Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum

This is the Library and Museum of President Ronald Reagan, one of our greatest and most consequential presidents. He served as president from 1981-1989.

Coincidentally we visited Reagan’s museum on his 112th birthday!

Closeup of the sculpture.

Presidential seal.

President Reagan was an eternal optimist – he believed in the goodness and potential of the American people.

Cool hologram movie of President Reagan.

Reagan was born in Tampico IL, and grew up in Dixon IL. We visited both places back in 2019.

Reagan was a lifeguard in Dixon and is credited with saving 77 lives in the Rock River.

Reagan served in the Army in World War II. Hos poor eyesight kept him out of combat, so he made training films and documentaries for the military,

Reagan got into broadcasting early as a football announcer.

In Hollywood, Reagan was busy in films. One of his most famous roles was as Notre Dame football player George Gipp. As he was dying in bed, he asked his coach to tell his teammates to just go out there, and “win one for the Gipper”. The Gipper nickname stuck to Reagan for the rest of his life.

Reagan was vary active in Hollywood.

Reagan hosted the General Electric Theater television program.

Reagan ran for Governor of California in 1966, and won in a landslide.

Reagan’s political and social positions were very well known. He was a prolific writer.

Reagan ran for the Republican presidential nomination against President Gerald Ford in 1976. The contest was very close, and there was even some talk of Ford and Reagan to run for “co-president”, but Reagan rejected that idea, and acquiesced for Ford, to eliminate the possibility of a convention floor fight.

As President Jimmy Carter flailed about from 1977 to 1980, failing in just about every area of leadership, Reagan geared up for a run against Carter in 1980. “Nation in Crisis” is not hyperbole. The USA was a mess under Carter. Muslims stormed the US embassy in Tehran Iran and kidnapped 52 American diplomats and held them for the remainder of Carter’s term.

Carter’s economy created miserable conditions in the US. Unemployment was nearly 8%, Inflation was nearly 12% , and Interest rates were over 11%.

Dependence on Middle Eastern oil, with the Muslim terrorism in Iran and around the world, we suffered an oil shortage, which led to long lines at the gas station, and even rationing of gas. If you license plate ended with an even number, you could only buy gas on even numbered days, etc. It was miserable. Carter’s time in office has been described (accurately in my opinion) as “malaise”.

Bad economic news seemed to hit every day.

Ronald Reagan and President Carter has one debate. In the debate, Reagan was calm and his answers were confident and sensible. Carter constantly mischaracterized Reagan’s positions, leading Reagan to his famous retorts “There you go again!”

This question reduced the election to the core issue for Americans.

One week before the election, the polls showed the race was too close to call. In reality, Reagan won a massive landslide against a sitting president – 44 states to 6!

The election was decided on Election Day. Novel concept, no?

President Reagan’s mother’s Bible, which he used for his inaugurations.

President and Nancy Reagan’s inauguration clothes.

On Monday March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot as he was leaving the Washington Hilton Hotel after giving a speech. I remember this as I was working at a store in Farmville when it happened and we turned on the TV to watch it unfold.

The would-be assassin’s bullet hole in President Reagan’s jacket. Reagan survived as the whole country actually came together to support his recovery. Reagan’s humor was disarming, and when the surgeon came into the operating room to remove the bullet and repair the damage, the president told him “I hope you are a Republican”, to which the surgeon replied “today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans!”

Christmas at the Reagan White House.

First Lady Nancy Reagan.

The Reagan’s White House china.

President Reagan’s Oval Office replica.

Plaque that President Reagan kept on his desk.

In his first 70 days, President Reagan announced his economic recovery plan: increased defense spending within steep cuts in overall federal government spending, historic tax cuts, smaller government and protection for “safety net” programs. He appealed directly to the American people to gain support for his programs, asking them to contact their Congressmen to voice support. President Reagan also ended federal wage and price control programs, as well as price controls on crude oil and other petroleum products. President Reagan warned that it would take time for favorable results to be felt, and he was correct.

President Reagan’s economic policy led to drastic reductions in inflation, unemployment, mortgage interest rates and the federal income tax rate.

The Statue of Liberty underwent major restoration 1984-1986. President Reagan presided at Liberty Weekend, re-dedicating the monument.

Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on takeoff in January 1986, killing all of the astronauts on board. It was a great tragedy, and President Reagan offered consolation to the families and the entire nation. I was in Beaumont TX a the time, and we crowded into another office that had TV so we could watch the unfolding news coverage. A very sad day.

President Reagan won in a massive 49 state landslide in 1984.

The US invaded Grenada in October 1983 after the Grenadan president was assassinated, which put American students in danger. After about 4 days of sometimes fierce fighting with the Cubans who were there, the US declared victory.

The world was transformed during the 1980s with the leadership of US President Reagan, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, and Polish labor leader Lech Walesa. They led a global movement in opposition to the Soviet Union.

In the 1980s, the Soviet Union had 3 leaders die in office. This made the way for Mikhail Gorbachev to rise to power, which in turn provided President Reagan with a partner to work toward peace, and ultimately, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989.

In October 1986, there was a bombing at a discotheque in Germany, and blame was assigned to Libyan leader Gaddafi. As a result the US bombed Tripoli a few days later.

At noon on January 20, 1981, as Ronald Reagan was being sworn in as president, Iran released the 52 hostages that had been held captive for 444 days. In 1982, terrorists bombed the US Embassy in Lebanon. In 1983, terrorists bombed the US Marine barracks in Lebanon, killing 241 Marines. In 1985, terrorists hijacked a TWA plane and killed a passenger. Also in 1985, terrorists hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro, and killed a disabled passenger. The Middle East has been a hotbed of Muslim terrorism for decades.

President Reagan’s foreign policy regarding the Soviet Union was “Peace Through Strength”, and it worked, as the Soviet Union fell in 1989.

The truth about Communism and Communists.

Communist Soviet leaders.

Communist leaders, including Mao of Red China, who killed upwards of 40 to 100 million Chinese citizens during Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”.

President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had four summit meetings ostensibly to reduce nuclear arms in the two nations and resolve the Cold War.

The first summit was at Geneva in 1985. By this time both the US and USSR shared the goal of nuclear arms reduction. For years Reagan had referred to the Soviet Union as “The Evil Empire”, which Gorbachev objected to during this meeting. Earlier in his term President Reagan had introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative, known as Star Wars, which designed to use space for delivering defense missiles. This summit ultimately produced no agreement on nuclear weapons. Gorbachev refused to negotiate unless Reagan was willing to discuss dismantling Star Wars, which was a non-starter. The ultimate outcome of Geneva was as a breakthrough in US-Soviet relations due to the personal connection between Reagan and Gorbachev.

This second summit was held in 1986 in Reykjavik Iceland. Reagan and Gorbachev continued to negotiate and debate nuclear arms reduction, but no agreement was reached. It was considered the turning point in the Cold War, as both leaders agreed in the principle of nuclear abolition. President Reagan held firm on not abandoning SDI.

The third summit was in 1987 in Washington DC. Reagan and Gorbachev discussed arms reductions and limitations. Gorbachev finally agreed to disarmament even though Reagan would not abandon SDI. The result was the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty.

President Reagan went to Moscow to meet again with Gorbachev in 1988. Reagan and Gorbachev finalized the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) after the U.S. Senate’s ratification of the treaty in May 1988. Reagan and Gorbachev continued to discuss bilateral issues like Central America, Southern Africa, the Middle East and the pending withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Reagan and Gorbachev continued their discussions on human rights. They signed seven agreements on lesser issues such as student exchanges and fishing rights. A significant result was the updating of Soviet history books, which necessitated cancelling some history classes in Soviet secondary schools.

The museum has a section dedicated to the Cold War. This is a depiction of Checkpoint Charlie, the opening in the Berlin Wall that separated the Soviet East Berlin from West Berlin.

East German General’s uniform, Stasi (Secret Police) briefcase with decoder.

Soviet posters

Section of the Berlin Wall.

Display of all the countries President Reagan visited while in office.

Year by year display of the mileage logged by Reagan’s Air Force One.

Air Force One Boeing 707.

Air Force One cockpit

Communications center on Air Force One

Galley

President Reagan’s desk

Reagan famously loved jelly beans

Cabinet room

Media and guest seating

Entering Air Force One

Rear side door

History of Air Force One aircraft

Marine One helicopter

Marine One cockpit

Inside Marine One

Police vehicle escorts

Presidential Limousine

The view of Simi Valley from the Reagan Library.

Portrait of President Reagan made entirely of 10,000 jelly beans! Dimensions are 4 ft by 4 ft.

First Lady Nancy Reagan sculpture.

“Along the Trail”, President Ronald Reagan on his horse El Alamein.

Auschwitz display. German-made Model 2 freight wagon. During the war, these cars were used to transport Jews to concentration camps all over Europe.

President Ronald Reagan died June 5, 2004 at age 93. His casket lay in state in the US Capitol rotunda for two days. MJ and I stood in line for six hours before our turn to walk past his casket to pay our respects. The crowd was huge!