The William J. Clinton Presidential Library
We took our time getting up and around as we didn't have to be anywhere today. When I looked outside the sun was shining through the trees with everything dried out from the rain during the night. It looked as if this would be a good day to do some sightseeing in Little Rock.

The view outside our motorhome window

It's a nice day to do some sight-seeing

It was an easy drive to downtown Little Rock where I found my way to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. We arrived on the weekend when part of the AIDS Memorial Quilt was laid out in front of the library. Even though it wasn't the complete quilt, the portion on display covered a very large area. Individual panels of the quilt were on display in such a way that people could walk between the panels making it possible to get a close look at each section.

The presidential library building is an interesting design. One end of the building is cantilevered out over the bank of the Arkansas River. I've heard that the design is supposed to represent an unfinished bridge to the future. The building is two or three blocks from the I-30 bridge that crosses the Arkansas River. Very close to the library building is an old, unused railroad bridge.

An unusual cantilever design for the Clinton Presidential Library

Outside the building are two large water features on either side of the walkway to leads to the entrance of the building. The two features consist of rows of fountains that pour into shallow pools. The bottoms of the pools are black where coins can be seen shining from the below the water. The contrast between the coins and the black bottom emphasizes the presence of the coins.

Presidential limousine

After walking around the grounds and taking a few pictures we entered the building. We had to go through a security check point that is similar to the kind at airports. After our stuff went through an x-ray machine we had to step through a metal detector. We were told that although photography was allowed, flashes were not allowed.

In the hall were several holiday decorations that included Christmas trees, wreaths and globe style ornaments. The very large globes looked like traditional Christmas tree ornaments except they appeared to be 8 to 10 inches in diameter. We were directed to a counter where we could rent an audio device that we could use to listen to a verbal description of what we were viewing as we walked around the library.

Very large decorations were in several places around the library

On the first floor the first artifact I saw on display was a presidential limousine. Next to the limo is an escalator that took us to the second floor. The first thing I noticed was what a great view we had from the library. Looking west, the scene before us had the city skyline in the distance and the AIDS Memorial Quilt laid out below us. Looking to the northwest the I-30 bridge and one end of an old railroad bridge could be seen.

Click on image below to view a larger version View from the Clinton Presidential Library looking down President Clinton Ave

The first display I saw on the second floor was a replica of the cabinet room. The room was set up for people to walk in among the furniture to get a feel for a place where important issues were discussed and decisions made. To me the room felt smaller than what I expected.

Down the hall, a short distance, is a large timeline display made up of eight individual panels — one for each year in office. Each panel has photographs of important events that took place during the year being depicted. At the top of each panel is a presidential quote from a speech made during the year depicted. For example, the quote at the top of the 1993 panel was made during the 1993 inaugural speech; the quote is as follows.
"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

The lower section of each display panel has a shelf that contains twelve binders, one for each month of the year. I picked up the binder for January 1993 and found that it was filled with laminated type written pages — probably actually produced with a computer and printer. Each page had the president's schedule during a day. I was impressed with how much the president has to do and how closely everything was scheduled. To me it was like having to wear a straight-jacket made out of time. All around are shelves full of big blue binders that appear to represent the huge number of documents and paper work generated by a presidential office.

A timeline display surrounded by binders that represent millions of documents

Up on the third floor are displays of White House life and many of the gifts given to the president while in office. On display was a table using White House china with the setting as it would have appeared during a state dinner. Two mannequins were dressed as the president and the first lady would be at a White House event.

Many of the gifts on display were beautiful works of art in their own right. Among the gifts there are several samurai swords, china, paintings, a Dunnesbury comic strip by Gary Trudeau and a collection of saxophones. One item that was especially pretty is a jade sculpture made of several colors of jade. Another very special set of items is made up of Lance Armstrong's bicycle, yellow shirt — autographed by Armstrong — and his helmet all used when he won the Tour de France.

An exceptionally beautiful sculpture made of several colors of carved jade

There is one object that is a glass sculpture that is difficult to describe. At first glance it looks like a swarm of white snakes — even on second glance it still looks like a bunch of white snakes. The overall height of the sculpture is six or seven feet tall.

One display that I enjoyed was a replica of the oval office. This is a one-for-one copy of the office as it appeared in the White House during president Clinton's terms in office. Unlike the cabinet room, this room was roped off so it could be viewed only from a couple of doorways. While viewing the oval office, I listened to President Clinton — on my portable audio device — talk about working in the oval office.

Replica of the oval office in the White House

Moving from one display to the next the great view outside was all around us. I spent a little time walking from window to window to take pictures of the views. After seeing most of the displays and artifacts we headed outdoors.

Kay is taking pictures of the view outside the Clinton Library

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