Former Presidents Bush, Obama and Clinton Join History Essay Series, Skip Trump
Former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have each contributed an essay to the In Pursuit 250-year project, deliberately leaving out any reference to Donald Trump.
Marking the nation’s 250th anniversary, the In Pursuit initiative commissions essays on presidents and first ladies, with former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton among the contributors. Curated by former National Archives archivist Colleen Shogan, the project explicitly omits Donald Trump and Joe Biden, judging them too fresh for scholarly appraisal. Bush’s essay praises George Washington’s willingness to relinquish authority, Obama reflects on Abraham Lincoln, and Clinton examines Theodore Roosevelt’s expansion of popular power alongside his exclusionary policies.
The series seeks to present non-partisan lessons from past presidencies to help Americans understand present challenges and future possibilities.
Why it matters
The essays aim to provide non-partisan historical insight that can inform current debates about presidential power and democracy.
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