Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum

Located in Simi Valley just outside of Los Angeles, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum preserves the life story of America's fortieth president. Ronald Reagan held office from 1981 to 1989, succeeded by his vice president, George H. W. Bush. The library and museum was opened in 1991. The views of the surrounding valleys and mountains are majestic and the location was chosen to echo the "shining city on a hill" that Reagan often referred to in his political speeches. His career from college athlete and performer to Hollywood actor to politician is chronicled. When we visited, it was also hosting a traveling exhibit on The Dead Sea Scrolls.

The entrance has some bronze statues of the president and his First Lady, Nancy Reagan.

Ronald Reagan at the entrance

Blogger, President, First Lady

The museum begins with his early family life in Illinois where he was born.

Early life

He played football in high school and was involved in the drama department. He went on to Eureka College, continuing both pursuits along with being active in campus politics. His first jobs after college were in radio broadcasting. He eventually moved to Hollywood to try acting, becoming a star after appearing in Knute Rockne, All-American. He played George Gipp, a Notre Dame football player who famously asked Coach Knute Rockne to "win just one more for the Gipper." "The Gipper" became a knick-name later on in life.

High school memorabilia

First starring role as "The Gipper"

An interactive exhibit lets visitors try out color-commentating a football game or starring in one of Reagan's movie scenes.

Trying out his radio persona

The museum briefly reviews his decade as Governor of California. Inheriting a debt from the previous administration, Reagan instituted both additional taxes and budget cuts to create a surplus. He also dealt with social unrest at California universities.

As California's govenor

Energy policy

The exhibits on his presidential years are extensive. They start with the 1980 campaign against Jimmy Carter which wound up as a landslide victory for Reagan.

Famous quote from the 1980s campaign

Inauguration outfits

I am Secret Service for my presidential offspring's inaugural address

On March 30, 1981, John Hinkley tried to assassinate President Reagan on the streets of Washington, DC. Reagan was rushed to George Washington University Hospital where he recovered from a punctured lung, cracked rib, and internal bleeding. When he first went under for surgery, he told the doctor, "I hope you are a Republican." So he kept a sense of humor. Afterward, he credited God with sparing his life and assumed he had a mission to fulfill.

Items from the assassination attempt

The museum has a full-size recreation of the Oval Office, decorated as it was during Reagan's presidency. 

Oval office desk

Oval office sitting area

Life at the White House was busy. Reagan took to writing diaries, which are preserved in the library part of the museum.

Reagan's diary on display

Nancy Reagan made some aesthetic changes though she did not use tax money to make the changes. The Reagans also did a lot of hosting of both domestic and foreign visitors. 

Interactive exhibit about entertaining foreign dignitaries

Reagan china

John Travolta and Princess Diana dance at the White House!

Nancy Reagan's sense of style and extravagant spending were noticed and mocked by the media. Being a good sport, she dressed up in a crazy outfit and sang a little ditty about excessive style. She won over the press by her sense of humor.

Extravagant outfit?

Some pictures show the changes in various White House rooms.

Reagan-era updates

Nancy Reagan also advocated against under-age drug use, starting a "Just Say No!" campaign that used stuff like sports and board games to get the youth on board.

Not the most successful campaign

One of the highlights of the museum is Air Force One, one of the Boeing 707s used by presidents to travel around the country and the world. This particular plane (tail number 27000) was used from Richard Nixon's presidency to George W. Bush's, so seven presidents. It was decommissioned in 2001 and given to the museum. 

Air Force One!

Other side of the plane

In an interesting twist of fate, one of the Secret Service men who helped during the assassination attempt had seen Reagan's film Code of the Secret Service and was inspired to join the agency! 

A bit of a circle

Visitors can go on the plane and see this flying White House from the inside.

Cockpit

Not-so-oval office

Briefing room

Seems like every seat is first class

A mural outside the plane shows the various aircraft that served as Air Force One through the years. Any time a president rides in an aircraft, it becomes Air Force One.

Lots of presidential transportation

Reagan's limousine is on display underneath the plane.

Presidential limo

Also in the Air Force One Pavilion is The Ronald Reagan Pub and Snack Bar. While visiting Ireland in 1984, Ronald and Nancy visited O'Farrell's Pub in Ballyporeen. The pub was disassembled and moved to California in 2005.

We did not get a snack or drink, alas!

Reagan's favorite candy was jelly beans. He always had a jar on his desk (even on Air Force One). The company donated a picture of Reagan made entirely of jelly beans. 

Not sure about this

Back in the exhibits, several interactive tables explained the economic revival under Reagan.

Having fun and learning

More economic learning

During his presidency, the space program grew as the space shuttles took center stage. A great disaster for the country was the explosion of the Challenger shuttle in 1986.

Remembering astronauts who died 

Reagan's reelection in 1984 against Democratic candidate Walter Mondale was an even bigger landslide.

Mondale won his home state and DC, the rest was for Reagan

The next exhibit explained the Cold War and how it came to an end partly through Reagan's efforts. In addition to speaking out against nuclear proliferation and human rights violations under Communist rule, Reagan expanded military spending to provide a viable threat to Soviet expansion. Reagan's work was only a part of a larger whole, with Pope John Paul II inspiring Polish Catholics to organize and protest against their communist government which was little more than a client state of the U.S.S.R.

Berlin Wall recreation

Meeting JPII in 1982

Reagan met with Premier Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, in a series of negotiations to limit nuclear weapons and curtail expansionism.

Negotiations

Geneva Summit

Stuff from Camp David, a retreat for the president from DC

The final exhibits are about Reagan's post-presidential life. He developed Alzheimer's Disease and died quietly in 2004. Reagan and Nancy are both buried on the grounds of the musem though we did not visit their graves. The kids were "museumed out" by that point, so we headed on to our next destination.

Normal Rockwell painting of Reagan

Reagan's body lying in state at the Capitol

Unbeknownst to me, my wife and daughter took some pictures that are too fun not to share...

Riding at Camp David

Less enthusiasm

FDR Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, New York

We visited the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library and Museum just south of Hyde Park, New York. The building is right next to the Roosevelt family home. The grounds have several other buildings; we started our visit at the visitor center/

FDR Library and Museum

The center's floor has a fancy map of the area. Outside, it has bronze statues of FDR and his wife Eleanor. 

Impressive but not useful map

The kids did not opt for this photo op

Also outside is a strange sculpture with the "four freedoms" about which FDR made a famous speech.

Not sure what this is supposed to be

The Library and Museum entrance is in a courtyard with a bust of FDR donated by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in 1947, a few years after his death. The library opened before he died, while he was still in office.

Courtyard

Bust

Inside, the museum goes through his presidential career with bits of his previous life sprinkled in the various rooms. The displays start his story just before he is elected. They describe the conditions during the Great Depression.

Reading about the past

The first presidential election on 1932

The displays have a lot of memorabilia from FDR's first campaign and the inauguration.

Campaign/election stuff

Inauguration items

In another failed photo op, the kids did not want to pretend to give an inaugural address, so I had to do it at the podium provided. It was clearly made for kids because I had to kneel down so I did not look like a giant.

Vote for me--uh-oh, too late!

Picture of Hoover and FDR riding to the inauguration together

A side room has a bit of FDR's family history, including portraits of ancestors and some playthings from his childhood.

Roosevelts and Delanos

Toys and household items of the rich and famous

Items from Franklin and Eleanor's wedding and family are also on display.

Eleanor's engagement ring and the wedding ushers' stickpin

Family pictures

This part of the exhibit has some description of him getting polio in 1921. The illness could have ended his political career but he worked hard to deal with his paralysis from the waist down. He tried many different doctors (some quacks) and used various therapies to help him move on his own again. He worked out a way to use a cane and hold someone else's arm to give him the appearance of walking, though mostly he greeted the public sitting down or in pre-planned circumstances. He was elected governor of New York in 1928, serving until his election as president.

Leg braces and other medical equipment

Rare photo with the braces visible

When in office, FDR did a lot of work in the first 100 days to get America back on its own feet. He had a group of intellectuals and academics advising him, men who were called "The Brain Trust."

Getting help where he can

One of his early and lesser acclaimed actions was to start the repeal of Prohibition by allowing alcoholic beverages to be made and sold in the United States. The Twenty-first Amendment (which ended the Eighteenth Amendment forbidding alcohol) was ratified at the end of 1933.

One way to end the Great Depression

Another early, impactful action was Roosevelt's Fireside Chats. He would broadcast a message to the American public over the radio. He would say what he was doing and provide encouragement to the people.

One of the  original microphones from the Fireside Chats

Finally in a photo op

He described his recovery plan as a "New Deal" for the country. It had a multitude of programs to put Americans back to work. One program was patronizing the arts.

New Deal artwork

Burt Lancaster, Zora Neale Huston, Jackson Pollock, and other recipients

Another display shows the only four photos from his presidency where FDR is visibly in a wheelchair.

Hiding his disability

A nearby display shows the comparison of federal spending and unemployment during his presidency. Unemployment was about 25% at the start with $4.6 billion of Federal spending. The spending went up, skyrocketing when World War II started. 

Tracking numbers

As World War II loomed, FDR bolstered relationships with Allied countries, especially the United Kingdom. The King and Queen of England came to visit America. The Roosevelts hosted them at their New York home, serving them hot dogs as an experience of American cuisine!

Were they really trying to make them allies?

By this point, FDR was in the middle of his second term. A lot of questions were asked about whether he would run in 1940 for a third term as president. The tradition dating all the way back to George Washington was for the president to serve only two terms. FDR kept quiet about his plans, so cartoonists depicted him as the Sphinx. He liked the joke so much that he had a sculpture made.

Cartoonist's mockery

Self-mockery?

Another map shows all the presidential libraries in the United States. The only president before FDR to have a presidential library is his immediate predecessor, Herbert Hoover.

Presidential libraries and where to find them

The building has FDR's private study. This room was used by Roosevelt to conduct business when he lived at home during the presidency. He broadcast some of the Fireside Chats from this room.

FDR private study

Bookshelf

Fireplace

His 1941 State of the Union address was famous for its part where he articulated four freedoms he thought everyone should have: Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. It was popular enough for Norman Rockwell paintings to be used in posters promulgating the ideas.

Four Freedoms posters

During the election in 1940, the war in Europe was a hot issue. One display shows some anti-Roosevelt buttons warning that FDR, if reeelected, would bring America into the war.

Anti-FDR buttons

In 1941, the Japanese attacked the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (which did not have statehood at that point). The next day, FDR gave his famous "Day that will live in infamy" speech as America declared war on Japan. 

Model of the USS Arizona, one of the ships sunk at Pearl Harbor

The whole situation of the bombing is complicated. Some believed there was a conspiracy between FDR and the Japanese to get the United States into the war, though the idea seems a little preposterous.

Info on conspiracy theories

When American got into the war, the Axis Powers had already taken substantial amounts of territory in Europe and the Pacific.

Map of Axis conquests in 1941

In a nearby corner is an exhibit on Fala, FDR's pet dog who definitely got more attention than the wheelchair. Fala became a minor celebrity, appearing in political cartoons and comic books.

Fala memorabilia

Statue of Fala

Eleanor Roosevelt was active during the war, visiting troops and generally boosting moral where she could.

Red Cross uniform

A simulation of FDR's war room was interesting for the kids, especially with the anachronistic touch screens.

Rotary phones and giant iPads?

With the infusion of American military and economic efforts, the Allies made many inroads on the Axis conquests.

The Allies strike back!

FDR giving a war speech

During the war, FDR died from a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945. He had been elected to a fourth term. Harry Truman, as Vice President, became the next president. 

President's death

The museum has FDR's desk from the White House. An interactive screen explains the various items on the desk.

Poor lighting, sorry

View from behind the chair

Eleanor outlived him by quite a bit, dying on November 7, 1962. She spent her time writing and advocating for various issues.

ER's typewriter

Some of her books

More poor lighting!

The museum also has FDR's convertible and dozens of model ships that he collected.

The family car

An Italian shipyard

More boats

The museum provided a lot of insight and detail about FDR's life and presidency, though it was definitely slanted in his favor. Some controversies are mentioned in passing but no critical assessments are given. Visitors have to expect a bit of bias from someone's own museum, I suppose. We didn't get the chance to see the home or the rest of the estate. Maybe on another trip?