Former President Joe Biden has chosen his home state of Delaware to build his presidential library — but his new board has opted against setting a budget as the former prez hunts for people willing to donate to the project.
The Joe and Jill Biden Foundation tapped a 13-member board of close confidants and former officials, including former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and longtime adviser Steve Ricchetti, to oversee the project and raise funds to preserve the 82-year-old Democrat’s four years as president.
But Biden’s decision comes as construction of former President Barack Obama’s $850 million library and museum has sparked widespread backlash, delays and legal challenges in Chicago.
“There’s certainly folks — folks who may have been not thinking about those kinds of issues who are starting to think about them,” said Democratic fundraiser Rufus Gifford, named chairman of the library board.
“That being said … we’re not going to create a budget, we’re not going to set a goal for ourselves that we don’t believe we can hit.”
The price tag for presidential libraries has soared over the years — and a source familiar with the preliminary plans said the flagship facility could cost several hundred million dollars, CNN reported.
Gifford believes the cost of Biden’s legacy project will “end up somewhere in the middle” of the Obama Presidential Center, which set a staggering $1.6 billion fundraising goal, and the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which totaled about $43 million when it opened in 1997.
Bill Clinton’s presidential library in Arkansas cost about $165 million, while George W. Bush hit his $500 million fundraising goal before his Texas library was dedicated.
While corporations and institutional donors have historically contributed to presidential library projects, Biden’s team could face an uphill battle, with some hesitant to give as the Democratic Party becomes more fragmented and major donors have slowed their contributions.
Some donors also remain reluctant to fork over cash, frustrated with how Biden ended his second-term bid just 107 days before last year’s election, according to CNN.
The 46th president’s team is looking to construct an immersive museum of his first term, with the space also serving as a center for education, leadership, and policy gatherings.
The exact location of the library hasn’t been decided.
Biden — who recently stepped out over the Labor Day weekend with cut on his head from skin cancer surgery — was diagnosed in May with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
News of his prostate cancer diagnosis sparked a firestorm of allegations that his administration and members of his inner circle knowingly hid his physical and cognitive decline from the American public.
With Post wires.
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