By Eniola Amadu
Former US president Joe Biden has begun the process of building his presidential library in his home state of Delaware, setting up a governance board of former aides, allies and longtime friends to spearhead fundraising and planning for the legacy project.
The Joe and Jill Biden Foundation last week approved a 13-member board that will steer the effort. Among them are former secretary of state Antony Blinken, Biden’s trusted adviser Steve Ricchetti, and Rufus Gifford, a veteran Democratic fundraiser tapped to chair the board.
The group faces the task of financing a museum and archive that will preserve the 46th president’s legacy.
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While presidential libraries are traditionally financed through private donations, Biden’s project comes at a time of division within the Democratic Party and donor fatigue among many of its traditional benefactors.
Some corporate and institutional donors who have historically supported presidential libraries across party lines may also be more hesitant, given Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his persistent attacks on Biden and organizations he labels “left-leaning.”
Gifford acknowledged the challenges but struck an optimistic note. “We’re not going to create a budget or set a goal for ourselves that we don’t believe we can hit,” he told the Associated Press, stressing that the board is approaching the effort with realistic expectations.
Previous presidential libraries have varied widely in cost. The George HW Bush library was built for about $43m, while Bill Clinton’s cost roughly $165m.
George W Bush’s team successfully raised $500m, while the Obama Foundation has embarked on an ambitious $1.6bn campaign to fund both the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago and its global programs.
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Biden’s library team remains in the early planning stages and it is not yet clear where in Delaware the facility will be located, nor how much the board expects to raise.
However, the library will be privately funded, like its predecessors, through donations to a non-profit foundation dedicated to the project.
