Biden’s legacy in jeopardy as funds for his presidential library fall short: report

Biden needs to raise from $200 to $300 million to build a presidential library—an institution that is now de rigeur among retiring residents of the Oval Office. But the money isn’t pouring in and although Biden has been accused of amassing a fortune during his 50 years in politics, he hasn’t been much of a fundraiser for projects like the library, the Journal notes, saying he didn’t stoop to gathering donations by having people spend a night in the White House.

There is confusion among the donor class with some saying they haven’t even been asked for money and others saying they are waiting to see who wins the presidential election. Others have been stunned into fiscal hibernation because Biden was treated so badly by his party and kicked out of the presidential race by Democratic power brokers like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. When Biden left the race in July and allowed Kamala Harris to replace him on the top of the ticket, he said he planned to focus on his legacy. There were rumors at the time that big name Dems like Barack Obama had threatened the funding of his library should he refuse to step aside.

Even without the funding in place, Biden counselor Steve Ricchetti is in charge of developing the theme for the library, according to WSJ sources. Biden may have started thinking about a library in the fall of 2023 when First Lady Jill Biden visited the Truman Presidential Library and asked her husband what he wanted to do in that regard.

In an interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur in October 2023, Biden reportedly said, “I don’t think I’m supposed to, while I’m president, think about the library,” prompting Jill Biden to object and insist the president should be planning for it now. Biden said both Syracuse University and the University of Delaware were “competing” to be the site of the library. But Biden expressed doubt that he could raise money for the structure while still in office. “I wouldn’t know how—how could you raise money anyway while I’m a U.S. senator to do that—I mean president,” Biden said.