US Archivist Nominee Defends Denigrating Republican Presidents

President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the next U.S. archivist defended on Sept. 21 denigrating Republican presidents and asserted she can be nonpartisan if confirmed by the Senate.

Colleen Shogan, the head of the White House Historical Association who was an aide for former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), was confronted by Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) about her writings and social media posts during a confirmation hearing in Washington.

In an article titled “Anti-Intellectualism in the Modern Presidency: A Republican Populism,” Shogan wrote that former President Ronald Reagan had “less than impressive intellectual capabilities” and “it is widely accepted that George W. Bush was less intelligent than his challenger, Al Gore.”

Both Reagan and Bush were Republicans.

“How can we be assured that you will serve effectively in this nonpartisan role?” Portman wondered after reading portions of the article.

Shogan said she stood by her career at the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress, and the historical association. “And invite anybody to talk to the people I have worked with for years in my nonpartisan government service,” she said.

Shogan also posted on Twitter about then-President Donald Trump, including a missive on Jan. 5, 2020. “Isn’t the next move over self-pardon?” Shogan wrote at the time.

That implied Trump committed criminal acts, Portman said.

Shogan repeated that she would be apolitical if confirmed.

Hawley was not convinced.

“You wrote an article basically saying that Republican voters are stupid, that Republican presidents deliberately appeal to anti-intellectualism. You roll it all up in Republican populism, yet you’re trying to present yourself as a nonpartisan,” he said. “In fact, you’re an extreme partisan, and your record shows that. You’re someone who has denigrated Republican presidents—every two-term Republican president since the Second World War and their voters in this lengthy article.”

Sen. Shelley Moore