NCC Washington Update, Vol. 1, # 21, May 1 1995
By Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National Coordinating
Committee for the Promotion of History <pagem@CapAccess.org>
President to Nominate Carlin as U.S. Archivist.
Over the weekend signals from the White House seemed to indicate a
momentary announcement by the President of the nomination of John W.
Carlin, former Democratic governor of Kansas, as U.S. Archivist. The
American Historical Association, the Organization of American
Historians and the Society of American Archivist have all notified the
White House that they would oppose the nomination. The grounds for
opposition focus primarily on Carlin's partisan activities. In 1992
Carlin headed the Clinton for President campaign in Kansas. However,
many feel that he also lacks professional qualifications as his holds
a B.S. in Dairy Science. Earlier this year the Society of American
Archivists sent a delegation of three to meet with Carlin. On the
basis of a report of that meeting, the Society of American Archivists'
Council voted unanimously to oppose the nomination. The Archives
Independence Legislation calls for the Archivist to be a non- partisan
professional and the 1984 Conference Report calls for the U.S.
Archivist to be "insulated from the political orientation of a
particular administration."
It appears that background checks on Carlin have been completed and
that a speedy confirmation hearing is intended. With the nomination
of Carlin, the President would be nominating a friend, someone who
would tend to be loyal to the President. This violates the spirit and
intention of the legislation which used strong, but perhaps not strong
enough, language to ensure that the U.S. Archivist, the keeper of the
nation's history, would be an individual highly respected by the
professional associations and outside the realm of Presidential
politics. Since Carlin fits neither of these descriptions, this
nomination seems bound for its share of controversy.