Good afternoon followers!
I'm taking a short break from the travels I am taking today to update all of you on my recent visit to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. I'm at a local hospital right now using free internet while waiting for the city bus.
The Library is in a bustling and busy suburb of Anaheim called Yorba Linda. It is in a very residential neighborhood right next to a congested boulevard. It is a very extravagant building that has two main wings, one of which contains a mock-up of the East Room, a massive reflecting pool separating them, the actual modest house that Nixon was born and grew up in, as well as the graves of both Nixon and his wife. I was very surprised that they gave me a college student discount, so I only paid six bucks, instead of the usual nine, to go in.
The exhibits in the museum are very interesting and extremely comprehensive with regards to the political and personal life of the thirty-seventh President. Ranging from his time as Vice President under Eisenhower, the failed run for President and California Governor in 1960 and 1962, to the actual tumultuous Presidency from 1968-1973. In addition to the exhibits, on display are the actual limo that he used during the Presidency and the Marine One helicopter forever etched into history as the craft that took the departing President to Andrews Air Force Base. Of course I got some very good pictures of the exhibits and the displays of the two vehicles.
Probably my most favorite exhibit was the statuary hall in the main wing that contained the representations of Nixon and the major foreign dignitaries that he worked with to achieve the peace which he sought. Statues of Brezhnev, Kruschev, Golda Maier, Mao, and Winston Churchill will depicted in life size. It was a very interesting set up and it really gave you the sense of accomplishment that Nixon made in Foreign Policy.
It is important to note the incredibly accurate representation of the massive East Room in one of the wings of the museum. While it was being set up for a special event when I went in, it really gave you sense the enormity of this special room in the White House and how important it has been in our nation's history. From hosting state dinners and weddings, to providing a room where deceased Presidents lay in state, it really has seen a huge and important chunk of American history.
While I found the museum incredibly fascinating, it really did sugar coat the Nixon presidency. I will be the first to argue that Nixon did have some monumental achievements while in the Oval Office that are worthy of the museum, but I would hardly aggrandize him in the fashion which I saw today. Sure, it is HIS library, but Nixon's handling of the Vietnam War was really hyped up as a "inherited war", the display on the Watergate scandal was severely lacking, and there was very little information on his demeanor and character while in the White House, which could very well be classified as paranoid and domineering.
Despite this, I very much enjoyed my visit to the Library and, like the Mission yesterday, it is another defining moment in the Baseball Roadtrip lexicon.
I'll wait here for about an hour before getting on a bus to the Metrolink station to catch a train to San Bernardino. I will update after the game tonight.
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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