Feeling Presidential?

 Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Shopping last night at the campground store didn't produce any purchases despite the 20% discount...I'm saving myself for Prime Day!

Today we headed to Little Rock Arkansas to visit the William J. Clinton Presidential Center.  It seems appropriate in an election year to find out more about the presidents in our history. 

Research for this trip has uncovered a lot of new information for me:  There are 15 official presidential libraries. They are established in the home state of the President and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  The libraries are part museum, part archive and part educational institutions.   Roosevelt began the tradition of creating a public repository when he realized he had so many papers and artifacts his staff had collected during his presidency.  (Kind of like decluttering my closet!)

The Clinton Presidential Center and Park was quite impressive.  It is a 30-acre site, sitting along the Arkansas River.  It includes the museum, wetlands, a bridge and a restored train station.  Clinton selected the site as a way to revitalize the downtown area.  He wanted the architect to reflect the building as a bridge to the future. 

The railroad bridge was originally built in 1899 and was restored as part of the project. The bridge takes visitors across the river to a boardwalk over a wetlands habitat area. 

We started the day with lunch at 42, a cafe with wonderful outdoor seating overlooking the grounds.  (Clinton was the 42nd president if you are wondering where the restaurant name came from!)

As we entered the museum, we were greeted by the presidential limo, a 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood built with extra protection and communication capabilities.  It took 3 years to build it! 

The museum exhibits covered so many aspects of Clinton's life, career and legacy.  One of the highlights was the oval office, which is a full-size replica of the office, identical in every detail to the Oval Office during Clinton's years at the white house.   

Another highlight was the cabinet room.  The President always sits in a position of honor at the center of the table.  His chair had a brass plaque that said "The President".

There was such a unique collection of items displayed ranging from his campaign for president, the inauguration, some of the legislation passed (family leave act--I didn't remember that), significant events during his term in office, Christmas in the White House, the economy, etc.  There were binders that included his schedule for each day he served as president.  His schedule was scripted from the time he got up until the time he went to bed.  The documents included who was in meetings, who flew on his plane with him...pretty interesting.  Also on display were many of the gifts given to him by leaders from other countries and from friends (i.e. a Lombardi trophy given to him by Jerry Jones!)

There was a special exhibition called "Commanding the Screen" which showed the role of the President in film and television over the years.  It was surprising there are so many films and tv shows on the topic.

We spent almost 3 hours and could have stayed longer.  It was a great visit, full of history and education and a new appreciation for all that is involved in being a President!

Outside the museum is Choctaw Station, a train station from 1899 which was renovated and now houses the Clinton Foundation offices and the Clinton School of Public Service.

 

After our museum tour, we took a short ride through the area and stopped at a local brewery to sample the local craft beer, (it was pretty good!) and then we called it a day!