The Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The first Archivist, R.D.W. Connor, began serving in 1934, when the National Archives was established as an independent Federal agency by Congress. The Archivists served as subordinate officials of the General Services Administration from 1949 until the National Archives and Records Administration became an independent agency again on April 1, 1985.

On July 28, 2009, President Obama nominated David Ferriero to be 10th Archivist of the United States. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 6, 2009. He was sworn in as Archivist on November 13, 2009.

The Archivist is appointed by the President and is responsible for safeguarding and making available for study all the permanently valuable records of the Federal Government, including the actual Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which are displayed in the Archives' main building in Washington, D.C.. Under Public Law No. 98-497, the Archivist also must maintain custody of state legislative ratifications of amendments to the United States Constitution and proclaim a particular amendment duly ratified and part of the Constitution if the legislatures of at least three-quarters of the states approve the proposed amendment.

Archivists of the United States

The following is a list of Archivists of the United States

No.	Picture	Archivist	Start of Term	End of Term	President
1		Robert Digges Wimberly Connor	October 10, 1934	September 15, 1941	Franklin D. Roosevelt
2		Solon J. Buck	September 18, 1941	May 31, 1948	Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman
3		Wayne C. Grover	June 2, 1948	November 6, 1965	Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
4		Robert H. Bahmer*	November 7, 1965	March 9, 1968	Lyndon B. Johnson
5		James B. Rhoads**	March 10, 1968	1979	Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
-		James O'Neill	1979	July 1980	Jimmy Carter
6		Robert M. Warner	July 1980	April 15, 1985	Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan
-		Frank G. Burke	April 16, 1985	December 4, 1987	Ronald Reagan
7		Don W. Wilson	December 4, 1987	March 24, 1993	Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton
-		Trudy Huskamp Peterson	March 25, 1993	May 29, 1995	Bill Clinton
8		John W. Carlin	May 30, 1995	February 15, 2005	Bill Clinton George W. Bush
9		Allen Weinstein	February 16, 2005	December 19, 2008	George W. Bush
-		Adrienne Thomas	December 19, 2008	November 5, 2009	George W. Bush Barack Obama
10		David Ferriero	November 6, 2009	--	Barack Obama

*Served first as Acting Archivist of the United States from Nov. 7, 1965, until his appointment as Archivist of the United States on January 16, 1966. **Served first as Acting Archivist of the United States from March 10, 1968, until his appointment as Archivist of the United States on May 2, 1968.

References

External links

• Official website
• Archivists of the United States, 1934 – present