile of NARA in the public eye, with frequent visits to National Archives sites nationwide, speaking engagements at major conventions and meetings, and the creation of a public program series entitled “American Conversations” in which prominent guests discuss American history.
In perhaps his most public move, however, Weinstein acted decisively to return a cache of previously withdrawn declassified records to public access. The plan, known as the National Declassification Initiative (NDI) was launched after the New York Times reported that since 1999 more than 55,000 declassified documents had been removed from the National Archives public access areas by government intelligence and security agencies. The NDI included creation of an “interagency executive steering group” established to ensure transparency, and saw the vast majority of records that had been removed restored to public access.
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