Just One For The Gipper

I have now been to one presidential library. For the record, this leaves me with only thirteen more to visit: Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Bush, Clinton, Nixon -two of them. Which one did I go see? I headed out to Simi Valley to see the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
I went there with my recovering Republican friend, and I had to promise that I would not make any public scenes. I found this difficult almost from the very beginning as we sat in the "Launch Theater" and watched a brief documentary on our fortieth president's life, narrated by close presidential friend, Merv Griffin.
The rest of of the exhibits reminded me of the Reagan Legacy. My son was most intrigued by Air Force One - the real thing - a full size 707 hanging up in space for you and I to walk through. It was much smaller than the one Harrison Ford kicked Gary Oldman off when he was president. It captivated my son's aeronautic imagination, and I was struck by the many images of President Reagan walking to his plane, or helicopter, or some other mode of transportation carrying a briefcase or folder or report. It let created the impression, at least, that this man was keeping up with his job. Via a video presentation, he spoke of keeping up with his correspondence while on board. A literate president. What a notion. Try and picture in your mind the last time you saw Pinhead carrying anything but his smirk onto Marine One out on the South Lawn.
When we left, I was struck by the memory of one exhibit in particular. There was a room full of Cold War artifacts and graphics that made me think of he fear that I grew up in - a sign that pointed the way to a fallout shelter. Ronald Reagan may not have single-handedly brought down the Berlin Wall or ended the Cold War, but a lot of things changed on his watch. Some of them were bad, some of them were good, but when my son asked me what a civil defense siren was, I was glad that I was looking at history.