Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III to Retire at Year-End

<p>Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III will retire at the end of the year after seven years leading the institution and a period of significant interactions with the Trump administration regarding the presentation of American history.</p><p>Bunch, 73, announced his retirement on Tuesday, expressing "very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude." He has served as the Smithsonian’s secretary since 2019 and was the first African American to hold this position.</p><p>Bunch stated that he does not believe the administration’s pressure directly influenced his decision to retire. In an interview with the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/arts/design/smithsonian-secretary-lonnie-bunch-resigns.html">New York Times</a>, he mentioned, "now’s the time," while acknowledging the stress from the political confrontations.</p><p>“I have to be honest, it has been stressful,” Bunch said. “And at a certain point, I’d like to wake up in the morning and not look at my cellphone.”</p><p>His announcement follows over a year of direct confrontations between the Smithsonian and the Trump administration.</p><p>In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order titled “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/">Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History</a>,” which directed officials to address what the administration termed “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian and other federally affiliated cultural institutions.</p><p>The order accused the Smithsonian of promoting narratives that depicted American and Western values as harmful and oppressive. It instructed Vice President JD Vance, through his role on the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to work towards removing such ideology from the institution.</p><p>The White House subsequently conducted a review of Smithsonian museums and exhibitions. In July, a report titled “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/07/saving-americas-story/">Saving America’s Story</a>” was released, which criticized leadership at the National Museum of American History for allowing ideological concerns to influence its historical presentations.</p><p>Trump also mandated federal officials to install signage outside the National Museum of American History to address what the administration considered inaccurate information about American history.</p><p>Interior Secretary Doug Burgum later <a href="https://www.doi.gov/media/document/department-interior-letter-smithsonian-institution">accused</a> museum officials of permitting a “radical institutional ideology” to infiltrate the National Museum of American History, claiming it weakened Americans’ shared national identity.</p><p>The Smithsonian countered the administration’s portrayal of its work, emphasizing its structural independence from the executive branch, with its secretary appointed by the Smithsonian Board of Regents.</p><p>The board comprises Vance, members of Congress, citizen regents, and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as the Smithsonian’s chancellor.</p><p>Roberts commended Bunch following the retirement announcement, stating that the secretary had “pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story” and that the Regents had benefited from his “wisdom, vision and leadership.”</p><p>Bunch has spent nearly 38 years at the Smithsonian, first joining in 1978 and holding various curatorial and leadership roles before leaving in 2000. He returned in 2005 to lead the establishment of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016.</p><p>He became Smithsonian secretary three years later.</p><p>“I have spent nearly half of my life working at and being part of the Smithsonian family,” Bunch said in his retirement announcement. “What a privilege.”</p><p>Bunch is expected to remain in his position until the end of the year while the Board of Regents selects his successor.</p>