Not Just Another Library

We've been aware of presidential Libraries all our lives but never visited one and never really understood what purpose they served other than as place to harbor presidential memento's. During our visit with Eric in Austin, we choose to visit LBJ's library - one of thirteen national presidential libraries and museums operated by NARA (National Archives and Records Administration), three of which are located in Texas. There are several more private presidential libraries than these thirteen, but the government spends about $100 million operating and maintaining these thirteen (private funds are required for their construction), so we thought we should see what our taxes are supporting. Oh yes, and see what we might learn about the respective president at the same time.

I remember LBJ, but never really drew a strong distinction about his performance as president. The media left me with the impression of a smooth operator who didn't use very good judgement in managing our military engagement with Vietnam, but did progress the country along the path of universal civil rights. The museum, attached to the library of archives, did a great job of sharing some of those archives in a way that gave you a sense of the values and style of the man. I left much more impressed with his accomplishments in light of the challenges he faced, and how events moved him, than when I arrived.

One of the quotes highlighted in a sound recording of an interview with him that struck me was, as best as I can remember, "No president enters this office intending to do the wrong thing. They all want to do the right thing. The challenge is not how to do the right thing, it's deciding what is the right thing to do."

Through the many original letters made available to read, and the many recordings of conversations to which you could listen, you had a sense that this was a man who really wanted to do the right thing, and was tortured by the prospect of doing something that was not in the interest of the country. That's not to say he wasn't gruff, often crude, and sometimes downright abusive, but he was a master of connecting with people and using those connections to get things done. Arm-twisting was a specialty.

Based on that positive and enlightening experience, we subsequently visited the G.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, Texas, and the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kansas, and found a common characteristic between the three presidents. They all knew how to make people feel at the center of their attention, and engage them in a way that they wanted to do something to help them succeed.

Bush Museum Oval Office Replica
Dallas in the Background

The Bush library was not as engaging. Probably because the 43rd presidency is too recent. The displays were certainly more contemporary in design and content, but there was little in the way of archives that gave you a sense of looking at the inside story. Perhaps it's just me, but I feel much more connected when I see or hear personal communications as received by the target. Little of that was evident in this museum. Security, however, was on display. Metal detectors, a TSA-like staff of folks, and interpreters spread throughout, only too glad to explain what you were looking at. Almost too much help.


Eisenhower's low key and remote museum, on the other hand, was like walking back to the 50's. Not just the content, which included a lot of hand-painted pictorials and artifacts from WWII, but also the design and construction. Displays were mounted on simple black pipe brackets with 6" x 6" wooden beam platforms. Simple, direct, and low cost. Not until the end of the tour were you introduced to the Eisenhower presidency. Again, I was struck by how so much could be accomplished by one man over so much adversity and distraction, and from so simple a beginning. His boyhood home still stands in the middle of the museum grounds, exactly where it was built in 1898. We could have spent a full day or more on this tour if we'd had the time, there was that much historical and archival content.

Modest Eisenhower Displays

Among the things I learned was that secretly recorded archives from six American presidents, between 1940 and 1973, totaling just under 5000 hours of meetings and phone conversations, are available to the public. Several highlighted conversations were accessible in the museums. Many more are available online through the Miller Center (http://millercenter.org/presidentialrecordings.) They offer a unique opportunity to understand the nature and leadership styles of these Presidents, and the challenges of their times.

If you happen to be in a town with one of these libraries/museums, I encourage you to take the time to visit.