No nation, particularly a democratic republic as large and diverse as ours, can survive without a common understanding of its history and values. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History was explicitly created to help preserve and communicate our shared narrative. Unfortunately, as a new White House report shows, it has failed in this mission. It has, indeed, betrayed it.

When the Smithsonian’s leaders were lobbying Congress to authorize the American History Museum in 1953, they argued that one of the “main reasons” the museum was needed was to “place before millions who visit the Nation’s Capital each year a stimulating permanent exposition that commemorates our heritage of freedom and highlights the basic elements of our way of life.” The Smithsonian’s secretary at the time, Leon Carmichael, testified to Congress that, if authorized, the museum “planned to instill in each citizen a deepened faith in our country’s destiny as champion of individual dignity and enterprise.”