Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum: A Visit with the Gipper

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is located in Simi Valley, California, about an hour outside Los Angeles. The library is a repository of the presidential records of the Reagan administration and his papers from his eight years as governor of California. In total, 50 million documents and more than 1.6 million photographs are stored there. That is a lot of documentation, but it’s not why I visited, and I suspect it is not why most people visit. 

The property is also home to Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s grave and a remarkable museum that features an array of exhibits highlighting Reagan’s rise to the leader of the free world.  

My wife and I, eager to explore, arrived about a half hour before the doors opened. The weather was perfect: a sunny 70-degree day in late January, typical of southern California.  To our surprise, the parking lot was already busy with early birds, eager to start their day of exploration. We hopped out of the car and followed signs towards the memorial site.

President Ronald Regan and Nancy Regan’s Graves and Memorial Site

The president’s and first lady’s graves were a short walk from the parking lot.  The two shared so much in life and shared a headstone as their final resting place. President Ronald Reagan passed away on June 5, 2005.  Nancy Reagan was laid to rest next to her husband after her passing on March 6, 2016. The Memorial Site is made of granite and looks towards the Pacific Ocean. It has the inscription of a quote from the president at the dedication of his library in November 1991:

“I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.”  – Ronald Reagan

Each year, on February 6th, the anniversary of President Reagan’s birth, the library hosts a celebration of his life at his Memorial Site.

Exploring the Ronald Regan Presidential Library and Museum

Next, we entered the main entrance of the Library and Museum. After paying an entrance fee, we headed in. To the left were the research and archive areas. To the right, where we were headed, was the museum. We watched a short introduction video and then our first of different exhibits. 

“The story that will be told inside the walls…is the story not only of a Presidency but of a movement – a determined movement dedicated to the greatness of America and faith in its bedrock traditions; in the essential goodness of its people; in the essential soundness of its institutions; and, yes, faith in our very essence as a nation.” -Ronald Reagan, November 21, 1988

The exhibits were set up in chronological order of his life. The first exhibit is titled “Foundations of Leader,” which focuses on his youth in rural Tampico, Illinois, where he was born in 1911. Other artifacts showcase his time at tiny Eureka College, where he played football, was student body president, and developed an interest in acting. Regan had this to say when he delivered the commencement address at Eureka College on May 9th, 1982. 

“As the years pass, if you have let yourselves absorb the spirit and tradition of this place, you’ll find the 4 years you’ve spent here living in your memory as a rich and important part of your life. Oh, you’ll have some regrets along with the happy memories. I let football and other extracurricular activities eat into my study time, and my grade average was closer to the C level required for eligibility than it was to straight As. And even now, I wonder what I might have accomplished if I’d studied harder.”

Reagan heads to Hollywood

After graduating college in 1932, Reagan worked as a sports broadcaster in Davenport, Iowa. A few years later, while traveling with the Chicago Cubs in California, he landed a contract with Warner Bros., and so began the makings of a movie star.

The exhibits focus on his Hollywood career. His first movie was “Love is on the Air” in 1937. He would make dozens of movies before his break role in the 1940 classic film “Knute Rockne, All American,” where he played the ill-fated Notre Dame football player George Gipp. In the most famous scene of the movie, a dying and bed-ridden Gipp, played by Reagan, asks his teammates to “Win one for the Gipper.”  The role not only made a young Ronald Reagan a star but also gave him the nickname “The Gipper” which would stick with him forever.  Other displays discuss his time in the military and his role as Screen Actors Guild president, which would be his first taste of politics.

The Reagans: A Love Story

We now came to one of our favorite parts. “Hey, come here and check this out; you will like this!” My wife said to me excitedly. This panel is all about their love story.”  She was right. It was incredible. There were love letters you could read that showed how much the two simply hated being apart.  In a letter to Nancy on their thirty-first wedding anniversary, he wrote, “I more than love you, I’m not whole without you. You are life itself to me. When you are gone I’m waiting for you to return so I can start living again.” Reagan wrote hundreds of letters to his wife, who often left hidden love notes for her husband to discover while they were apart. 

“…everything I did. I did for Ronnie. I did for love.” – Nancy Reagan

 A close friend of Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, once said their love  was “probably the greatest love affair in the history of the American Presidency.”  Many of those letters would later be published in a book.  Nancy wrote, “If either of us ever left the room, we both felt lonely. People don’t always believe this, but it’s true. Filling the loneliness, completing each other – that’s what it still meant to us to be husband and wife.”

“My life really began when I married my husband”  – Nancy Reagan

Reagan’s rise to Governor of California and the Presidency 

The Hollywood power couple’s life would take a turn when Ronald Reagan was elected Governor of California.  The next few rooms focused on Reagan’s rise to governor of California and eventual rise to the presidency. There are panels dedicated to the races in the White House. Words like “Hope” and “Make America Great Again” were used during the Reagan campaigns. Presidents Obama and Trump later used these slogans. 

Another room details the assassination attempt on March 30, 1981.  That was when the President was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr.  There is also a full-scale replica of the Oval Office and numerous exhibits on the major challenges Reagan faced during his time in the White House.  Reagan famously confronted many challenges with the mindset of “peace through strength.”  There is a room dedicated to that doctrine.

Air Force One and Marine One

Another highlight of the visit was an actual Air Force One and Marine One used by Presidents of the United States. You had to get a free ticket to walk through the enormous plane and the helicopter.  Air Force One was cool.  You got to see where the President and his staff would sit, the kitchen and dining area, and where the White House Press Corps sat.

We also got the chance to walk through a version of Marine One.  It was surprisingly cramped but still very interesting. I’d never been inside of a helicopter before! We checked out Reagan’s presidential motorcade before returning to the museum to finish the exhibits.

Other Exhibits in the Ronald Regan Presidential Library and Museum 

There was so much to see in the museum that taking everything in on one visit was difficult. There is a room dedicated to First Lady Nancy Reagan, a room dedicated to the Berlin Wall, and a room dedicated to the Reagan Ranch and Camp David. 

“Trust. But verify.” – Ronald Reagan.

 I was particularly struck by the mourning Ronald Reagan exhibit. The flag-draped over Ronald Reagan’s casket was displayed, amongst many other things. One photograph of Nancy was striking. You could see the grief on her face as she laid her husband to rest.  

The “Mourning Ronald Reagan” exhibit was the last one before exiting the building through the museum gift shop. Of course, we had to pick up a few souvenirs: the customary refrigerator magnet of The Gipper for the wife and me and a Reagan Bush 84 ball cap for my father-in-law, who each election cycle still wishes it was Reagan Bush running. 

Stepping outside on our way back to our car, we passed an original section of the Berlin Wall. This put into perspective the famed Reagan quote, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” 

Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Library and Museum certainly does the “Great Communicator” justice by clearly and thoroughly guiding visitors through the stages of his and Nancy’s storied life.