About the Author

Benjamin Hufbauer is an assistant professor of fine arts at the University of Louisville. His writing on the Roosevelt Library has appeared in the journal American Studies and the volume Libraries as Agencies of Culture.

Reviews

"Hats off to Benjamin Hufbauer for finally giving Presidential libraries their scholarly due. Hufbauer's fascinating study shows how these widely scattered sites of memory expose the basic tensions of American democracy: as archival shrines they serve to embody the ideal of free and open inquiry, while celebrating the concentration of power in the 'Imperial Presidency.' Along the way, readers will find unforgettable details, such as LBJ walking outside to round up more visitors to his library or the Truman Library designers shrinking their Oval Office replica because of mistakes in measurement. This is an important book for anyone interested in public history, the evolution of the Presidency, or commemoration in the twentieth century."--Kirk Savage, author of Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War, and Monument in Nineteenth-Century America"Part popular culture study, part anthropological investigation, and part architectural analysis, this study adds a new dimension to our understanding of America's fascination with the presidency."--Peter C. Rollins, editor of Hollywood's White House and The West Wing"I enthusiastically recommend this imaginative, thoroughly researched, well-written, and fascinating study. It is a welcome addition to the diverse and ever-expanding field investigating the cultural functions of the national commemorative landscape."--Edward T. Linenthal, author of Preserving Memory"An insightful and much-needed book."--Larry Hackman, former director of the Truman Library

"This excellent book argues that the commemoration of U.S. presidents has undergone a crucial shift since World War II, thanks to the invention of and multiplication of the 'unusual hybrid commemorative institution' of the presidential library or library-museum. . . . Edited with commendable concision, the text presents its arguments through economical case studies. . . . Besides its worthwhile content, the book is a pleasure to hold and read, a tribute to sound production values. . . . The writing is clean, effectively blending fact and theoretical reflection. The reference material is also good: notes are substantial and worth reading in themselves . . . and the bibliography is impressive. . . . Read it!"--American Historical Review"Hufbauer displays a depth of knowledge and understanding that allows his conclusions to resonate far beyond the 'for' or 'against' stance that characterizes almost everything else written about these peculiarly American institutions. . . . Within the context of the argument that 'presidential libraries are temples, ' Hufbauer's descriptions of various libraries and exhibits raise questions of cultural importance about the way that executive power has evolved."--Libraries & the Cultural Record"The book is worth reading for its case studies describing how the presidential libraries of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson were created and designed and, in the case of the Truman library, reinterpreted some years later. In those chapters, Hufbauer's visual and critical approach is extremely effective."--Journal of American History"This very insightful analysis of federal presidential libraries considers them as mnemonic engines of commemoration as well as functional museums and archives. Even more telling, Hufbauer proposes that they are symbols of power in an era when presidential power has increased dramatically and when the US has become the most powerful nation in the world. Presidential libraries bespeak president's personalities."Choice"Ranks alongside Edward T. Linenthal's Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America's Holocaust Museum and Thomas Desjardin's These Honored Dead: How Gettysburg Shaped American Memory. . . . This book has opened the door to serious consideration of the roles of what heretofore Hufbauer aptly calls 'a happy meal version of presidential history.' It is well for the profession and the general public at large that the author raises difficult questions while challenging the status quo of such institutions."--H-Net Reviews