Presidential Places: The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Last fall when I was at a conference in San Diego, I had planned a day to drive to Yorba Linda to see the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. Unfortunately it was during the government shutdown, so I didn't go. I visited it once before in 2006, but was disappointed that they would not permit picture taking inside. I don't know if that has changed or not, but someday I will go back and visit it again.
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is both the presidential library as well as the final resting place of Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States. It is located in Yorba Linda, California, and is one of 13 administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. It was officially opened in 1990, and it became a federal facility on July 11, 2007. Previously, the library and museum were operated by the Richard Nixon Foundation. The 9-acre campus is located at 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard in Yorba Linda and incorporates the Richard Nixon Birthplace, a National Historic Landmark where Nixon was born in 1913 and spent his childhood.
In September 1974, Richard Nixon made an agreement with the head of the General Services Administration, Arthur F. Sampson, to turn over most materials from his presidency, including tape recordings of conversations he had made in the White House. However, under the agreement, the recordings were to be destroyed after September 1, 1979, if directed by Nixon or upon his death. Congress abrogated the agreement by passing the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, which was signed into law by President Gerald Ford in December 1974. It allowed the National Archives and Records Administration to take ownership of the materials and process them as quickly as possible. Private materials were to be returned to Nixon. As a result of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, President Nixon's White House papers and tapes were held by the National Archives.
Funding to build the Nixon Library came from private sources. The estimated cost to build the institution was $25 million. Ground was broken by Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Nixon's daughter, in December 1988.
The original library and birthplace was officially dedicated on July 19, 1990. Former President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon were present, as were President George H. W. Bush, former President Gerald Ford, former President Ronald Reagan, and first ladies Barbara Bush, Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan. A crowd of 50,000 attended the ceremony. At the dedication, Nixon said, "Nothing we have ever seen matches this moment, to be welcomed home again."
The President's VH-3A "Sea King" helicopter is on permanent display at this facility. Richard Nixon's birthplace as well as the graves of President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon are also located on the library grounds. The museum, contained in a 52,000-square-foot building, offers a narrative of Nixon's life and career. Behind the museum is his birthplace, which was constructed by Nixon's father using a homebuilding kit, and restored to appear as it was in the 1910s. President Nixon and Pat Nixon are buried on the grounds, just a few feet from the birthplace.
The Nixon Library compound also contains the Katharine B. Loker Center and Annenberg Court, a 38,000-square-foot wing built in 2004, which includes a special exhibit room and an exact replica of the East Room of the White House. The Nixon Foundation leases the East Room for events such as weddings and business meetings.
There is an extensive collection of memorabilia, artifacts, formal clothing, and photographs of the Nixons and their children. This collection includes an assortment of bronze figures of world leaders who had important relations with Nixon as president or during his service as vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. The leaders have been accurately recreated in lightweight bronze over a papier-mâché frame. The U.S. government limousine used by President Nixon throughout his presidency, a customized 1969 Lincoln Continental, is also on display in the domestic affairs gallery. A 12 feet piece of the Berlin Wall is exhibited in the expansive foreign affairs gallery, which also includes statues of Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and pages of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty I signed by Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in 1972.
Lieutenant Colonel Gene Boyer, President Nixon's chief helicopter pilot, secured the President's VH-3A "Sea King" helicopter, tail number 150617, to be on permanent display on the library grounds. The helicopter was in the presidential fleet from 1961 to 1976, transporting Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, and many foreign heads of state and government. Boyer flew President Nixon dozens of times to Camp David, over the pyramids in Egypt, and on his final flight from the White House in this aircraft.
In January 2004, the United States Congress passed legislation that provided for the establishment of a federally operated Nixon Presidential Library. The legislation amended the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974. Under this new legislation, over 30,000 presidential gifts as well as millions of presidential records were moved to Yorba Linda.
In March 2005, the Nixon Foundation invited the National Archives to jointly operate the Nixon Library, and the Nixon Library became the twelfth federally funded presidential library. It is operated and staffed by National Archives and Records Administration in conjunction with the Nixon Foundation. In April 2006, Timothy Naftali was appointed director of the Library. On July 11, 2007, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum was officially welcomed into the federal presidential library system. Before the National Archives took over its management, the Nixon Library had been accused by several media outlets of glossing over Nixon's 1974 resignation with "whitewashed" exhibits. In 2007, the National Archives removed the Watergate exhibit that had been in place for 17 years and, after three years of empty exhibit space, announced that the new exhibit was scheduled to open in July 2010. The Nixon Foundation objected to the proposed exhibit because it felt that it was not properly consulted. The exhibit opened on March 31, 2011. In November 2011, the director of the library, Tim Naftali, resigned his position. As of last month, there is still no library director.
The archives, which opened in March 1994, house approximately 46 million pages of official White House records from the Nixon Administration. The Nixon Library now holds all of President Nixon's presidential as well as his pre- and post-presidential papers. As of 2012, all processed Nixon presidential materials are available for research use at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. The National Archives in College Park maintains a small number of reference copies of Nixon White House tapes and White House Communications Agency (WHCA) videotapes. These are duplicates of material available for research in Yorba Linda.
Following is more information on this venue:
Website: http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/
Location: 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda, California
Hours of Operation: Monday - Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Sunday from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NixonPresidentialLibrary
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RichardNixonLibrary
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is both the presidential library as well as the final resting place of Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States. It is located in Yorba Linda, California, and is one of 13 administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. It was officially opened in 1990, and it became a federal facility on July 11, 2007. Previously, the library and museum were operated by the Richard Nixon Foundation. The 9-acre campus is located at 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard in Yorba Linda and incorporates the Richard Nixon Birthplace, a National Historic Landmark where Nixon was born in 1913 and spent his childhood.
In September 1974, Richard Nixon made an agreement with the head of the General Services Administration, Arthur F. Sampson, to turn over most materials from his presidency, including tape recordings of conversations he had made in the White House. However, under the agreement, the recordings were to be destroyed after September 1, 1979, if directed by Nixon or upon his death. Congress abrogated the agreement by passing the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, which was signed into law by President Gerald Ford in December 1974. It allowed the National Archives and Records Administration to take ownership of the materials and process them as quickly as possible. Private materials were to be returned to Nixon. As a result of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, President Nixon's White House papers and tapes were held by the National Archives.
Funding to build the Nixon Library came from private sources. The estimated cost to build the institution was $25 million. Ground was broken by Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Nixon's daughter, in December 1988.
The original library and birthplace was officially dedicated on July 19, 1990. Former President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon were present, as were President George H. W. Bush, former President Gerald Ford, former President Ronald Reagan, and first ladies Barbara Bush, Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan. A crowd of 50,000 attended the ceremony. At the dedication, Nixon said, "Nothing we have ever seen matches this moment, to be welcomed home again."
The President's VH-3A "Sea King" helicopter is on permanent display at this facility. Richard Nixon's birthplace as well as the graves of President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon are also located on the library grounds. The museum, contained in a 52,000-square-foot building, offers a narrative of Nixon's life and career. Behind the museum is his birthplace, which was constructed by Nixon's father using a homebuilding kit, and restored to appear as it was in the 1910s. President Nixon and Pat Nixon are buried on the grounds, just a few feet from the birthplace.
The Nixon Library compound also contains the Katharine B. Loker Center and Annenberg Court, a 38,000-square-foot wing built in 2004, which includes a special exhibit room and an exact replica of the East Room of the White House. The Nixon Foundation leases the East Room for events such as weddings and business meetings.
There is an extensive collection of memorabilia, artifacts, formal clothing, and photographs of the Nixons and their children. This collection includes an assortment of bronze figures of world leaders who had important relations with Nixon as president or during his service as vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. The leaders have been accurately recreated in lightweight bronze over a papier-mâché frame. The U.S. government limousine used by President Nixon throughout his presidency, a customized 1969 Lincoln Continental, is also on display in the domestic affairs gallery. A 12 feet piece of the Berlin Wall is exhibited in the expansive foreign affairs gallery, which also includes statues of Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and pages of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty I signed by Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in 1972.
Lieutenant Colonel Gene Boyer, President Nixon's chief helicopter pilot, secured the President's VH-3A "Sea King" helicopter, tail number 150617, to be on permanent display on the library grounds. The helicopter was in the presidential fleet from 1961 to 1976, transporting Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, and many foreign heads of state and government. Boyer flew President Nixon dozens of times to Camp David, over the pyramids in Egypt, and on his final flight from the White House in this aircraft.
In January 2004, the United States Congress passed legislation that provided for the establishment of a federally operated Nixon Presidential Library. The legislation amended the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974. Under this new legislation, over 30,000 presidential gifts as well as millions of presidential records were moved to Yorba Linda.
In March 2005, the Nixon Foundation invited the National Archives to jointly operate the Nixon Library, and the Nixon Library became the twelfth federally funded presidential library. It is operated and staffed by National Archives and Records Administration in conjunction with the Nixon Foundation. In April 2006, Timothy Naftali was appointed director of the Library. On July 11, 2007, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum was officially welcomed into the federal presidential library system. Before the National Archives took over its management, the Nixon Library had been accused by several media outlets of glossing over Nixon's 1974 resignation with "whitewashed" exhibits. In 2007, the National Archives removed the Watergate exhibit that had been in place for 17 years and, after three years of empty exhibit space, announced that the new exhibit was scheduled to open in July 2010. The Nixon Foundation objected to the proposed exhibit because it felt that it was not properly consulted. The exhibit opened on March 31, 2011. In November 2011, the director of the library, Tim Naftali, resigned his position. As of last month, there is still no library director.
The archives, which opened in March 1994, house approximately 46 million pages of official White House records from the Nixon Administration. The Nixon Library now holds all of President Nixon's presidential as well as his pre- and post-presidential papers. As of 2012, all processed Nixon presidential materials are available for research use at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. The National Archives in College Park maintains a small number of reference copies of Nixon White House tapes and White House Communications Agency (WHCA) videotapes. These are duplicates of material available for research in Yorba Linda.
Following is more information on this venue:
Website: http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/
Location: 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda, California
Hours of Operation: Monday - Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Sunday from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NixonPresidentialLibrary
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RichardNixonLibrary