After seven years at the helm of the Smithsonian Institution, President Lonnie Bunch III has decided to step down and retire after being at the center of the Trump administration and trying to reshape the museum.
“It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement from the Smithsonian,” Bunch said in a statement on Tuesday, adding, “I leave with pride and sadness, gratitude and joy, and with enormous confidence in the people who will carry this remarkable institution forward.”
Bunch, 73, said in multiple interviews that his retirement was not related to pressure from the Trump administration to make changes to the institution.
While Bunch denies being pressured, an August 28 letter from federal agencies claimed they may stop working with the Smithsonian if its leadership does not change. The letter cited an earlier report that accused the Smithsonian of moving “toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.”
The White House made a statement to the media after the retirement news was announced.
“Secretary Bunch has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story,” Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is also chancellor of the Smithsonian, said in a statement, adding, “We look forward to working with him in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition for his successor.”
The tension between Bunch and the Trump administration reached a climax in a July interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, where Bunch said, “It’s our job to tell an accurate, complex and truthful history.” However, Trump has taken issue with the Smithsonian’s telling of the past, describing it as “woke” and tasking aides with rooting out what he considers a rewriting of American history at the museums. For example, in a July executive order, the president directed the National Park Service to install temporary signage near the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, warning of “inaccurate information.”
Greg Werkheiser, an attorney involved in multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration over the president’s changes to the museum, said in a statement that Bunch’s departure should raise concerns.
“Whatever words are used to describe his departure, it comes after an extraordinary campaign of political pressure on the Smithsonian and its leadership,” Werkheiser said. “The loss here is bigger than one extraordinary public servant. Americans should be deeply concerned whenever political power is used to make the people entrusted with telling our nation’s history fear for their jobs if they tell that history honestly.”
