Lonnie G. Bunch III will leave his position as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution at the end of the year, a position he has held since June 2019. The 73-year-old historian, the first African-American but also the first historian to direct the institution, will thus put an end to nearly 38 years spent, in different positions, within the largest American museum and research complex, which today brings together 21 museums, the National Zoo, libraries and several research centers.
His departure comes amid a growing confrontation with the Trump administration over how the Smithsonian tells U.S. history. In March 2025, a presidential executive order charged Vice President JD Vance, a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian, to eliminate from the institution what the White House described as ideology “inappropriate, divisive or un-American”. The National Museum of African American History and Culture, of which Lonnie Bunch had been the founding director from 2005, was expressly targeted.
The pressure increased further in 2026. On July 4, a White House report attacked the National Museum of American History, accused of offering an excessively critical reading of the national story. Bunch responded that the report did not give a fair picture of the museum’s work. On September 3, the Trump administration took the next step by threatening to strip the Smithsonian of several forms of support from federal agencies, including object loans, certain government purchasing services, and discretionary grants.
Lonnie Bunch assures, however, that these tensions are not at the origin of his decision. He indicated to Washington Post that he had been considering retirement for about a year and called it quits after spending several weeks this summer with his children and grandchildren. He had initially planned to stay five years at the head of the institution, before extending his mandate until the year of the 250th anniversary of American Independence and as the tenth anniversary of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, opened in September 2016, approached.
His succession now constitutes a particularly sensitive issue. The President of the United States does not appoint the secretary of the Smithsonian: this power belongs to his Board of Regentsa 17-member governing body that includes the Chief Justice and the Vice President of the United States. The board must appoint an interim secretary and then launch a national search. Until his departure, Bunch says he wants to continue to defend “integrity” and the independence of the Smithsonian.
