The journey for the first woman to be nominated by a president and confirmed by the Senate to become the archivist of the United States started during her childhood summer vacations with her family.

In an exclusive interview with WTOP, Colleen Shogan, who was let go by Donald Trump’s administration, spoke of her father.

“My father would take us to amusement parks and we would also go to a history location like Gettysburg,” Shogan said. “My dad really liked history, he was not in the history field, he was a draftsman.”

Shogan attended Boston College and received her doctorate in American politics from Yale University. After taking a break from teaching at George Mason University, Shogan went to work for then Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-CT.

Shogan thought public service would be temporary, with the belief that she would permanently return to teaching.

The path to the National Archives, career-wise, stopped at the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service and The White House Historical Society.

Former President Joe Biden on Aug. 13, 2022, placed Shogan in the history books by nominating her to be the 11th archivist of the United States — and the first woman to hold that position.

Shogan told WTOP that her father was incredibly proud.

“I had to explain it to him several times because the title is a mouthful,” said Shogan. “The job is to run the National Archives and Records Administration.”

A little over nine months later, Shogan was administered the oath by Chief Justice John Roberts, with former first lady Jill Biden giving remarks.

During her speech, Shogan said she visited the Declaration of Independence at least once every day she was at the Archives.

Not long after President Donald Trump relieved Shogan of her duties in February, she had a new job but the same mission as a senior adviser for the nonpartisan More Perfect campaign.

“An organization dedicated to enhancing and strengthening our nation’s democracy,” said Shogan. “It’s similar to what I was doing before so that we can bring our nation’s history to young people and Americans all across the country.”

Quite often, women asked for career advice from Shogan, especially from those wanting to go into public service.

“You better have tough skin,” Shogan said with a smile. “I believe women are criticized for their leadership more than men.”

Shogan admits some critical viewpoints may be valid, but not all.

“Some are just to make you feel bad about yourself or to get you to stop what you’re doing,” Shogan said.

The key, according to Shogan, is to know which criticism to listen to and which to brush aside.

Along with teaching one course a year at Georgetown University as an adjunct professor, Shogan is the author of a series of D.C.-based murder mystery books, like “A Stabbing in the Senate.”