I mean, a $163 million trbute to Bill Clinton? Surely this is over the top-the guy was , face it, a pretty insignificant president. So what if he gave good speeches and couldn’t understand the use of “it”! I really got a good laugh about the dedication…Hillary was positively gushing! “It’s really about Bill”-while she has a special alcove for HER achievemnts as First Lady! Does this dump charge admission? I’m also curious…does the “scandal” room include Monica’s stained dress?
It will be a cold day in hell when I go to Little Rock to see this farce. :smack:
So don’t go.
The truth is, Clinton’s presidency was fairly historic, of only for the impeachment.
In any event, all presidents have libraries. They’re more than museums offering hagiographies of their subjects; they’re usually the ultimate repositories for that president’s papers and such, so they’re valuable to scholars.
Robin, who wants to make that pilgrimage soon
And they will be so devastated that barf124c won’t be visiting…
I like the notion of presidential libraries. Even in the most mundane presidency, enough of importance happens that having documentation in one place seems like a good idea. And I thought that these were generally built with private funds. In particular, the Clinton library sounds like fun. They sell condoms with the presidential seal on them and you get to ride the mechanical intern.
It was “is”, not “it”.
And I think the most ‘successful’ a president can be these days is simply to not fuck up god-awfully, which I think most people would agree he avoided in terms of economic, domestic and foreign decisions and actions (if not personal ones).
Yeah, how dare those private donors spend their money on whatever they want!
Oh, get off it. Where’s your outrage about this, a President who has already been all but forgotten by Americans today?
Find me a presidential library that doesn’t have a section dedicated to the First Lady, and you’ll actually have a point. Otherwise, you may want to look into getting your foot surgically removed from your mouth.
If Buchanan has a presidential library, his probably doesn’t.
The Ford library seems to be a comparatively modest affair, as is the George H.W. Bush library. I think it’s noteworthy that both libraries are located at universities and integrated with the other research facilities there.
For better or worse, presidential libraries have become far more complex affairs than a simple repository of records would require.
I have no criticisms about the Clinton Library, except to note that it wouldn’t be my first choice as a tourist destination.
I enjoyed the Nixon Library, and hope to get to the Reagan Library someday.
He didn’t have a First Lady. I didn’t say “a First Lady” I said “the First Lady” - thus Buchanan would be exempt from the exercise.
Well, I hope it has a ramp out front, because stairs is treacherous.
I’ve always found it amusing that someone who was an All-American football player is going to go down in history as someone who couldn’t chew gum and get off a helicopter at the same time.
I’d also like to point out that if Clinton had left out the scandal and the impeachment, **ralph ** would most likely be crowing till Tuesday about it.
$163 million for a library that’s supposed to look like a bridge but actually looks kind of like a trailer house? Interesting.
Well those really are a couple of insignificant presidents, especially Ford.
Two term presidents are always going to merit a bigger library simply because they had twice as many years in office. There’s more to talk about.
And Clinton is a hugely iconic figure, no matter what anyone thinks. He was the most popular president probably since FDR. His approval ratings were consistently higher than Reagan’s, sometimes significantly higher, until the day he left office. He presided over the most successful economy since the Depression, he was extraordinarily effective in his international relations, he brought about some truly substantive legislation, including the Family Leave Act, the creation of Americorps and budgetary disciplines which led to the first surplus that anyone can remember. He also didn’t lie us into any wars.
On the down side, he was hated by the right for reasons I could never really fathom. Clinton was a solid centrist and quite a competent executive. He was not a radical leftist, nor was he professionally corrupt, nor was he inept. He was turned into a cartoon devil by right wing radio and facts were routinely invented out of whole cloth to support that predetermined conclusion.
His one real failing was that he was a womanizer but it never affected his performance in office and he’s hardly the only politician or even POTUS who ever cheated on his wife. (Hell, half the Reublicans who tried to impeach him for a blow job were doing the same damn thing themselves), it led to an impeachment.
Still, it led to an impeachment and that’s historically significant in itself. No doubt history will remember it as a disingenuous, lowball, purely partisan coup attempt which was largely stifled by huge (and unanticipated) public support for BC and a backlash against the Republicans, but it was still significant because it happens so rarely.
I wonder if Shrubya’s library will have The Pet Goat lying around anywhere.
My only complaint is that they made that one section look just a little too much like a house trailer.
Yes. Perhaps between the death penalty exhibit and the shooting range.
My bolding.
The previous presidential impeachment could aptly be described identically.
I wonder if GWB will put his library in Crawford, Texas? What will he list as his accmpmlishments? Will he include his accomplishments as governor of Texas? Will he name it the GWB / Cheney library? How much will he spend on his library and will the OP bitch about that as well?