Smithsonian Secretary Announces Retirement

Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie Bunch announced on Sept. 8 his retirement after more than seven years in the position.

“It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement from the Smithsonian,” Bunch, 73, said in a statement. “I have spent nearly half of my life working at and being part of the Smithsonian family, and what a privilege it has been.”

Bunch’s departure follows a White House report that accused the Smithsonian National Museum of American History of having an ideological agenda and misportraying history.

“The Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic,” the report, released on July 4, states.

“By the intention and at the direction of current museum and Smithsonian leadership, [National Museum of American History] has become subject to institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology that is fundamentally opposed to telling the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love.”

The White House said the museum has not put on any exhibit specifically dedicated to the Founding Fathers, the Second Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolutionary War, or the nation’s path to independence and the establishment of constitutional rule of law.

“Our central finding is not that the museum has simply added overlooked stories, corrected perceived errors, or broadened its historical scope,” the report stated.

“Rather, it is that museum leadership has explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.”

A Smithsonian spokesperson previously told The Epoch Times that the institution “has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship” for more than 180 years and will remain “committed to doing so.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on July 24 directing signs to be featured outside one of the Smithsonian Institution’s history museums warning visitors that some exhibits consist of inaccurate information.

Trump said in his order that the report shows that “the Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated, but instead views American history as a ‘prime tool’ to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.”

The Smithsonian is independent of the executive branch and consists of a board of regents that includes Vice President JD Vance, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and private citizens.

Roberts, the Smithsonian’s chancellor, said that Bunch had “pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story.”

Before becoming secretary, Bunch was the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, founding the building. He first joined the Smithsonian in 1978, starting at the National Air and Space Museum and then serving in several positions at the National Museum of American History through 2000.

Aldgra Fredly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.