So TIL I learned about Queen Victoria’s diaries which were voluminous and published after her death (albeit after being edited by her daughter to remove anything she thought would embarrass the royal family), and now forms an important primary source for historians of the Victorian era.
When was the last time this happened to a world leader or other major public figure? i don’t mean have a biography published based on their personal diaries, or a formal schedule or other public records recorded by an official note taker. I mean their actual, extensive, personal diaries, written by the head of state themselves, and published in full, posthumously.
For heads of state is there a formal process by which their diaries are released a certain time after their deaths? Is keeping personal diaries still a thing among heads of state?
Anne Frank (1929-1945) comes to mind, whose diaries were first published posthumously in 1947. I’m not sure if this is what you were thinking of, though, since she is known primarily for exactly those diaries.
Hitler’s diaries were published in 1983, but they turned out to be fake (which caused a major media scandal), so that probably doesn’t count.
I presume all the presidential libraries have the daily diaries of that particular president as part of their letters. However, I assume part of the problem is that keeping a diary, telling “Dear Diary” your thoughts of the day, has fallen out of style in a busier world.
A selection from Ronald Reagan’s diary was published in 2007 (edited by Douglass Brinkley). The complete unabridged diary from his White House years was released in two volumes in 2009.