National Archives Announces New Director of Johnson Presidential Library
Press Release · Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Washington, DC

WASHINGTON – Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero today announced the appointment of Dr. Kyle Longley as the new Director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, effective July 29, 2018.

In making the announcement, the Archivist said, “Dr. Longley’s extensive historical knowledge, combined with his teaching, research, and leadership experience, will be of great value to the National Archives, the Johnson Library, and its constituents.  We welcome him and look forward to working with him on future projects and programs.”

Dr. Longley is a long-time, active leader in the history field. For the past 23 years, he has been a professor of history and political science at Arizona State University.  Longley also taught extensively on U.S. foreign relations, the Vietnam War, U.S. military history, and modern Latin America. He served in a number of administrative and leadership positions at the college, school, and department levels including associate director of the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies and faculty head of the History Department.  He has also been active at the national level in academic organizations including the American Historical Association (AHA), Organization of American Historians, Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations, and the Pacific Coast Branch of the AHA, having served as president of the latter.

He is also a prize-winning author who has published or edited eight books with one more, a co-authored In Harm’s Way:  A Military History of the United States, expected in January 2019.  The books include: In the Eagle’s Shadow:  The United States and Latin America; Senator Albert Gore, Sr.:  Tennessee Maverick; Deconstructing Reagan:  Conservative Mythology and America’s Fortieth President; Grunts:  The American Combat Soldier in Vietnam; The Morenci Marines:  A Tale of Small Town America and the Vietnam War; and LBJ’s 1968:  Power, Politics, and the Presidency in America’s Year of Upheaval.  

He received a bachelor’s degree in history and mathematics from Angelo State University, a master’s degree in history and comparative literature from Texas Tech University, and a doctorate in history from the University of Kentucky.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, located in Austin, Texas, is one of 14 libraries in the Presidential Library system administered by the National Archives and overseen by the Office of Presidential Libraries. The Presidential Libraries house the records of Presidents Herbert Hoover through Barack Obama and preserve and provide access to historical materials, support research, and create interactive programs and exhibits that educate and inspire.