THE CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

 The Clinton Presidential Center is a dramatic building in downtown Little Rock sitting on the suitably named -- President Clinton Street. Particularly noteworthy are the design, the organization of the president’s story, and the way that Bill Clinton permeates every aspect of his presidential museum. As well he should.

 Clinton selected a site near the river market district of Little Rock overlooking the Arkansas River hoping to revitalize this area – now home to a convention center, many little shops and restaurants, as well as the historic, magnificently furnished Capital Hotel. Clinton wanted the architectural design of the center to reflect his 1996 campaign slogan -- “a bridge to the 21st century.” And so, overhanging its foundation with long linear supports, the Center calls to mind elements of a true bridge. Immediately adjacent to the Clinton Library and Museum and visible through its many glass walls is a rusted, wrought iron railroad bridge that crosses the Arkansas River. Dating back to 1898, when this trestle bridge was built, it was a metaphor for an earlier transition – one to the 20th century.

When you enter the Clinton Center, for $3.00 you can carry a recording device that gives more information about 33 numbered stops on the tour route. And who is your guide -- Bill Clinton himself. You feel that he is right there with you, pointing with pride to the challenges he faced and the problems he solved in his administration – welfare to work, NAFTA, Kosovo, and so many more. His tone is very folksy and not pompous. You really remember how likeable he was.

The museum is designed into eight alcoves – with photos, videos, analysis – for each year of Clinton’s presidency, 1992-2000. In the center of each alcove, you walk on a hooked rug with the official seal of the president of the United States. Towers of Clinton’s official papers serve as pillars dividing alcove from alcove. These blue boxes of papers are just a fragment of his total official papers, the ones that already have been released by the National Archives for storage in his presidential library.

A complete replica of the Clinton Oval Office is a treasure. On the walls, Clinton hung portraits of Truman, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. Family snapshots, elegant sofas, favorite statuary and more decorated the Oval Office. A focal point of this room is an accurately carved replica of the president’s Resolute desk, telling a special story about America’s relationship with England. The British Arctic exploration ship, HMS Resolute, was part of an 1852 expedition to locate a lost mariner, Sir John Franklin. The ship was caught in the Arctic ice and abandoned in May 1854. Not long thereafter it was discovered and extricated by an American whaling captain. The salvaged ship was then purchased, outfitted and sent back to England as a gift for Queen Victoria. When the ship was fully retired, Queen Victoria ordered an English craftsman to carve a very ornate partners (opening on both sides) desk from oak timbers from the Resolute. In 1880, she presented it to the American President Rutherford Hayes. While it had often been in use within the White House, Jackie Kennedy relocated the Resolute desk into the Oval Office for her husband, Jack. President Bill Clinton treasured the British gift as his working desk during his two terms in office.

 Leaving the Clinton Presidential Center, one forgets the conflicts in

Clinton Presidential Center

RR Bridge from Clinton Library

1898 Railroad Bridge Across the Arkansas River

Pillar of Presidential Papers

Alcove

Resolute Desk in Oval Office

his administration. Rather, one comes away remembering the feelings of optimism of the 1990’s, Clinton’s warm and direct manner, and the collaborative political skills he used in bringing our nation into the 21st century.