Abilene Eisenhower Library Director Resigns Over Sword Dispute

Todd Arrington, a career historian and Army veteran who became director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library in August 2024, resigned this week after refusing administration requests to remove an original Eisenhower sword from the library’s federal collection for President Trump to present to King Charles III during a state visit. Arrington said presidential-library artifacts are government property protected by law and worked with State Department officials to secure a replica Cadet Saber from West Point that Buckingham Palace ultimately received. He says he was then told to “resign or be fired” and was informed he “could no longer be trusted with confidential information”; multiple outlets reported that NARA and State Department officials pressed for an original and that some aides applied pressure. Reporting also said a State Department liaison contacted the library via a personal email account reportedly using the handle “giftgirl2025” while seeking an authentic sword. The National Archives and Records Administration and the White House have not publicly refuted the accounts, and coverage has framed the episode as part of wider tensions between the administration and cultural institutions over artifact access and personnel decisions.