Bradford P. Wilson Confirmed by U.S. Senate as 12th Archivist of the United States

Washington, DC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The United States Senate voted on August 7, 2026, to confirm Bradford P. Wilson as Archivist of the United States. Wilson was nominated by President Donald J.Trump on March 2, 2026, and received strong bipartisan support following his testimony before the Senate Homeland and Government Affairs Committee. 

“I am deeply honored to lead the National Archives and Records Administration, and with the support and trust of President Trump and the United States Senate,” said Archivist of the United States Bradford Wilson. “I look forward to working with the professional staff at the National Archives to ensure the preservation of and access to our nation’s most important records.”

Dr. Wilson previously served as the James Wilson Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Civic Thought in the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University. In 2024, he retired from his long-time position as Executive Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Lecturer in Politics, and Fellow of Forbes College at Princeton University.  Before joining Princeton University, Wilson spent eight years as Acting President and then Executive Director of the National Association of Scholars. He has served as a presidential appointee on the Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation and was a Senior Research Fellow in the Witherspoon Institute, President of the Association for the Study of Free Institutions, and Fulbright Senior Scholar in Russia. From 1984 to 1987, he served as Research Associate to two Chief Justices of the United States, Warren E. Burger and William H. Rehnquist.

Wilson received his BA from North Carolina State University, his MA from Northern Illinois University, and his PhD in Politics from The Catholic University of America.