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| Me at my 13th Presidential Library in Austin |
They are also fascinating curios of their presidencies because they are created by the presidents themselves, or in the cases of the two presidents who died in office (FDR and Kennedy), by their widows. This means that you see biases in a way you wouldn't obviously see in other museums. You can read didactics or explanations about the presidential achievements of an administration, and see a bit of political spin, even decades after the actual event, that make the president look in a better light. A number of these presidents have written memoirs about their time in office, but this serves as an addendum to that, with certain moments of their lives highlighted (and some hidden in the shadows).
I wanted to rank these, and I wanted to do so as objectively as possible. So I used three criteria when deciding the rankings. The first is based on the facilities themselves. Some presidents have recreations of their Oval Office or Cabinet Rooms (including where you can actually sit at them), and one facility had tours you could do of Air Force One. They also chose the grounds (with one showing a version of the Rose Garden), and aesthetically whether or not the building is attractive. I also judge this based on the museum itself. Is it comprehensive about the life of the president (and the First Lady), does it have a flow that makes sense (likely chronological), and do they ignore large swaths of their lives (I want a full picture of them, and not just as president, when I'm done with my tour)? And third, does it present an unbiased and truthful version of the presidency? Everyone has their own objective facts, but bending (or outright lying) about certain aspects of the presidency as opposed to showing a genuine reflection of their time in office is how you get points. I will note that this is not a ranking of my personal tastes of these presidents, as is evidenced by the Top 6 here having a 50/50 split between Democrats and Republicans.
With that, here are the presidential library rankings, and before you ask-while I have every intention of someday going to the Obama & Biden libraries, because it's officially off the bucket list, you are not going to catch me in whatever traveling circus Trump pulls together.
The Good: I will share a soft spot for the Eisenhower Library, because it is so atypical compared to any of the other libraries on this list (save for Hoover). It is in his home town of Abilene, Kansas, a town of only 6000 people, and takes up a full city block. Also, Eisenhower at the time I visited was the only president to have won an Emmy (since then, President Obama has), and you see the small statue here. As a result, you see not only his museum, but also where he grew up and the rather large chapel that he and Mamie are buried within (which is beautiful, like a scaled-down Grant's Tomb). It has a hokiness that's easy to become infatuated with...
The Bad: ...but feels totally at a loss compared to every other library on this list. The museum itself reads, quite frankly, as a "small town" museum rather than a world-class facility about the man who won World War II, which you'd expect if you were only familiar with the Reagan or Bush libraries. This isn't just because he had one of the first libraries-Truman & Kennedy, for example, have much more professional setups. There are sections, particularly the rooms about Mamie Eisenhower's dresses that look a little bit like a County Fair.
Your Bias is Showing: I'll be real, the museum isn't put together enough to have a lot of biases one way or the other.
The Good: Hoover's library is the first presidential library, and it's the one that comes with the least bells-and-whistles. You do, however, get to explore not just the library, but also Hoover's birthplace and gravesite, which is not the case for all of the presidents, and I liked that since it makes your ticket price far more interesting (and also gives you more to do in the city itself).
The Bad: Because it's the first (and it's in rural Iowa), it's not as impressive as some of the later presidential libraries. There are few recreations here (i.e. you aren't going to find an Air Force One or get to sit at the Oval Office), and while the city block that includes shops and Hoover's birthplace are impressive for what they are, this is not a presidential library that you see and suddenly want to go to them all.
Your Bias is Showing: Objectivity is a question mark here. Hoover definitely wanted you to know that he had a pretty robust series of achievements after his time in office. Hoover is actually a fascinating man, even if you discount his politics-he was far more adept at foreign policy, particularly in domestic issues in other countries, than any 20th Century president until at least Richard Nixon (I would imagine that Bill Clinton has a fondness for him, as this is also a passion area for him). But he skates by much of his impact on the economic policies of his administration, taking less responsibility than he should. For a man who spent much of 1936 & 1940 stewing over a way to become the Republican nominee again, one didactic is very openly throwing the words "greatest comeback" in relation to Hoover, something that I think Hoover of the 1930's would've associated with a second term (which he never got).
The Good: There are few First Ladies I like as well as I like Betty Ford, and more than any other library on this list, Ford's has the good sense to give us a lot of information about his wife Betty. I also really liked the cabinet room exhibit here, and the dedication to Ford's life outside of the White House, given he was a football star and had a long career in the US House before he became president. Also, in maybe the weirdest thing I saw in a presidential library, Ford somehow got ahold of Squeaky Fromme's pistol...the weapon that almost killed the president sitting in the same building as his wife's wedding bonnet.
The Bad: Gerald Ford loses a LOT of points for being the only president on this list to have his presidential library and presidential museum in two different cities, which royally pissed me off as what could've been a half-day visit turned into a full day of crisscrossing Michigan from Detroit to Grand Rapids to Ann Arbor and back again (all while I had walking pneumonia). This also meant that it's hard to judge parts of his library, because they're separate from the museum (though I did see both), and don't tell a fully cogent story.
Your Bias is Showing: Ford goes out of his way to make sure you know he (and, allegedly, history) thinks that he did the right thing with pardoning Richard Nixon. He even has a videotape of Sen. Ted Kennedy (hardly a fan of Ford's) celebrating Ford for doing so. But given what is currently happening with former President Donald Trump, it's time to admit that this was, at best, a lapse in long-term planning on Ford's part, and very much something that led to worse behavior in later administrations (cough Iran-Contra, double cough Abu Ghraib).
The Good: Several of the presidents on this list had their childhood homes on the same property as their presidential library. But FDR grew up in Hyde Park, so in addition to a presidential library, you also get a tour of a great American home for the price of admission. Hyde Park is the true reason to go here. A beautiful mansion, and a tour including an overview not just of FDR but of his entire family's history...it's a gorgeous house (I am desperate to have identical kelly green shutters).
The Bad: I'm giving points to the full exhibit here, so Hyde Park keeps this up a few notches more than it deserves, but the library itself is pretty mid. The museum is an after-thought, and you actually have to walk the (lovely) grounds to get to it. Similar to Eisenhower, it gives off the vibes of a small-town museum more than a world-class establishment, which isn't necessarily bad (I can vibe with a small town museum), but it's also hard to compare.
Your Bias is Showing: There's so little said about his presidency that would invite controversy (there's very little opinion and mostly just biography) that I don't have a lot to critique.
The Good: Carter's Library is, quite honestly, underrated in terms of its content. Carter makes a point of including a lot of really great stuff from his time in the White House, including some fascinating curios, such as political buttons not just that said "Carter/Mondale" but also those featuring candidates like Ed Muskie, John Glenn, Frank Church, & Scoop Jackson, acknowledging his VP shortlist in a way few politicians have done before. He has a Grammy AND his Nobel Prize, as well as a baseball signed by five presidents (why, you may ask...political nerds ask why not, and these libraries are for political nerds, let's be real).
The Bad: The flow here isn't nearly as strong as some of the other presidents on this list. Carter, in particular, has maybe the most impressive post-presidency of anyone save maybe for Herbert Hoover, but you don't get enough of that sense while walking the library, and I also wanted more from his time as Governor of Georgia. I also would've liked more about his wife, given how atypical (and opinionated) Rosalynn was at the time. I have not been since the former First Lady passed, so I don't know if there may have been more developments since then. Also, the grounds aren't nearly as good because the library is in Atlanta proper.
Your Bias is Showing: Carter gets points for being real, sharing the disappointment of losing the presidential election in 1980, as well as making a point about some of his failings (in terms of surging gas prices and not shying away from the Iranian Hostage Crisis).
The Good: Okay, so I will totally own that some of these I did 5+ years ago, so grading them will be a little bit of a challenge other than pictures and notes. That being said, I don't believe you get to sit in the Oval Office here (or I had already sat in the Oval Office in the same trip, and it wasn't a necessity for me). I did get a picture in a reconstruction of the Cabinet Room, though, which was pretty cool, and the Clintons have won a number of awards, so you get to see an actual Grammy and a real Congressional Gold Medal in this collection, as well as Clinton's saxophones. Also, it's a really cool building (as you can see from the photo), showing Clinton's appreciate of the arts.
The Bad: This isn't that impressive of a museum on the whole. The way it's structured doesn't flow as well as some of the other later libraries (particularly the Texas libraries), and you find yourself going back and retracing your steps (possibly a byproduct of the unique building design). I will also say that this is far too devoted to the achievements of Bill and not Hillary. I get that this is a presidential library, but First Ladies like Barbara Bush or Betty Ford definitely got more call-outs than Clinton, by-far the most professionally accomplished First Lady in American history, really did. I do wonder if this is partially because Sec. Clinton was saving those exhibits for a museum of her own that was never to be, but it's a clear gap.
Your Bias is Showing: The big question is how they handled the affairs, and, well, they didn't. There is a brief section on the impeachment, and I think Monica Lewinsky is at least mentioned, but Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey...you'll need to find elsewhere.
The Good: First off, decent parking, which is rarer than you'd think for a presidential library in Los Angeles. But the interior is also quite beautiful. As far as I remember, you don't get to sit in the Oval Office, but it is a strong recreation of it (I like Nixon's decorating), and it has an actual rock from the moon, as well as Tricia Nixon's wedding gown. I also saw this at the right time of year for the White House Rose Garden recreation to be in full bloom, which was lovely, and kudos for a short tour of Nixon's birthplace.
The Bad: It's kind of dull. Nixon's such an interesting guy, particularly when he wasn't president, and there's not enough about him. I think that's partially because they don't want to show too much of what Nixon is like himself (he was a complicated man, but that's what makes him interesting), but it also makes the museum a bit of a snooze. Admittedly, I was about to go to Disneyland for the first time since I was a kid when I went here, so part of me was definitely more excited for that, but I feel like I was underwhelmed. And I saw it after the remodel, so you can't claim it's gotten better.
Your Bias is Showing: I'll be real-Nixon gets points here. The library does not shy away from Watergate, though it glosses over some of Nixon's other more nefarious connections (particularly his anti-Communist crusades which were, let's be honest, a crusade against the First Amendment). I felt like Nixon, more than maybe any other president we largely associate with scandals, did a strong job of addressing them.
The Good: Of all of the libraries on this list, the one that clearly cost the most (or at least looks like it cost the most) is the Reagan Library. Thanks to decades of conservative hero-worship, this thing is huge. You will get to see not only a recreation of his Oval Office, but you'll also get to see an actual recreation of both Air Force One and Marine One...and you'll get to go inside both of them. This is the only presidential library to date to do either of those, and it does so with easily the best view of any library, a gorgeous outdoor panorama of Simi Valley. Also, it has to be said-this had some of the best staff I got to walk with. The Marine One & Air Force One guide was incredibly knowledgeable, not just on Reagan, but also in terms of the history of the libraries themselves.
The Bad: I'll get into the actually bad things in a second, but in terms of the structure of the library itself, it's really well done, I have few complaints. What I wanted more of, though, was his history as an actor. I know this is my film buff showing, but given that he is the only movie star (to date) to have served as Commander in Chief, I think it would be fascinating to have done a deeper dive on he (and Nancy's) acting career, rather than just his leadership positions. Also, the family portion is odd. I get that we're not going to get much about his first wife given they were divorced, but if you're playing a drinking game looking for evidence of Maureen Reagan in this library, you're going away stone-cold sober.
Your Bias is Showing: Of all of the presidential libraries, Reagan's is by-far the most biased, and I'm not just saying that because I think he was a terrible president. I took actual photos of didactics in his library, where he stretches credulity on Robert Bork, and outright lies about Iran-Contra. Also, if you see even one mention of the AIDS Crisis, you spotted more than me (and I was looking out for it). There is no acknowledgement of the thousands of young men who died out of Reagan's own prejudice, but who cares when you can get jelly beans in the gift shop?
The Good: Truman is usually the guy I name-check when I'm picking my favorite president, so I was just excited to go here, period. The library is littered with some really fun little touches, including the Chicago Daily Tribune that proclaimed "Dewey Defeats Truman" and the Louis XV heels that Bess Truman wore at her wedding. I also think the best touch here was that you get to see Truman's post-presidency office, which I believe is only true for Truman (there's a part of me that thinks Nixon might've done this but I can't find a photo to confirm-share in the comments if he did too).
The Bad: Truman used the Teddy Roosevelt desk, and I believe is the only president who has a reconstruction of the Oval Office to use said desk, so I am mildly mad that they won't let you get your picture taken with it. It's also a bit small compared to some of the grander libraries to come, though the recent remodel showed a panache that you desperately could've used in, say, the Eisenhower Library.
Your Bias is Showing: I felt pretty good here. I'm not trying to be kinder to the Democrats than the Republicans, but the most controversial aspect of Truman's presidency (the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki) are handled with a pretty even keel, and explain his side without dismissing that there are other opinions on the matter.
The Good: Situated in the middle of Texas A&M country, this is one of my most recent visits, and it gains a lot of points for having a solid temporary exhibit to accompany the museum, with a tribute to Texas A&M football (including a real Heisman Trophy). The museum itself is solid, and lets you sit at the C&O Desk (Bush was the only president to use this desk, so extra points for getting to add an extra desk to your photo collection after getting the Resolute Desk at one of the other libraries). It also is laid out well, and contains a really strong focus not just on Bush's foreign policy agenda (including getting to sit in the Situation Room), but it also highlights his career in politics prior to the White House, which I appreciated given that (save for Richard Nixon) no other president on this list had such an impressive list of political positions before he took to the Oval Office.
The Bad: You would be forgiven for not realizing that there was, in fact, a domestic agenda during the Bush years while walking this museum. Between the Gulf War and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, there is almost nothing about Bush's domestic policy agenda, which was (let's face it) why he lost the White House and what he campaigned on in 1988, so this feels like a huge miss.
Your Bias is Showing: Not nearly as egregious as either his predecessor nor his son, but Bush Sr. definitely had some "hmm" moments in his library. Again, there's virtually no mention of the HIV Crisis (even Bush signing the Ryan White Act is brushed past) and some of his explanations stretch credulity. He glosses over Iran-Contra even more than Reagan did, and he claims that Perot cost him reelection in 1992, which most political analysts would disagree with.
The Good: Part of looking at this non-objectively is that you have to consider the presidents you would have never voted for in a thousand years (the 2004 election was the first presidential election I could vote in, and you can bet I voted for Kerry), and still give credit for putting together a good library. Bush does that. You can get interactive photos not just at the Resolute Desk, but also in the presidential chairs in the Oval Office, and the celebration of the White House itself is arguably better than any other presidential library except Kennedy. The tribute to 9/11 is also well-done and moving, using a pulverized beam from the World Trade Center as its centerpiece.
The Bad: I mean, it's still the Bush presidency. The former president's second term, especially, was a disaster, and it shows in the ways that they try to rush past much of his bungling in the second term. It also isn't as well thought through as some of the other presidents when it comes to chronology, perhaps partially because Bush is still alive, and so the museum doesn't have an "ending."
Your Bias is Showing: Bush, more than any president save for Reagan, is very much covering up aspects of his presidency in his library. If memory serves, PEPFAR has considerably more devoted to it than Hurricane Katrina even though anyone who lived through Bush's second term will know that this was not something the news covered in that same way. Bush is a good example of what you might find in Trump's eventual library-someone who is willing to gloss over parts of his administration in hopes of getting you to remember the good (though Trump's PEPFAR is probably the COVID vaccines he rarely likes to talk about, while Bush has made it a point of his post-presidency to highlight PEPFAR).
The Good: Kennedy gets more bonus points for location than any other president on this list, even more than Reagan or FDR, because of how he (unknowingly) complimented his own library. Not only do you get the JFK Library when you visit, but you also get to visit the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate, a one-of-its-kind tribute to the United States Senate and Kennedy's younger brother. It's cool (you can have your photo taken on a Senate floor recreation-I did, and of course it was with the Democratic side...I sat in Claire McCaskill's desk), and Kennedy, much like LBJ, Nixon, Ford, & Bush Sr, makes his museum feel interactive, oftentimes like you're walking through parts of the White House or into areas of his history. Throw in a lot of fun Jackie fashions and the coconut that led to Kennedy's rescue during World War II, and you've got a mix of the stylish & the idiosyncratic.
The Bad: As is the case for all of the presidential libraries that are in major metropolitan areas, the grounds are not impressive, and honestly might be the worst (give-or-take Nixon) as there's hardly any to speak of (and barely even a parking lot, though I will chalk part of that up to it being under construction at the time). I also would've liked a little bit more about his domestic policy while in the White House. I also think that the giant window aesthetic added nothing.
Your Bias is Showing: It's not like I expect Kennedy's womanizing to show up in a museum that was largely created by his wife, but given that Jackie likely saw this as an ode to her late husband, this is one of the least introspective libraries on this list in terms of any mistakes Kennedy made (in life or in office).
The Good: First off, it's gorgeous. We refer to "libraries" on this list a lot, but I want it to be clear-when you go to these libraries, you are really grading the museums. The libraries are largely just that (collections of papers) that are not part of the regular experience. That said, the gigantic window display in Johnson's atrium (along with portraits of all of the former presidents and First Ladies) is a beautiful, large room, and a great intro to the museum itself. This museum also had a great temporary exhibit (a history of music in the United States), and has maybe the most expansive overview of LBJ's presidency of any museum on this list, including robust conversations about his domestic & international policies (Vietnam is not hidden here), and discussions about his time prior to being president, including a neat comparison with what was happening in the real world while Johnson was alive.
The Bad: I think the way that Lady Bird Johnson's section of the library is completely out-of-the-loop to the remainder of the library feels troubling (and not super cogent). There's a portion that you have to take an elevator to get to that has stuff about his wife and two daughters, but it feels extra to his museum, and is easy to miss if you don't realize.
Your Bias is Showing: Johnson really plays fast-and-loose with the reasons he decided to not run for a third term in 1968, making it sound like it was more a principled decision to fade from the spotlight, and not what it actually was (Johnson couldn't beat Nixon, and honestly would've lost to Robert Kennedy or maybe even Eugene McCarthy had he decided to go for another term). We spend a comprehensive tour looking at the achievements of one of the most ambitious American men of the 20th Century, and we're expected to believe he just "walked away" with one last election on the field "because it was time?" Come on now.
6 comments:
Congrats ! It's really impressie that you did this and I love that you went to such great length to be fair in your article.
Thanks Robin! I definitely wanted to judge this according to the merits of the libraries themselves, rather than just list all of the Democrats first. It's a project I'm excited to have finished-I'll be hitting my 50th state next month, so I'll hopefully do some sort of piece about that as well!
Nice piece, John! Like you, I hope to visit all of the Presidential Libraries and museums. I got one of those nifty passports, and I'm sure that you must be the proud owner of one as well, right? Are you a part of that Facebook group called 'I Purposely Visit All Presidential Graves, Birthplaces, and Libraries?' One of my high school teachers added me to it a few years ago, and I finally got to put it to use last year when I had pictures to post (my brother and I visited Kennedy's, Eisenhower's, and Truman's - plus McKinley's, and the homes of Grant and Garfield in just 2023).
I too was very impressed by the Truman museum, and enjoyed the interactive components. I even got a nice cap from it! The Eisenhower museum was one I liked but did have to rush through it a bit towards the end and had to skip the temporary exhibit (it was about the 19th amendment). Given how we had three more sites to hit in Kansas that day (including the Greyhound Hall of Fame right across the road), keeping it down to just three hours was a bit tough. Kennedy's was one we did not have to rush at all, although I personally wish they covered his time in Congress a little more. To answer something you wrote, the Kennedy museum now has a large parking lot. We went on a Saturday afternoon in September last year and parking was no issue. We didn't get to hit the Ted Kennedy site, though - oh well, next time! We were admittedly a little loose with our change at the gift shops, though...we're weak in those places. We got busts of Kennedy and Eisenhower, plus a wooden bobblehead set of Harry and Bess in their train, among other things.
This is a fantastic read, John. Last year, at this time, I hadn't seen any of the NARA Presidential museums (or, any presidential museum, for that matter). I've now seen three, and have a fourth coming this June. I, too, would like to see them all one day. When I hit Texas (maybe next year), I (and my brother) will surely see both Bushes and LBJ -- that you put them at the top makes me even more excited to one day see them.
I fully agree about Kennedy's museum leaving out his womanizing -- I know it's supposed to be the way the president wanted it, but that's a topic everyone knows of, so it feels like a big thing to leave out. I liked how Ike's had so much of his pre-presidential career (as opposed to JFK), though. Truman's was very enjoyable, and I find it a nice coincidence that you called him your favorite president, as one of my colleagues (also named John) says the same thing. I fully agree with you said about museum vs. library -- I didn't go to JFK's or Truman's libraries at all (and only skimmed the surface at Ike's), as the museums are the main components. Not to mention, all the gift shops were fantastic.
With Ted Kennedy's institute, I felt that a major disadvantage was the operating hours -- specifically, it wasn't open on Saturday (so I couldn't see it). Do you have any feelings as to if an on-site eatery adds points? I recall Kennedy had a café, and I know Clinton has a full-fledged museum. Truman and Eisenhower, though, had nothing, and especially in the latter case, that would have been helpful, given my travel schedule on that day.
In any case, I hope to one day make this achievement, too.
^Clinton has a full-fledged restaurant, not museum (well, I suppose it already has that)
Thank you both! I have weirdly never actually eaten at any of the cafeterias in the libraries (though like you, I do occasionally spend a little bit too much in the gift shops). I generally think if you're traveling to see these libraries, I would recommend eating some local cuisine, which is going to be vastly better than what any of these libraries are (likely) to have. :)
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