DAY TWO (20 September 2015):
To get to today’s destination, it was a nice
easy drive north on the 405, west on the 101, and a north turn after Thousand
Oaks brought us close to Simi Valley.
The view going up the mountains was nice, although most things were
brown. Signs were clearly posted for our
target destination, so it wasn’t hard to make our way to the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library.
This looks like a small Spanish-style ranch
nestled in the hills, until you realize how much the complex sprawls out. Upon entrance, once of the docents informed
us of a deal. For about the cost of the
three of us today, we could join the Presidential Library Foundation, which
would grant entry into any of the dozen locations for the next year. Considering what we planned on doing
tomorrow, it made perfect sense to us.
We noted the attendance for the venue was high today, but it wasn’t too
packed, so that made it nice to view the exhibits.
After viewing a short introductory film, the
museum portion winds through various bits about Reagan’s boyhood and love of
football. It also touches upon his
broadcasting career, spokesperson for GE, and then his tenure as an actor. One of the exhibits allows guests sit in
front of a green screen and read the opening narration of an episode of General
Electric Theatre, as others can see you on the monitor in the finished
form. It was fun doing that, but machine
busted after I did mine, and it wasn’t playback any previous sequence.
There’s a bit on his governorship of California , but I found
the next chronological areas of more interest, as it was things I remembered
well. Mum and I took turns standing
behind the podium which was during the inauguration. It was commented that Mum looked like she
could be a candidate. I just earned
chuckles from those around me as said with authority “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down
this wall!”
Say what you will about us being a
television-driven society, it was interesting to be able to see the
assassination attempt footage, as well as the snipets of the various news
reports which came afterwards. This was
back in the days before the 24-hour news channel, when your regularly scheduled
programs would get interrupted by a “special report.” As someone who worked in media for a bit, it
also interesting to see the history of how reporting styles had changed, and
what hadn’t.
After passing a section which had a recreation
of the Oval Office, the next section focusing on the glamor of the
administration, from gifts which were given to the Reagans by foreign leaders…
… like this selection of Nancy ’s dresses…
… and memorabilia from the anti-drug
campaign. I don’t recall this game *at
all* when I was younger. Considering how
much I’d mock things then (and now), it would’ve been a prime target.
From there, you exit the main complex and go
down a long hall to an annex building which houses Air Force One. From looking at the terrain out the window,
you know it was a feat of engineering to get this jet in here, and properly
secured.
The tour takes around the outside to the other
side of the vehicle, and leads to the front entrance. No pictures were allowed to be taken inside
Air Force One. Since the technology is a
few decades out of date, I’m not sure what the rationale behind that was. It was interesting to see how the interior
was divided up into small offices for the President, the Secret Service, and
the press.
Exiting the rear of the plane brings you to an
elevator to which drops you down to the lower level, where you could walk under
Air Force One. There’s also a mural of
various planes which have had the Air Force One designation which stretches
across the far wall.
Parked on this level is the presidential
helicopter, known as Marine One. As an
FYI, any Marine Corps aircraft carrying the President using “Marine One” as
their call sign. The aircraft carrying
the Vice President are known as “Marine Two.”
Nearby is the presidential limo, a 1984 Cadillac which was “state of the
art” (for the time), and sported a vanity license plate. Because of my connection with GM, I had to
give it a thumbs up.
One side of the entire structure here is glass,
so you can see the mountains out the window.
There’s also a patio area where you can walk outside to enjoy the view.
Nearby was a portrait of Reagan made completely
out of different colored jelly beans. If
you’re going to look for a medium to use for this person, choice his favorite
snack. It’s nicely done, and really
captured the likeness. I zoomed in on
the mouth to show the detail, and the skill which it took to do this.
About this time we were looking for lunch. While there was a pseudo-Irish pub in the
area right next to Air Force One, it only served pre-wrapped items. We decided to venture to the other eating
establishment in the museum, which was the Reagan Café. That had a number of made-to-order grill
items available. The café has a large
dining room, but it was closed this day for a seminar, and there was limited
seating outdoors.
Near the area was a piece of the Berlin
Wall. I’m glad to see a piece of this
here, considering how instrumental Reagan’s policies were in thawing the Cold
War to the point where the Wall was able to be torn down.
We resumed the tour of the museum with an area
which showcased the domestic policy Reagan was facing when he took office. I commented to my parents that the concerns
of “rising taxes, falling wages, and lack of affordable houses” are still here,
and even more present, thanks to the current administration.
The next section was one which I rather enjoyed,
as it focused on the Cold War. There was
a section which was made to resemble the Berlin Wall, complete with Soviet
propaganda posters.
While the leaders of the Soviet regime were best
remembered during Reagan’s tenure, there were displays with other foreign
nationals of interest, like the Ayatollah Khomeni and Daniel Ortega, the
invasion of Grenada , and the
airstrikes against Libya .
I really would’ve liked to see the video footage
of some of the speeches related to these events, especially the Libyan
situation. While portions of the song
have been used in “Gods of War” by Def Leppard (from 1987’s “Hysteria” album),
being able to see the speech in its entirety would’ve added some nice context
to it. As it starts with “Today, we did
what we had to do…” demonstrated the tough stance Reagan had on foreign policy.
There was a lot of video footage of Reagan’s
memorial service. One of the things I
found really touching was one of the people clearly visible in the
guests-of-honor was Mikhail Gorbachev.
He and Reagan may’ve been adversaries in the Cold War, but there really
was a great understanding and admiration between the two men. The flag which was draped over Reagan coffin
is displayed here.
Outside the museum, not far from where the
Berlin Wall piece stands is the Reagan memorial site, where he was interred.
One side exhibit in the museum was dealing with
the history of football, due to Reagan’s love of the sport. While there are various jerseys, trophies,
and other memorabilia from current NFL teams…
…there’s also historical items dealing with when
Reagan played, as well as items from the very early days of the sport.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has so
much material, this can easily be an all-day visit. Any opportunity you get to visit a
presidential library (or even see pieces of the Berlin Wall), you should take
advantage of it. It’s an opportunity to
see history. For me, being aware of
these events as they happened made it nice to revisit those memories. Mum had commented this had been her father’s
favorite President, and she knew that he would’ve loved seeing everything here.
More Information on Places Visited or Mentioned:
Simi
Valley (CA): http://www.simivalley.org/
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library :
http://www.reaganfoundation.org/
General Electric Theatre:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Electric_Theater
Air Force One:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/air-force-one
Grenada:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-invades-grenada
Mikhail Gorbachev:
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Gorbachev
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