Presidental Library
Simi Valley, an arid land north of Los Angeles with hundreds of thousands of look-alike houses and rows and rows of fast food, second hand shops and large box stores, is home to the spectacular Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. The surrounding towns of Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks teem with Americans originally from all points of the globe. We are all from somewhere else and the issues surrounding immigration today plagued the Reagan White House during his eight year term beginning in 1981. Ronald Reagan once famously quipped that “Latinos are Republicans. They just don’t know it yet.” In 1986 he signed legislation to legalize three million undocumented aliens.
History does have a way of repeating itself.
Al Fresco dining
The impeccably manicured drive, lined with banners of each President and the dates of Presidential service, rises from the floor of the parched valley to a rich 360 degree view on a broad mountain top. The ample parking lot is flanked with lush green picnic areas for visitors and abundant roses in mixed hues.
A wide pathway leads to the courtyard and main entrance of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. The massive fountain creates the illusion of a cool Spanish Hacienda afternoon and a relaxing repast with the welcoming land owners. I almost expected the President and First Lady of the 80’s to open the massive doors and invite me in for a cool drink.
Docents with impeccable visage and historical facts at request, greet visitors at check in. Entrance fees do not include the iPod tour yet are well worth the extra $7.00 to help navigate the tremendous amount of history in the 24 galleries with state of the art technology and countless artifacts.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt raised private funds and built the first presidential library housing archives and preserving the written word in letters, audio recordings and photographs for generations to study. The insight provided by these priceless historic remembrances give visitors a gift to the past and with a bit of fortuitous luck, a hint of the future. There are currently thirteen Presidential libraries with the majority lying in middle America. There are two on the East Coast and two on the West Coast.
The Reagan Library opened in 1991 and gives an insight to the young Reagan during the years of radio and television notoriety with terrific black and white photos of the charismatic “Dutch” Reagan at the microphone announcing the sports. With over 50 films and the adoration of his second wife, Nancy Davis, he began his assent to the Oval Office with two terms as California governor. As President, Reagan wrote in his diary every day of his two consecutive terms. As the oldest President, his gifted insights and personal handwriting are a study in 
itself.
Poignant and heart wrenching video recalls the assignation attempt in the early Presidential years of Reagan and defying the odds by healing quickly, gave America its most beloved conservative Republican President and Great Communicator. It helped solidify his memory to many as the most influential President in the 20th Century.
Highlighted is the speech imploring Mr. Gorbachov to “bring down that wall” ultimately helped to bring an end to the Cold War. There were memories of the invasion of Grenada and close bonds forged with the UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
The Library houses Air Force One, Tail Number 27000, with a lineage worthy of its own story. Nixon, the first president to use this aircraft, joined future President’s Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush and W. Bush and Bill Clinton in the carrier. It was dismantled over a nine week period by a Boeing Company crew, transported across four freeways ultimately traveling 104 miles to its final resting place. The glass walls were constructed after the plane was placed in the Library and it looks to be ready for flight of historical proportion at a moment’s notice.
An Irish pub near the base of the aircraft was originally O’Farrell’s pub from Ballyporeen, Ireland visited by President and Mrs. Reagan in 1984. Sandwiches, salads, wine and beer are available to enjoy while appreciating the expanse of the California hills and the enormity of the plane whose duty it was to insure the safe arrival of few for the good of so many.
This liberal Democrat thoroughly enjoyed the conservative Library of Reagan whilst remembering as Governor of California he signed a law to legalize therapeutic abortion, created three million legalized aliens by his swift pen and strongly supported unions, FDR and the social programs of that day. Reagan worked with Democrats and truly believed in the American people. Many conservatives today long for another Reagan era. Reagan’s ability to speak to both sides of the floor is continually admired yet not accomplished.
Reagan reaffirmed with eloquence the continuing validity and vitality of the American Dream. In this more than in any policies or decisions lie his legacy and enduring claim to greatness.
-George H. Nash