Little Rock Arkansas and the Clinton Library

First of all a little correction to a previous blog. I should have checked my dates a little more carefully because the 2000 Summer Olympics were in Sydney Australia, not Atlanta, Georgia as I posted. Atlanta hosted the Olympics in 1996. Now that I have that off my chest onward to 2007 and the Clinton Library.

It was a sparkling day in Little Rock, and we arrived at the Presidential Library before 10:00. The building is beautiful and is cantilevered out over the Arkansas River. It is designed to mirror an abandoned rusting railway bridge just to the west of the library. Makes an incredible impact of the new and the old and the library is considered to be the "Bridge to the future". It really makes quite a statement. And the surrounding park is open and airy and full of some of the most vividly colored red oak trees. In a couple of weeks the other trees should turn bright yellow. Wish we were going to be here to see it! From the Library you can see the skyline of Little Rock and there is a penthouse apartment available to the President or other dignitaries who are visiting Little Rock.

Once inside the library the first exhibit is devoted to the Secret Service. The presidential limosine is on display and it is quite impressive. Gone are the days of the open cars.

On the second floor the exhibits are devoted to Clinton's presidency. There are alcoves devoted to various policy areas. These alcoves are chock-a-block with printed materials, artifacts and more information than the average human being can absorb! We each stopped at those things which interested us. All of the GGG's were fascinated with interactive displays or binders filled with daily presidential schedules. Included are pictures of some of those alcoves including a picture of presidential seal rug in each, and an overview picture. Very impressive!

Also on the second floor is an exact replica of the Oval Office. It is the only presidential library that has a model built to the exact same scale as the White House Oval Office. In this oval office is a replica of the presidential desk that has been used since the time of Teddy Roosevelt. It is carved from timbers of a British ship, The Resolute, which became trapped in Arctic ice in the late 1800's. The crew was able to be rescued but the ship remained in the ice until the spring thaw at which time it was towed back to Boston by an American trawler and returned to the ship's rightful owners. A number of years later when the ship was decommissioned Queen Victoria had timbers removed to carve a desk which was given to the American president as a thank you. Every presidential library that has a replica of the oval office has a copy of this desk. We find that a very interesting story. Notice the desk in the picture. Also included is a an exhibit of the Cabinet Room in the West Wing. The President sits at the middle of the table and each of the chairs has the particular cabinet position's name on the chair. There are monitors on this table where you can learn more about the executive branch of the government. Yes, those are two GGG's deep in concentration. Wonder where the other GGG is?

The third floor of the Library is filled with records of family events and a lighter side to the presidency. I was particularly taken with some of the gifts. There is a Gihoully (sp?) glass piece that is magnificent. I thought the painted Hillary and Socks bench was a hoot. The plate is the china that was commissioned during the Clinton administration to mark the 200th anniversary of the White House. It is the only White House china to have the image of the White House on it! There are pictures of costume parties, Bill Clinton's saxaphones, Christmas decor and cards, a table setting of a White House dinner as well as an extensive time line of a state dinner and all the planning and rehearsing that goes on before the event. And there was much much more!

After several hours and lunch in the on site restaurant, we took the little shuttle down the street to the gift store where we paid our dues as usual. The Library is built on land along the Arkansas River which was bought by the city of Little Rock for the location of the Library. The Library was built with privatly donated funds but the City owns the park. One volunteer told us that she thought it was the craziest thing ever because the land was an old rusty broken down industrial area in a decaying part of downtown Little Rock. Well, she freely admits she was very wrong. Not only does the city have a lovely park, a first rate museum and historical site, but the surrounding area has had new life breathed into it. A beautiful old train station houses the William J. Clinton Foundation and parts of the Library and Museum can be rented by the community for a variety of events. Edward Jones had an investment seminar going on today. Several school tours came through also. We wanted to spend more time just wandering around but it was time to get the shuttle back to the parking lot, hop in the car and head down the road to Kansas Citty. Actually we are headed to Independence, Missouri for a visit to the Harry Truman Home and Library. Drove for a few hours and stopped for the night in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Onward and northward tomorrow. Good night from the GGG's

P.S. This is definitely a place we would like to come back to. We only hit one highpoint! There is so much more to Little Rock and the area is really beautiful. Next time!