The Joseph R. Biden Presidential Library is an archive of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in which state papers related to the presidency of Joe Biden will be deposited following the conclusion of his term as President of the United States, as well as a proposed museum on Joe Biden.
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Personal U.S. Senator from Delaware 47th Vice President of the United States Vice presidential campaigns 46th President of the United States Incumbent Tenure   | ||
Presidential Libraries are archives and museums, bringing together the documents and artifacts of a U.S. president and his administration. [1] While libraries and their contents are maintained by NARA, other costs have traditionally been borne by private donors. [2] According to NARA, each former president selects the architect for the library and is "solely responsible for choice of the final location for the Library building and for the construction costs". [1]
According to Joe Biden, in a story related by him to Robert Hur during Hur's investigation of the Joe Biden classified documents incident, the topic of his presidential library was first broached by Jill Biden in July 2023 following remarks he gave at the Harry Truman Presidential Library, after which he began thinking about it more closely. [3] Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal were subsequently designated by Biden to organize fundraising for the library's construction. [4]
The University of Delaware in Wilmington, Delaware, and Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, were both initially cited by Biden as possible locations for the library facility. As of July 2024, however, the University of Delaware reported it was "unaware of any conversations on this topic" while a spokesperson for Syracuse said at the same time that "there have been no conversations to date on this". [5] [6]
By November 2024, work on the proposed library facility had stalled due to a lack of funds. [7] The Washington Times , citing a story by The Wall Street Journal , reported that donors were putting up "resistance" to giving funds for the library. [7] The next month, following Biden's pardon of Hunter Biden, major Democratic Party donors reportedly signaled their intent to withhold donations for the proposed library facility altogether. [2]
As of December 2024, NARA was recruiting staff to prepare the Biden library document collections. [8]
One unsolicited plan advanced by civic leaders in Wilmington involved repurposing the Daniel L. Herrmann Courthouse to serve as the Biden library. [6]
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also tasked with increasing public access to those documents that make up the National Archives. NARA is officially responsible for maintaining and publishing the legally authentic and authoritative copies of acts of Congress, presidential directives, and federal regulations. NARA also transmits votes of the Electoral College to Congress. It also examines Electoral College and constitutional amendment ratification documents for prima facie legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature.
Pierre Samuel "Pete" du Pont IV was an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 68th governor of Delaware from 1977 to 1985. A member of the Republican Party, he was the United States representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district from 1971 to 1977.
In the United States, the presidential library system is a nationwide network of 16 libraries administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). These are repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, collections and other historical materials of every president of the United States since Herbert Hoover, the 31st president from 1929–1933. In addition to the library services, museum exhibitions concerning the presidency are displayed.
Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III was an American politician, lawyer, and officer in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps from Wilmington, Delaware. He was the eldest child of President Joe Biden and Neilia Hunter Biden, served as the 44th attorney general of Delaware from 2007 to 2015, and was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard in the Iraq War. He died of glioblastoma at the age of 46 in 2015, at which time he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor of Delaware in the 2016 gubernatorial election. A portion of the 21st Century Cures Act was named the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative after him.
Robert Hunter Biden is an American attorney and businessman. He is the second son of U.S. president Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. Biden was a founding board member of BHR Partners, a Chinese investment company, in 2013, and later served on the board of Burisma Holdings, one of the largest private natural gas producers in Ukraine, from 2014 until his term expired in April 2019. He has worked as a lobbyist and legal representative for lobbying firms, a hedge fund principal, and a venture capital and private equity fund investor.
Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States, has family members who are prominent in law, education, activism and politics. Biden's immediate family became the first family of the United States on his inauguration on January 20, 2021. His immediate family circle was also the second family of the United States from 2009 to 2017, when Biden was vice president. Biden's family is mostly descended from the British Isles, with most of their ancestors coming from Ireland and England, and a smaller number descending from the French.
Ashley Blazer Biden is an American social worker, activist, and fashion designer. She served as the executive director of the Delaware Center for Justice from 2014 to 2019. Before her administrative role at the center, Biden worked in the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families. She founded the fashion company Livelihood, which partners with the online retailer Gilt Groupe to raise money for community programs focused on eliminating income inequality in the United States, launching it at New York Fashion Week in 2017. Biden's parents are President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
The Richard Nixon Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. It was founded on January 24, 1983 by Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States, and served as the governing body of the Nixon Library for nearly twenty years.
Lisa LaTrelle Blunt Rochester is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Delaware, a seat she has held since 2025. She has served as the U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman, and first African American, to represent Delaware in both chambers of Congress.
Robert Kyoung Hur is an American lawyer appointed by Donald Trump to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General with the U.S. Department of Justice. Hur oversaw the 2023–2024 investigation into President Joe Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents during Biden's time as vice president.
The 2020 United States presidential election in Delaware was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Delaware voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump from Florida, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence from Indiana against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Delaware has three electoral votes in the Electoral College.
Neilia Hunter Biden was an American teacher. She was the first wife of Joe Biden, who would later become the 46th president of the United States. She died in a 1972 car crash with their one-year-old daughter, Naomi; their two sons, Beau and Hunter, were injured but survived the incident. Her death occurred six weeks after her husband's election to the U.S. Senate.
Valerie Biden Owens is an American political strategist, campaign manager and former educator. She is the younger sister of Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States. In 2016, President Barack Obama nominated her as alternate representative of the United States to the 71st Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
The Biden Foundation was a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the United States tax code that existed from 2017 to 2019. It was established by then former United States vice president Joe Biden and Jill Biden with the stated mission to "champion progress and prosperity for American families".
The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement of the University of Pennsylvania is located in Washington, D.C., and is named after Joe Biden, who was a former Vice President and Senator at the time of its founding in 2018, and is the 46th president of the United States.
Hallie K. Biden is an American school counselor, non-profit executive, and member of the Biden family. She worked as a school counselor at the Tatnall School in Wilmington, Delaware and at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware. In 2002, she married Beau Biden, a son of U.S. President Joe Biden and Neilia Hunter Biden. They lived in Wilmington while her husband served as the Attorney General of Delaware.
On January 9, 2023, CBS News reported that attorneys for U.S. President Joe Biden discovered classified government documents in his former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and in his personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware, dating to his time in the United States Senate and his vice presidency in the Obama administration. The number of documents was later revealed to be between 25 and 30. By June 2023, classified documents from Biden's Senate tenure were discovered in materials donated to the University of Delaware.
The Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit organization started by President Joe Biden in June 2015, a month after the death of his son Beau Biden. The Biden family sits on the board. It works to combat child abuse by educating adults and children. It is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. Patricia Dailey Lewis is CEO of the foundation, after Joshua Alcorn. The foundation received some of its funds from the Biden Foundation. In 2016, the foundation launched The Safe to Compete Delaware Pilot Initiative, a pilot program with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware.
This article incorporates public domain material from Presidential Libraries, Frequently Asked Questions. National Archives and Records Administration.
