Thus, the Archivist must display at all times scrupulous independence and a devotion to the laws and principles which govern the responsibilities of the office.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
For the Archivist, this role is a result of his obligation to preserve and assure timely and maximum access to our governmental records in the evolving historic saga of the American people.
The Archivist of the United States essentially works for the American people across partisan lines and not, regardless of which Administration nominates the person, for a particular President or political party.
Not only the Archivist alone but all who work for NARA are designated custodians of America's national memory.
The duty of a historian is simply to understand and then convey that understanding, no more than that.
A great work is made out of a combination of obedience and liberty.
The possession of arbitrary power has always, the world over, tended irresistibly to destroy humane sensibility, magnanimity, and truth.
An order of government, established by such an all-wise, powerful being, must be good and perfect, and must be calculated to promote the permanent peace, happiness, and well-being of all his subjects.
It is, after all, the responsibility of the expert to operate the familiar and that of the leader to transcend it.
It is the union of independence and dependence of these branches - legislative, executive and judicial - and of the governmental functions possessed by each of them, that constitutes the marvellous genius of this unrivalled document.
The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.