Smithsonian Accused of Rewriting Nixon History with False Impeachment Claim
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has been accused of incorrectly stating that President Richard Nixon was impeached in the biography label that accompanies Norman Rockwell’s portrait in its “America’s Presidents” exhibit. The Richard Nixon Foundation’s president and CEO, Jim Byron, argues that the text is wrong as Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974 before the House voted on any impeachment articles.
Byron also claims the exhibit previously used a different label that did not contain this error, and he urged the gallery to correct it promptly. The article notes that the house Judiciary Committee did approve articles of impeachment in July 1974, but Nixon stepped down before a full House vote. The Smithsonian did not promptly respond to a request for comment.
The Smithsonian may have falsely claimed that President Richard Nixon was impeached in its new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.
The gallery’s “America’s Presidents” exhibit reopened to the public on May 15 and includes a portrait of the 37th president by acclaimed American artist Norman Rockwell. Jim Byron, president and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, wrote a letter to the gallery’s acting director Elliot Gruber alleging that the biography accompanying the portrait falsely states that Nixon was impeached, according to a copy of the letter Byron posted to X Wednesday.
According to Byron’s letter, the biography says “investigations into a break in at the Watergate complex and the subsequent cover up resulted in Nixon’s impeachment on the charges of obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress.” The label correctly adds that the California Republican “became the first President to resign.”
“In fact, President Nixon was never impeached,” Byron wrote in the letter. “He resigned on August 9, 1974 before the House of Representatives had voted on any article(s) of impeachment.”
While the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee in July 1974 adopted three articles of impeachment against Nixon in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned less than two weeks later — before the House could vote on the articles,
I trust that the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery @smithsoniannpg will take immediate steps to correct this mistake, lest its many visitors are misled about the 37th President. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/kyBOIYS6Y7
— Jim Byron (@jimbyron_) May 27, 2026
Byron alleged that the exhibit’s “earlier, replaced, label did not include this error.”
“I trust you will take immediate steps to correct this mistake, lest the many visitors to the handsome new gallery are misled about the 37th President,” the Richard Nixon Foundation’s CEO added.
Byron led the foundation on and off from November 2021 and had previously served as the senior advisor to the Archivist of the United States during the second Trump administration.
The Richard Nixon Foundation states on its website that it is “Carrying the legacy and vision of President Richard Nixon into the 21st century.”
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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