Where is it?
The Clinton Presidential Library is located at 1200 President Clinton Avenue in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In addition to the library, the site features:
- Clinton Presidential Park – 30-acre city park
- Anne Frank Installation – outdoor exhibit featuring a history of human rights issues
- William E. “Bill” Clark Presidential Park Wetlands – restored wetlands with a boardwalk
- Clinton Presidential Park Bridge – 1899 steel truss bridge spanning the Arkansas River as part of the 14-mile Arkansas River Trail
- Choctaw Station, Sturgis Hall – 1899 restored railroad station that houses the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, and the Clinton Foundation offices
The library’s website can be accessed here.
What is it?
Presidential libraries are part museum and part archives. In 1955, Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act which, through establishment of the libraries, preserves documents and artifacts pertaining to our presidents. The 15 current presidential libraries are overseen by a division of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Hope, Arkansas
Our visit to the Clinton Library actually began 112 miles southwest of Little Rock with a stop at Bill Clinton’s birthplace in the small town of Hope, Arkansas. Hope is not only famous for being President Clinton’s hometown, but it is also the hometown of former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee. Huckabee ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2008 and 2016. Actress Melinda Dillon of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “A Christmas Story” fame is from Hope too. Hope’s next biggest claim to fame is that it is the watermelon capital of Arkansas. We think that’s a pretty decent resume for a town with less than 8,800 residents.
President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site
“In this house I learned to walk and talk. I learned to pray, I learned to read, and I learned to count by number cards my grandparents tacked on the kitchen window.” ~President Clinton, Dedication Speech at the Birthplace House in 1999.
Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe, III, in 1946, just three months after his father’s death in an automobile accident. He and his mother, Virginia, lived in the home with her parents until Bill was four years old. The house, which is available for ranger-guided tours, represents a typical 1940s era home.
In 1950, Virginia married Roger Clinton, Sr. who owned an auto dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The couple eventually divorced but remarried shortly thereafter. Bill had adopted Roger’s last name at a young age, however, when he was fifteen years old, he formally changed his last name to Clinton out of respect for his mother’s second marriage to Roger.
Link to the website: Clinton Birthplace
The Clinton Presidential Library
One of the library’s most popular exhibits is a full-scale replica of President Clinton’s Oval Office. A replica of the historic Resolute Desk, which was given to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880, is the centerpiece of the exhibit. The items on the desk actually sat on President Clinton’s desk in the White House Oval Office.
Another of the library’s permanent exhibits, the Cabinet Room, is a replica of the meeting room where cabinet members as well as presidential advisors make decisions that affect our country.
Features of the library include a timeline covering the highlights of Clinton’s presidency, as well as exhibits and documents regarding domestic and foreign policy, artifacts depicting life in the White House, and thousands of other items. In all, the collection includes over 100,000 objects and artworks. Additionally, the library’s archives include: 78 million pages of official records, 20 million emails, 2 million photographs, and 12,500 videotapes.
Although we enjoyed all of the museum exhibits, our favorite was the extensive collection of gifts that were given to Bill and Hillary Clinton during his presidency. Perhaps the most notable object in the collection, though, is the 10-foot-tall Dale Chihuly blown glass sculpture, titled “Crystal Tree of Light”. Chihuly created the sculpture for the White House Millennium Celebration in 1999.
Clinton Presidential Park
While we enjoyed the Clinton Presidential Library, we absolutely loved the park surrounding it. The grounds, which abut the Arkansas River, feature paths for walking and biking. Some paths, such as the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge, connect to the 14.2-mile Arkansas River Trail as well.
Additionally, the William E. “Bill” Clark Presidential Park Wetlands provides a peaceful place to walk, learn, and reflect. The 13-acre green space preserves a variety of plants and serves as a riparian wildlife habitat.
Thanks so much for joining us at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library! We are closing the post with a view of the Arkansas River.
Trivia: The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System originates at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, Oklahoma and runs 445 miles through Oklahoma and Arkansas to the Mississippi River. While the primary waterway is the Arkansas River, the navigation system also utilizes the Verdigris River in Oklahoma, the White River in Arkansas and the Arkansas Post Canal. The Tulsa Port of Catoosa is the farthest inland port in the United States, but remarkably, it isn’t the only port in Oklahoma. The city of Muskogee also has a port on the Arkansas River.
While you’re here, check out these other exciting road trip destinations:
Strawbery Banke Museum and Portsmouth, New Hampshire
National Route 66 Museum
Annapolis, Maryland and the United States Naval Academy
Travel safely, and we will see you on the road!
Mike and Kellye
As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) We aren’t paid for our recommendations, and we only recommend our own tried and true vendors and venues. Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
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We are talking Monica and the supposed BJ moment 😂😂
As others have said, this is really interesting post. I don’t think we have too many sizeable memorials to former PMs in the UK! The Clinton memorial shows how absorbing such places can be.
Thank you, guys!
The large park and river scream vast spaces. The thought that Clinton never ever knew his father and the distress it must have caused his mother is sad. Pain can be as vast as a river and park.
I found this post interesting learning about Clinton’s birthplace. and the presidential library..
An interesting post Kellye. So nice to see one of these libraries. Despite the different styles and ideologies, every president has a story. Love the Chihuly. We are big fans of this artist and managed to see his art display in SF in 2008. Have a great weekend. Allan
Thank you, Allan. Though we might not agree with a particular president’s policies, we do respect the office.
It would be so cool to stand in that Oval Office! Great views into a presidential library, I’ve never been to any of them.
Thank you, Annie. That was our first one.
This is a great post. The railroad bridge converted to a pedestrian walkway is a terrific idea, and I have always loved Dale Chihuly’s sculptural glasswork. Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. We appreciate the nice comment!
Interesting architecture!
Yes, the locals call it the trailer house, but it is meant to represent a bridge. Thank you for checking out the post!
I see. Thanks. I learned something new.
Fantastic post Kellye! I didn’t even know any of that existed!
Thank you, Diane!
I had no idea there was a presidential library in Arkansas! How interesting that it is part museum, part library, part historic site, and part preserve. Putting this on my Arkansas list.
Thank you, Meg!
Arkansas is a really cool state. We live about 10 miles from the Missouri/Arkansas state line. We mostly hang out in NE Arkansas. Haven’t been to Little Rock. Didn’t know there was a mini Oval Office.
We absolutely loved Little Rock. It’s a nice city.
Very interesting – we visited Jimmy Carter’s equivalent in Atlanta and found it super interesting. We’d love to visit more of them. I’d really enjoy learning more about Clinton’s presidency (it was somewhat overshadowed by the personal stories wasn’t it?). I also can’t get over that Dale Chihuly glass sculpture – what would you even do with it?! 🙂
Thanks, Meg. We would love to visit more of the presidential libraries too. It said that Hillary commissioned two of them for the millenial celebration, but there is only one in the library. Makes me wonder what happened to the second one. Was it left at the White House as it should’ve been, or did it go home to New York with the Clintons?
Does it have an “adults only” wing? You know, to chronicle his most prolific adventures.
No, and there is only one slight mention of “that woman” that we saw in the timeline.
Thank you for this post! We are not all that far from Little Rock, and I need to add this to our list of places to visit. I enjoy learning about our presidents – it is an interesting way to learn history, too. Plus a bike path is there! There is a Dale Chihuly exhibit coming to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. May 2 – October 15. This is a must see for me! This is a great post! Thanks again.
Thank you, Betty. Dale Chihuly is one of my favorite artists. We actually loved visiting Little Rock. It was never on our radar before this trip, but we’re glad we spent some time there. The parkway along the river is amazing!
I know the focus of your visit to the Clinton Library was to learn more about the former president (which looks pretty cool), but did you try some watermelon in Hope? Apparently some of the largest watermelons in the world are grown there.
Unfortunately, we didn’t stop long enough to try the watermelons in Hope. Maybe we can on our next trip through Arkansas. I bet they’re delicious!
How interesting. We have yet to visit one of these libraries.
Fascinating.
I had no idea this place existed! I definitely learned a few things about Bill, especially from his early years. Amazing again that such a site includes his birth house, though I was expecting something grander somehow. Like the others I love the fact that the bridge is now a walkway.
Thanks for checking out the post, Leighton. Clinton’s birthplace is actually about 100 miles from the library, but you know we can’t pass up a national park site so we stopped. There are 15 presidential libraries around the country. Two of them are in Texas – both father and son George Bush – but we haven’t been to those yet. One day soon hopefully.
Oh yes, of course, silly me. I’m sure you’ll get round to the Bush sites one day.
Hopefully soon… We’re not getting any younger – LOL!
I’ve heard of this spot, but I loved reading about it! That is interesting his childhood home was turned into a museum. I think I would also like seeing all the gifts he received and exploring the park best too. I also would like to have some of those watermelons! 🙂
Thanks for reading, Lyssy. Both sites were interesting – you know we can’t pass up a national park. We will be visiting more presidential libraries in the future.
Wow! I had no idea a presidential library would have so many items (I’ve never been to one). Now I’m curious about going to one.
Thanks, Donna. This was our first one, and now we want to visit more of them. I really want to go to Richard Nixon’s and Ronald Reagan’s.
Wow ! I have seen this Presidential Library. Thanks for this idea Kellye. Anita
Thanks, Anita!
It would be so cool to stand in that Oval Office! Great views into a presidential library, I’ve never been to any of them.
Thank you, Max! This was our first presidential library, but we will be visiting more. Can’t wait to go to Ronald Reagan’s and Richard Nixon’s.
I actually stopped in Hope on a road trip years ago. It’s on testing that Huckabee is from the same town. I think he ran for president at one point. It would have been extra special of two presidents hailed from there.
Bill Clinton was president when I was a young girl. It’s fascinating to see pictures of his birth place!