What is James H. Billington?
{{Infobox Officeholder |name = James H. Billington |image = James H. Billington 8971.JPG |caption = Billington at the 2013 National Bookfest, September 2013 |office = 13th [[Library of Congress|Librarian of Congress]] |president = [[Ronald Reagan]]<br>[[George H. W. Bush]]<br>[[Bill Clinton]]<br>[[George W. Bush]]<br>[[Barack Obama]] |term_start = September 14, 1987 |term_end = September 30, 2015 |predecessor = [[Daniel J. Boorstin|Daniel Boorstin]] |successor = [[David S. Mao]] ''(acting)'' |birth_date = {{birth date|1929|6|1}} |birth_place = [[Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania]], U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|2018|11|20|1929|6|1}} |death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S. |alma_mater = [[Princeton University]]<br>[[Balliol College, Oxford]] }} '''James Hadley Billington''' (June 1, 1929 &ndash; November 20, 2018) was an [[Americans|American]] [[Academia|academic]]. He was the 13th [[Librarian of Congress|Librarian]] of the [[Library of Congress]]. He was appointed by President [[Ronald Reagan]]. Billington served as librarian from September 14, 1987 until his resignation on September 30, 2015. ==Early life== Billington born in [[Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania|Bryn Mawr]], [[Pennsylvania]] on June 1, 1929. He was raised in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. Billington studied at [[Princeton University]] and at [[Balliol College, Oxford]]. ==Career== ===Early career=== [[File:George Soros Billington.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Billington (right) with [[George Soros]] (left), January 2001]] Billington first began as a professor in [[Harvard University]]. From 1973 to 1987, Billington was director of the [[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars]], the nation’s official memorial in [[Washington, D.C.]] to America’s 28th president. As director, he founded the [[Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies]] at the Center and seven other new programs as well as the ''[[Wilson Quarterly]]''. ===Librarian of Congress (1987-2015)=== Billington was sworn in as the Librarian of Congress on