Richard M Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

A couple of weeks ago I took my children to California and we visited a Presidential museum/birthplace of Richard M Nixon. Nixon was a polarizing person, but this museum helps present the man who became President and seeing his humble beginnings helps put things in perspective for adults while providing a glimpse of the life of a former President to children unaware of Watergate.

Nixon's childhood home

Marine One (the President's Helicopter) 

To see the home he was born in was a fascinating look into how someone born into such humble circumstance was able to rise up to become the most powerful leader in the free world during the late 1960's and early 1970's. The tour takes you through his home and culminates in a replica of the Oval Office. This illustrates to children that anyone, no matter what the circumstances they were born into can work hard and achieve anything they want to in order to make a difference in the world. The tour includes many Nixon memorabilia from his youth, service in WWII, time as a US Congressman, his time as Vice President to Dwight D Eisenhower, onto his Presidency and his subsequent resignation and retirement. Presidents Ford, Reagan, G H W Bush, and Clinton each in their time were known to call Nixon and ask for advise on foreign affairs and the museum also highlights Nixon's "Ping-ping Diplomacy" where he was able to open up relations between China and the United States (and subsequently the rest of the Western world).

After Nixon's death President Bill Clinton eulogized Nixon by stating, "Today is a day for his family, his friends and his nation to remember President Nixon’s life in totality. To them, let us say, may the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close. May we heed his call to maintain the will and the wisdom to build on America’s greatest gift — its freedom; to lead a world full of difficulty to the just and lasting peace he dreamed of."

The tour can take anywhere from a half-hour to several hours (depending on what you want to see).  President Nixon's helicopter (Marine One) has been placed here and you are able to walk through it as well as see the Presidential limousines used by Nixon and Ford. My children learned quite a bit on this trip, as did I, about the 37th President of the United States. No matter what your political leanings, this is a fascinating tour.