Ronald Reagan Presidential Library – Facts
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the presidential library and burial site of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States(1981–1989), and his wife Nancy Reagan.
The Reagan Library is the largest of the 13 federally operated presidential libraries. Later Government numbered street address, 40 Presidential Drive, in honor of Reagan’s place as the 40th President.
In 1987, the freestanding site in Simi Valley was chosen for the Reagan Library.
Soon NARA built the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, entirely with private donations, at a cost of $60 million (equivalent to $101 million in 2018).
As a Ronald Reagan Presidential Library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Reagan Library, under the authority of the Presidential Records Act, is the repository of presidential records for Reagan’s administration.
Holdings include 50 million pages of presidential documents, over 1.6 million photographs, a half-million feet of motion picture film and thousands of audio and video tapes.
The library also houses personal papers collections including documents from Reagan’s eight years as Governor of California.
Soon the museum features continually changing temporary exhibits and a permanent exhibit covering President Reagan’s life.
This exhibit begins during Reagan’s childhood in Dixon, Illinois. It follows his life through his film career and military service, marriage to Nancy Davis Reagan, and political career.
A full-scale replica of the Oval Office—a feature of most presidential libraries—is a prominent feature of this museum as well.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library – Attraction and Events
A 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2) exhibit hangar serves as the setting for the permanent display of the Boeing 707 aircraft utilized as Air Force One during Reagan’s administration.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has hosted many events, including the funeral of Ronald Reagan in June 2004. It also hosted the first Republican presidential candidates’ debate of the 2008 primaries.
On May 23, 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer held a brief private talk and a press conference.
Later Reagan died of pneumonia, complicated by Alzheimer’s disease, at his home in the Bel Air district of Los Angeles, California, on the afternoon of June 5, 2004.
On June 7, his family took his body to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Pastor Michael Wenning held a brief funeral.
On March 6, 2016, Reagan’s widow Nancy Reagan died at the age of 94 of congestive heart failure. After the funeral, her family buried her next to her husband at the library on March 11, 2016