The Eisenhower Presidential Library’s director has exited his position after advocating against giving a sword from the collection to King Charles as a gift during Donald Trump’s recent state visit, according to US media reports on Thursday.
Todd Arrington left his post on Monday after being told to “resign or be fired”, he told CBS News, which did not specify who had relayed the message to the historian.
The library and museum – located in former US president Dwight D Eisenhower’s home town in Abilene, Kansas – is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (Nara).
Arrington allegedly resisted a request from the Trump administration to give one of Eisenhower’s swords to Charles, which was meant to symbolise the US-UK relationship and highlight the two countries’ collaboration in the second world war.
Before becoming president in 1953, Eisenhower helped lead allied forces against Nazi Germany.
The Trump administration ultimately gave Charles a replica sword donated by West Point, the army academy where Eisenhower began his military career.
The New York Times reported that Arrington’s ouster may have also been related to discussions over plans to construct a new education centre at the Eisenhower Library.
A presidential library director removed from his post after he refused requests to give an original sword belonging to Dwight D Eisenhower to King Charles during President Trump’s state visit to Britain has made a public plea to be reinstated.
Speaking to the Daily Mail on Thursday, Arrington stated that he was trying to get his job back.
“I’m very sad and upset, and frankly devastated, and I have tried to reach out to higher-ups in the National Archives to basically say, I will do whatever it takes to reverse this,” he said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AFP news agency.
The resignation of Arrington, who had a decades-long career in the federal government, comes as Trump asserts an unprecedented control over US cultural institutions since his return to office in January. He has conducted mass firings of multiple traditionally nonpartisan or bipartisan boards, with his own allies taking control.
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