Clinton Library museum exhibits
By far the most popular attraction at the Clinton Presidential Center is the museum exhibits. "The museum was especially important to me," wrote Bill Clinton in his autobiography My Life, "because I wanted to show visitors from across the county and around the world that political ideas, policies, and decisions have real consequences to their lives and therefore that public service and well-informed citizens are as essential to America in the twenty-first century as they were at the time of our founding."
Patrons must pass through an elaborate security procedure when entering the museum at the south end of the main Library building, then pass a large circular reception desk and the bulletproofed presidential limousine en route to an escalator to the main and upper level exhibition spaces. Visitors are reminded to first visit the orientation theater, which includes an endlessly repeating film documenting Clinton's life and work.
Gigantic cherry bookcases housing part of the Clinton papers frame much of the museum space found on the main and upper levels. The bookcases are modeled after those Clinton admired in the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. Oversize interactive displays designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates stand at angles in the center of the exhibit space.
The main level includes a Great Hall for events, a scale Cabinet Room, and sixteen Policy Alcoves. The upper level of the museum hall is given over biography exhibits, Clinton memorabilia - including a large glass Christmas tree created by Dale Chihuly - and a scale reproduction of the Oval Office.
References
- Bill Clinton, My Life (New York: Vintage, 2004), 967.
