Comparison of Nixon and Reagan presidential libraries

Nixon Library

Perspectives on the Nixon Library

Having recently visited the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and experienced its many exhibits and interactive displays, the prevailing thought of how the current political dynamics of the Untied States have become far more complex, challenging, and global was clear. While Nixon was one of the first U.S. Presidents to extend diplomatic ties with China and strive to overcome differences between democracy and communism, today the U.S. is more dependent than ever on China as a global manufacturing partner. There was also the heavy emphasis on democracy spreading to East Germany graphically illustrated by the Berlin Wall Freedom Presentation, a powerful symbol of Soviet domination ending in the German republic. The Area 37 exhibit thoroughly explains the role of the U.S. In space exploration. There are also exhibits detailing how difficult the Vietnam War was to manage as President and the resulting anti-war protests as well. One leaves the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum with the perception of this President as being incredibly driven politically and for service to his country yet does not show the downside of such ambition. If there is one aspect of his life missing, it is the Watergate scandal, which is hardly mentioned in the exhibits.

International Relations and Richard Nixon

What is most pronounced in the Library and Museum is the legacy of Nixon's efforts to build stronger diplomatic ties between China and the U.S. The largest sections of the museum are dedicated to this, along with extensive coverage of Henry Kissinger's contributions to these many missions. Extrapolating these early successes to the current dependence the U.S. has on China for manufacturing and increasingly financial support, Nixon's legacy becomes even more foundational to the current economic and political involvement the two nations have with each other. Another aspect of Nixon's passion for creating diplomatic ties with China is the cross-cultural learning that happened in foreign policy. Reading the analyses of Henry Kissinger to President Nixon shows that American policy became much more oriented towards a developmental vs. dominating approaches to foreign policy.

Space Exploration and Science Programs

President Nixon was a strong supporter of NASA, including investing heavily in the Saturn V rocket platforms, investments in Apollo missions and the development of the first space station called Skylab. This strong commitment to technology is shown in the permanent exhibit, AREA 37: Richard Nixon and the History of America in Space. President Nixon also was personally fascinating with this area of policy has hand-written notes to astronauts are enclosed in plastic for reading and review. What's fascinating about this exhibit is the budget for the space programs including NASA is also posted. By today's figures, it looks quite small, and it's deliberately posted to show how small the investment is for how much value is generated as a result. This is one of the most patriotic exhibits there are in the entire library and museum.

Domestic Affairs

Richard Nixon's involved in Watergate is lightly touched on; there is not that much investigative analysis of the events as there is an exhibit which was closed. Domestic policy including the Vietnam War and the plight of prisoners of war is shown graphically. The anti-war protests are also given equal presentation. The curators of the library and museum attempt to show how complex and difficult it was for President Nixon and his advisors to pull out of the Vietnam War while at the same time assuring stability in the region. One gets the sense of how full of paradoxes the entire Vietnam War and its surrounding issues had become. Reflecting on current domestic policy relating to the economic crisis and the drastic reductions of the stock market, the Vietnam War pales in comparison to managing Iraq and the troubled American economy. After viewing these domestic policy exhibits it's striking how much more complex, difficult and more integrated the global economies have become.