The William J. Clinton Library and Museum.

     This view of the unique architecture of the Clinton Library puts steel and glass to the phrase "..a bridge to the future.." , although it is headed for a wide spot in the Arkansas river.  
     Two things should be cared for before we go any further. First as a matter of full disclosure be aware that I did not vote for President Clinton and secondly the blue dress was not displayed in the museum. However, they did sell cigars in the gift shop. That being said we can start our tour.
      First of all the library is within walking distance of downtown Little Rock. 

To the left is a photo i copied from the official website. If you look closely at the extreme left side of the picture you will see the first section of an old bridge which was still there when I visited. Now a walking bridge and no longer used for vehicles, it somehow seems tied to the Library Bridge to the future concept.  This picture is taken from near the downtown area and is looking toward the east. 

  Here is the picture I took from just west of the I-30 overpass. The library is about 400 yards east of the expressway. Again you can see the end of the library on the left as well as the first beams of the old bridge.

 From inside the library you see this view of Little Rock looking down President Clinton Avenue. The picture to the right shows the I-30 bridge over the Arkansas River. Actually this wide spot in the River is shown on maps as David D. Terry Lake.                                                                     
                                              Here is the rest of the down town area as viewed from the Clinton Library. It looks farther than the half mile it takes to be among the shops of the tourist area. There is ample parking as seen to the left. 

 A circular desk area greets visitors after they pass the security checkpoints. It seems like the admission was something like $7 but I do not recall exactly what it was. 

The layout of the Museum differs from many. The Kennedy, Ford, Lincoln and other museums wind you around a chronological maze, with historical documents and artifacts around each turn. This is more open, and linear. The photo on the right shows "bulletin board" type displays that are done thematically. Clinton on the economy, military, foreign affairs, etc. On the right edge of the photo are what looks like book cases. They are binders that have the presidents daily activity for every day of his 8 years in office. You can just pull down one and check out when he had lunch, who was there, what he did at 1 PM and with whom, etc etc. That is the main floor. I am taking the photo from the second floor balcony. 

    Here the balcony is more obvious. The general division of what is displayed seems to be what Clinton did was chronicled on the main floor and dresses, china, gifts and general bric-a bac were on the second floor. 


Below is one of the "subject" displays. If you look carefully you will see it is entitled "prosperity". Each of the spaces between the book cases had a different display on a different subject.

 One section of the Museum has a full size replica of the Oval Office with reproductions of much of the furnishings. The lighting in the Oval Office was different than the rest of the Museum and I did not adjust for it. Sorry about the poor quality of these pictures. If you are at all interested in how the Oval Office was decorated for different presidents see the site this text editor stuck below the pictures.  Below is another view from the balcony/second floor.

http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/oval-office-old.htm

Here is a sample table with the Clinton China. 

About 1/3 of a mile west of the Clinton Library and Museum is a tourist area and this street sign. A common post card in the area shows Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea all standing under this sign. Sorry I just couldn't resist having my wife pose for this picture. 

$25 and they give you styrafoam cups?

She also enjoyed a nice lunch in the Clinton Library and Museum dining room.














Among several interesting pieces of art and fine unusual gifts the Clinton's received is this rather striking glass tree. 

How would you ever dust it?

There was just something about the Clinton Museum and Library that did not settle well with me. I wrote it off to not sharing his political views. I only made it about two-thirds of the way through the first floor before I was overwhelmed with disinterest. The second floor was more interesting. Lots of oddities and collections of every kind of weird gift you can imagine. 
    It would take me a couple years before I visited the Kennedy Library near Boston to discover what had "bothered" me about Clinton's Library. It was the focus. Clinton's library was a saturation of "I did this and I did that".  Kennedy was a story of what had happened while Kennedy was in office. One was man (ego) centered and the other was nation centered. I preferred the latter. 
    Still it should not be missed. Getting to it is as simple as finding Little Rock. These libraries of the presidents will become treasures of information as the years add up. I hope to visit all of them. 
      One last note. NO!  I did not buy a cigar!