Reagan Presidential Library and Museum

We have planned entire vacations around a visit to a presidential library. Whenever we reveal this fact to strangers, they stop making eye contact with us and twitch uncomfortably.  We then overcompensate by waving our arms enthusiastically and talking even louder and faster about the museums attached to the libraries and how fascinating it is that the exhibits are so biased and that they really reflect the character of the president and his presidency and what fun it is to analyze the museum's interpretation of the president's place in history and to pick apart what they included and what they left out.  And, at this point in the conversation, we find ourselves talking to an empty spot on the floor.

Oh well, I am a civics geek and Gary is pretty much interested in everything. This is not always the best formula for making new friends. 

We recently visited the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Like Reagan himself, the library is virtually content free but very well-executed. Situated along the northwestern perimeter of the San Fernando Valley, the museum offers a breathtaking view of the rugged, western countryside. A larger-than-life statue of Reagan greets you at the front door (he is, of course, sporting a cowboy hat), and a section of the Berlin wall graces the back terrace.  And that's pretty much it.

All kidding aside, the museum devotes most of its storyline to Reagan's formative Hollywood years and to the fall of communism, which Reagan apparently brought about single-handedly. The Hollywood section includes a movie theater featuring clips from some of his more memorable films but, alas, no "Bedtime for Bonzo." We did see an image of Jane Wyman flash across the screen, which turned out to be the only reference to her in the entire museum.  Coincidentally, the restaurant booth in which Ron proposed to Nancy is just outside the theater.  So is George Gipp's Notre Dame sweater. As is an image of Reagan ratting out his friends, er, I mean, doing his patriotic duty by naming names in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee when he was president of the Screen Actors' Guild.

His days as a union man came in handy during the 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike when he successfully destroyed the union and fired over 11,000 air traffic controllers.  (Funny, there was no mention of Reagan's support of PATCO's demands for better working conditions during the 1980 campaign and PATCO's subsequent endorsement of his candidacy.) We hadn't realized until visiting the museum that this was a good thing for the country and one of Reagan's crowning achievements. I guess I was too young at the time it happened to comprehend how much safer I was once those disgruntled federal employees were out of the picture.

It is obvious by now to our readers (if, in fact, we have any readers) that neither Gary nor I ever voted for Reagan. One of the joys we get out of visiting presidential libraries is making self-righteous snarky comments (in hushed tones, of course, so as not to offend other visitors) when the subject's executive actions are anathema to our political persuasion.  This really only works in the libraries of contemporary presidents, however.  It took some digging while in the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center to come up with appropriate indignation for the exhibit's scant treatment of his decision to pull federal troops out of the South and end Reconstruction. 

And so, without belaboring the point, let's just say that the Reagan Presidential Library brought us much, much joy.  Regardless of personal politics, the museum's Air Force One Pavillion is truly stunning and - you guessed it - contains the actual Air Force One plane used by Reagan, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Clinton and both Bushes. As it was the Christmas season, Santa Claus himself was piloting the plane that day.  We stopped to have our photo (available for purchase in the gift shop below) taken by a pleasant young woman at the entrance, and then toured the famous vessel while pretending to be Harrison Ford, which the staff politely encouraged us to stop.

After exiting Air Force One, we stopped for a snack at the Ronald Reagan Pub (an actual pub imported from Ireland) and shopped for trinkets in the Air Force One gift shop before continuing on to view a full-scale reproduction of the Oval Office and an exhibit about Nancy. We ended our day at another gift shop and then huddled together to assess this library's attributes in comparison to the other presidential libraries we had toured.  There was no doubt in our minds.  Hands down, the Reagan Presidential Library had the best cafe, which is where we had started the day's adventures.  Mmmmm . . . chicken pot pie!