Smithsonian Accused Of Rewriting Nixon History With False Impeachment Claim

The Smithsonian may have falsely claimed that President Richard Nixon was impeached in its new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.

The gallery’s “America’s Presidents” exhibit reopened to the public on May 15 and includes a portrait of the 37th president by acclaimed American artist Norman Rockwell. Jim Byron, president and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, wrote a letter to the gallery’s acting director Elliot Gruber alleging that the biography accompanying the portrait falsely states that Nixon was impeached, according to a copy of the letter Byron posted to X Wednesday.

According to Byron’s letter, the biography says “investigations into a break in at the Watergate complex and the subsequent cover up resulted in Nixon’s impeachment on the charges of obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress.” The label correctly adds that the California Republican “became the first President to resign.”

“In fact, President Nixon was never impeached,” Byron wrote in the letter. “He resigned on August 9, 1974 before the House of Representatives had voted on any article(s) of impeachment.”

While the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee in July 1974