“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” – George Orwell’s “1984”
“If you don’t know history, it’s as if you were born yesterday. If you were born yesterday then any leader can tell you anything.” – Howard Zinn
Within weeks of taking office, Donald Trump fired Colleen Shogan, the head of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), who had been appointed by President Joe Biden. “This evening, President Trump fired me. No cause or reason was cited,” Shogan said in a statement (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7293794224804642816/) on her LinkedIn page. “It has been an honor serving as the 11th Archivist of the United States. I have zero regrets – I absolutely did my best every day for the National Archives and the American people.”
Trump then appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Shogan’s post. The appointment of Rubio signaled the implementation of a broader strategy; integrating NARA’s functions into the administration’s policy goals.
The removal of Shogan was not an isolated event. Reports indicated that the Trump administration was orchestrating a comprehensive overhaul of NARA's senior leadership.
Not long after, lead archivist William “Jay” Bosanko – who was expected to be acting archivist -- announced his retirement.
The National Archives, established in 1934 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, oversees the preservation—both physical and digital—and promulgation of government records. The institute preserves history; a history that might have been eliminated, hidden or destroyed. “Litera, Scripta, Manet” reads the motto of NARA, loosely translated means “written word endures.”
As of December 2024, the National Archives held approximately 13.5 billion pages of textual records; 10 million maps, charts, and architectural and engineering drawing, 40 million still photographs, digital images, filmstrips, and graphics; 40 million aerial photographs; more that 448 million feet of motion picture film; 992,000 video and sound recordings.
According to Alex Delia, Deputy Managing Editor of SAN (Straight Arrow News), “typically operates outside of partisan conflicts. However, it became a focal point of controversy when it sought to retrieve classified documents that Trump took to Mar=a-Lago at the end of his first term” (https://san.com/cc/trump-removes-colleen-shogan-as-head-of-the-national-archives/?utm_source=chatgpt.com).
Trump claimed the documents were his to take and finally, after facing multiple charges, his case was dismissed by the Trump appointed US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon.
Writing for fastcompany.com, Jared Keller, editor of content at Military.com, pointed out that “Amid his dramatic reshaping of the federal government, President Donald Trump’s latest high-profile dismissal could become among his most consequential” (https://www.fastcompany.com/91277620/trump-firing-national-archivist-colleen-shogan).
“NARA does more than just collect, digitize, and maintain government records,” Keller noted. “As an independent agency within the executive branch, it’s responsible for, among other things, administering the Electoral College process by providing the official instructions for how the states transmit electors’ votes to Congress; overseeing the process of ratifying new Constitutional amendments; managing the document classification system and, in turn, the delicate balance between public transparency and national security; and publicizing the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register, the two documents that codify rules and chronicle the daily goings-on, respectively, of the federal government.”
According to CBS News, “William ’Jay’ Bosanko served as chief operating officer for the National Archives when the FBI served a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 in order to seize boxes of Trump records, including classified material, that the agency said had not been properly transferred to the Archives at the conclusion of Mr. Trump's first term” (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/deputy-archivist-of-the-u-s-william-bosanko-to-retire/).
Bosanko worked for the National Archives since 1993, and served as deputy archivist since December 2023. In that role, he runs the day-to-day operations of the agency.
Last September, Bosanko told “60 Minutes: "When an individual controls the records, they control the story. They control what the American people can know or not know about their presidency” (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/presidential-records-national-archives-60-minutes/).
Bosanko added: "That strikes at the very heart of the historical record, the completeness of it, the ability to understand decisions," Bosanko said. "And so it's important for historians, and ultimately the American people to understand all of the pieces that came in and made up that decision making."
Shaking up the National Archives, and placing Trump supplicants in charge, achieves several Trump’s goals; personal revenge, controlling the historical record, and the reshaping of federal agencies. “Litera, Scripta, Manet” reads the motto of NARA, loosely translated means “written word endures.” Will it?
