Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library

In late August 2018 we spent a couple of days touring the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, the FDR childhood home, and both Eleanor and Franklin’s personal cottages. All of these structures are located on the grounds of the Roosevelt family estate of Springwood, in Hyde Park, New York.

Our first stop was to the presidential library. This is the first of the thirteen presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration and was built under the President’s personal direction in 1939-1940.  Prior to Roosevelt's Presidency, the final disposition of Presidential papers was left to chance. Although a valued part of the nation's heritage, the papers of chief executives were private property which they took with them upon leaving office. Some were sold or destroyed and thus either scattered or lost to the nation forever. Others remained with families, but inaccessible to scholars for long periods of time. The fortunate collections found their way into the Library of Congress and private repositories. Roosevelt was the first to make his papers available to the public by donating them to the government. In erecting his library, Roosevelt created an institution to preserve intact all his papers.

There are countless volumes written about FDR, Eleanor, the years they were in office, their personal lives, the depression, the war. I personally found Eleanor as interesting and influential, if not more so, at times, than Franklin. Even though both of them came from immense family wealth, the importance and well-being of those less fortunate was always a priority for them. Further exploration for those interested is there at our (internet) fingertips.

For this post, I will just mention these ten major accomplishments, along with pictures we took at the presidential library.

1. FDR served as governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.
2. He is the longest serving president in the history of the United States.
3. He arrested financial panic through the Emergency Banking Act.
4. The FDIC was established through the 1933 Banking Act.
5. Roosevelt set up many important institutions as part of his first New Deal, included the CCC, PWA, TVA and FERA.
6. The US Social Security System was created during his presidency.
7. He established a national minimum wage through the Fair Labor Standards Act.
8. He took the first federal action to prohibit employment discrimination.
9. Along with Churchill and Stalin, FDR led the allied coalition to victory in World War II.
10.  He Played a major role in the creation of the United Nations.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Two for two – our visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential library was another one borne more of obligation than desire (as was our visit to the Richard Nixon Library, see my previous post). Of course nobody made us do this, but since we agreed we would visit all the existing Presidential Libraries during our time on the road, and we were in the neighborhood during our trip to Los Angeles, there didn’t seem to be much of a choice. In fact, it seems our trip to Los Angeles was defined by a dubious trifecta of obligatory events – attending a Dodgers game (not Dan’s favorite team), and visiting the libraries of two presidents neither one of us were overly fond of. However, I have to laugh a little when I look back at these two administrations in light of today’s political climate. Just saying…

Ronald Reagan was an actor, a union leader, the governor of California, and the 40^th president of the United States (1981 – 1989). He introduced the economic program eventually dubbed “Reaganomics”, was instrumental in ending the Cold War with Russia, initiated the infamous war against drugs, and survived an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. He also had his share of scandals, the most notorious among them being the Iran-Contra Affair in which the United States sold weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran as a part of a largely unsuccessful effort to secure the release of six U.S. citizens being held hostage in Lebanon.

Reagan’s Presidential Library is located in scenic hills of Simi Valley, about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It is the final resting place of both of he and Nancy Reagan, and is the largest of the 13 federally operated presidential libraries. In addition to the museum highlighting the accomplishments of his presidency, there is a 90,000 square foot exhibit hangar which houses the permanent display of the Boeing 707 aircraft utilized as Air Force One during Reagan’s administration. No matter how we felt about Reagan’s presidency, this was quite an impressive library and museum, in a beautiful setting. That was worth the price of admission.