Don W. Wilson

Dick Cheney administers the oath of office to Don Wilson as Mrs. Wilson and President Ronald Reagan look on, December 4, 1987.

Don W. Wilson (born 1942) was appointed the Archivist of the United States, serving from December 4, 1987, to March 24, 1993.

Biography

Wilson earned a bachelor's degree from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, and attended the University of Cincinnati, which awarded Wilson both an M.A. and Ph.D. in history. He served on the history faculties at the University of Michigan and Washburn University and worked with the Center for Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University as a research professor. Wilson also worked as Archivist at the Kansas State Historical Society and as Associate Director at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Wilson has extensive experience with presidential libraries, working as Deputy Director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, as the first Director of the Gerald Ford Presidential Library, in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1981,^[1] as the Executive Director of the George Bush Presidential Library and George Bush Presidential Library Foundation (April 1993–1998) at Texas A&M University. The later position was a source of controversy when it was revealed that Wilson made an agreement with Bush that gave the president control over his records that was ultimately judged "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and contrary to law."^[2]

National Archives

President Ronald Reagan swore-in Wilson on December 4, 1987, with US Congressman Dick Cheney, serving as the master of ceremonies.^[3][4]

On May 18, 1992 in his official capacity as Archivist, he certified the ratification of the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.

During his time at the National Archives and Records Administration, Wilson was a vocal advocate for the preservation of electronic records.^[5][6] In spite of his "advocacy" for the preservation of electronic records, late on the night of January 19, 1993 (the day before the end of George H. W. Bush's presidency), Wilson signed a controversial deal, giving President Bush exclusive legal control over 5,000 tapes from White House computers. Three weeks later, Wilson announced that he would become executive director of the Bush Presidential Library Center. Wilson was investigated for conflict of interest; the midnight deal was later declared null and void by a federal judge.

In late 1992 there was also a controversy regarding his prior choice of Lawrence Oberg as NARA Inspector General.^[7]

Awards

Wislon was a National Defense Fellow from 1964 to 1967 while at the University of Cincinnati, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cincinnati in 1988.

Don W. Wilson was honored by having his portrait placed in the grand staircase of the National Archives Building along the National Mall in Washington.^[8]

Quotes

• Wilson on working in the field of philanthropy: “I take great satisfaction in seeing people and organizations achieve goals they might have originally believed to be beyond their reach.”^[9]

Bibliography

• Snell, Joseph W., and Don W. Wilson.^[10]

References

1. ^ Gerald Ford Foundation, geraldrfordfoundation.org
2. ^ "Judge rules against effort by bush to control his records", nytimes.com
3. ^ National Archives and Records Administration. Swearing in of Don W. Wilson as the seventh Archivist of the United States, December 4, 1987, National Archives Rotunda. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1988.
4. ^ Reagan's Remarks at the Swearing-In Ceremony of Don W. Wilson as Archivist of the United States, reagan.utexas.edu
5. ^ Preservation of electronic records Letter to the Editor, cool.conservation-us.org
6. ^ Wilson, Don W. Culture and Conflict: Defining the National Archives, lib.auburn.edu. In Government Information Quarterly 13, no. 2 (1996): 187-195.
7. ^ Ex-Libris Listserv thread, Re: Archivist's Issues, November 5, 1992, cool.conservation-us.org
8. ^ National Archives Unveils Portrait of Former Archivist of the United States, NARA Press Release, May 20, 2005. archives.gov
9. ^ Don Wilson, Of Counsel Consultant, the Dini Partners
10. ^ The Birth of The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Kansas Historical Quarterly 34, no. 2 (Summer 1968): 113-142., kancoll.org

External links

• Archivists of the United States, 1934–present, archives.gov

Government offices
Preceded by Frank G. Burke	Archivist of the United States 1987–1993	Succeeded by Trudy Huskamp Peterson

Persondata
Name	Wilson, Don W.
Alternative names
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Date of birth	1942
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Date of death
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