The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History confirmed the removal of a placard that displayed both of President Donald Trump’s impeachments occurred due to aesthetic reasons and not because “asked by any Administration or other government official to remove content from the exhibit.”
The museum in Washington, D.C., said the placard didn’t fit with “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden” exhibit in an X post on Saturday, Aug. 2.
“The placard, which was meant to be a temporary addition to a 25-year-old exhibition, did not meet the museum’s standards in appearance, location, timeline, and overall presentation,” the post reads. “It was not consistent with other sections in the exhibit and moreover blocked the view of the objects inside its case. For these reasons, we removed the placard.”
The museum added that the impeachment placard will be “updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history.”
Confusion over the exhibit began on July 31 when The Washington Post first reported that references to both of President Donald Trump’s impeachments were removed.
Why were Donald Trump’s impeachments removed from exhibit?
The museum explained on Aug. 1 in a statement to USA TODAY that the references to Donald Trump’s impeachments, which occurred in 2019 and again in 2021, were part of a “temporary label.”
In September 2021, a “temporary label on content concerning the impeachments of Donald J. Trump” was added, according to the Smithsonian’s statement, with the museum adding that “it was intended to be a short-term measure to address current events at the time, however, the label remained in place until July 2025.”
For now, the display currently appears how it did nearly 20 years ago, according to the Smithsonian statement and the Washington Post’s report, which also noted that the exhibit now reads, “only three presidents have seriously faced removal,” omitting Trump.
“In reviewing our legacy content recently, it became clear that the ‘Limits of Presidential Power’ section in ‘The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden’ exhibition needed to be addressed,” the museum’s statement reads. “Because the other topics in this section had not been updated since 2008, the decision was made to restore the ‘Impeachment’ case back to its 2008 appearance.”
Where is the impeachment placard located at the Smithsonian?
The “impeachment” placard is housed within an exhibition called “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden,” which opened in 2000, according to the emailed statement from the Smithsonian.
The placard is part of a display featuring information and artifacts about Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon, the display’s companion website says. Nixon resigned before he could be formally impeached.
Other impeached presidents featured on Smithsonian website
The display’s companion website does not include a dedicated section for the Trump impeachments, but does note in an introductory sentence, “The House of Representatives impeached Andrew Johnson in 1868, William J. Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019 and again in 2021. In all four cases the Senate voted to acquit.”
Additionally, the website features sections about Johnson’s impeachment, including tickets and newspaper clips from the time; Nixon’s Senate hearing and resignation, including testimony papers and photos from the proceedings; and Clinton’s trial, with tickets and Senate question cards.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Smithsonian removed Trump from impeachment exhibit over ‘appearance’
