A Day Out With President Clinton...(in his library)

Presidential Libraries have been in place since the reign of Herbert Hoover, (reign is probably not the right word, but I’m British, so go with me) who was the 31^st Pres. of the United States.   Since the US is now on their 44^th, and have started to work backwards to pick up the men who came before Hoover, there are now quite a few dotted across the States.

The obligatory exterior shot...

The memorial centres and libraries are located in the home city of the specific President that bears their name, so it made sense, when road tripping through Arkansas, that I pop in and visit Bill Clinton.   So to speak.   

It’s a fantastic idea to have a public building, with many other uses, that can celebrate the life and work of each President (regardless of whether you voted for them or not).    It’s not something that’s done in the UK and I’m not sure how well it would go down, to be quite honest.  I can almost visualise what the graffiti would say on any Prime Minister’s library that was based in Scotland.    Most people would require some sort of translation, which might not be a bad thing…

Anyway, the William J. Clinton Memorial Library and Museum (to give it its full title) is located in Little Rock, Arkansas and is open seven days a week.  It’s only $7 for an adult ticket and is well worth the money for the sheer quality of the building and the vast amount of information on offer. 

I could totally blog from here

The perfect spot for ordering people around and keeping control of your minions. 

Within the building is the Library, a replica of the Oval Office, one of Clinton’s official limousines, and literally tons of information about his Presidential timeline and the things that he achieved in office.   It’s a really fascinating place and you could literally spend hours reading through the information and recalling the highlights of his years of service.    They don’t say much about The Scandal, but the existence of the Library and Museum is more to focus on his work, rather than his personal life, so I guess that’s fair enough.    And after all,  we all know, he did not have sexual relations with that woman.

It probably doesn’t sound that interesting (and I’m not making it sound any better, am I?) but it really does give a detailed insight into everything Clinton’s administration worked towards in their time at The White House.      

The Center is open all year round, except the usual holidays at Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Yeah, what he said.

Have you visited any Presidential Libraries?  What was your favourite?