The beginning of the federal presidential library system can be traced back to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decision to build his own library with private funds in Hyde Park, New York. He then donated his records to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). This established a precedent that was formalized with the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955. It became standard practice to build the libraries with private funds and then develop a partnership with NARA for their continued operation.
Since Congress seized Nixon’s presidential papers in 1974, it was no surprise he established his library as a private institution outside the NARA system. It also took Nixon longer to open a library than it does for most former presidents, mainly because he couldn’t settle on a location; San Clemente was too expensive, while Duke and UC–Irvine sparked too many protests. Finally the Nixon Library opened in his hometown of Yorba Linda, California, in 1990.
The Library’s first director was Hugh Hewitt, who had been Nixon’s ghostwriter and served in the Reagan administration. (He is now a prominent conservative commentator.) Hewitt created a media stir a week before the Library opened, when he announced his office would screen all researchers before they were allowed to use the Library’s materials. He also remarked that Bob Woodward would be denied access to the archives. After a wave of backlash, Hewitt retracted his statement, and he resigned later that year.
A presidential library is a museum in addition to being an archive, and its exhibits can tend towards the hagiographic. The Nixon Library’s exhibits, however, were all vetted by Nixon himself and were exceptionally partisan. The original exhibit on Watergate blamed the president’s enemies for his downfall and glossed over the key sections of the infamous tapes that led to his resignation. The text read, in part, “Commentators sought to portray Watergate strictly as a morality play, as a struggle between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, good and evil. Given the benefit of time, it is now clear that Watergate was an epic and bloody political battle fought for the highest stakes, with no holds barred.” Museum visitors were told Nixon did not obstruct justice, and Watergate was nothing but partisan politics.