Home » Museum » Permanent Exhibits

The Cabinet Room

Added to the West Wing of the White House in 1902 by President Theodore Roosevelt, the Cabinet Room was renovated and expanded in 1934 during Franklin Roosevelt’s administration to its present state, which is replicated here at the Clinton Presidential Library. The center of presidential decision making, the Cabinet Room allows for a comfortable meeting place between the president and his cabinet. In October 1962, President Kennedy guided the United States through the Cuban Missile Crisis from within the cabinet room. During the Clinton Administration policy decisions, military plans for Kosovo and Bosnia, and peace agreements for the Middle East as well as Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom were all discussed in the Cabinet Room. The Cabinet Room at the Clinton Presidential Library is a full scale replica, with models of the artwork and furnishings of the room that visitors are encouraged to sit at to view the touch-screen interactive displays about the Executive Office of the President.

Confronting Conflicts, Making Peace

“There is only one crucial division among the peoples of the Earth. It is the line between those who embrace the common humanity we all share and those who reject it.”

– President Clinton, March 25, 1998

Throughout his presidency, President Clinton seized opportunities to assist countries around the world in sorting through conflicts, as well as protecting those faced with oppression. Not limiting the assistance of the United States to any one region of the world, NATO troops from the United States served in Rwanda to help end the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus, as well as in Bosnia and Kosovo to end the genocide perpetrated during the Bosnian War. President Clinton also committed himself to achieving peace in the Middle East. While this was not accomplished during his administration, tremendous strides were made. Additionally, he worked very hard on ending the conflict in Northern Ireland between the Irish Republican Army and the government of the United Kingdom, ultimately finding success in the Good Friday Accords of April 10, 1998, ending the decades long conflict. This area of the permanent exhibit provides an overview of Clinton administration foreign policy in regards to conflicts around the world through photographs, text, and various objects from around the world, including commemorative awards and a letter from Bono of U2.

Restoring the Economy

“I am going to focus like a laser beam on this economy.”

– President-Elect Clinton, November 4, 1998

As Bill Clinton took office following the 1992 election, the United States faced rising interest rates and large government deficits. Proposing a new three part economic system composed of balancing the federal budget for the first time in a generation, making investments in technology, and opening new markets to products from the United States. The country saw its largest peacetime economic expansion in history and was met with record surpluses and higher income for all economic classes. In addition to artifacts and archival holdings, the story of this economic advancement is told with video of the President explaining his plan, and a timeline of the economic growth the country experienced.

Making Communities Safer

“If the American people do not feel safe on their streets, in their schools, in their homes, in their place of work and worship, then it is difficult to say that the American people are free.”

– President Clinton, September 13, 1994

In the face of rising crime rates, including a gun violence rate that reached a twenty year high in 1992, President Clinton made public safety and commonsense gun control and national priority in the early years of his presidency. 1993 saw the passage of the “Brady Law,” named for former Reagan administration press secretary James Brady who was paralyzed during the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981. Putting in place a waiting period, background checks, and prohibiting certain people from purchasing a firearm, it was the first step in the Clinton administration’s public safety work. The omnibus crime bill, sponsored by Joe Biden and passed despite large amounts of opposition from Republicans put in place stronger penalties for some crimes and increased the number of jails and prosecutors in the country while also expanding treatment programs for substance abuse offenders. Also important to this bill was the idea of “community policing,” which called for police to be present and recognizable within higher-crime areas of towns in order to gain the trust and respect of local residents. As a result of this emphasis on public safety, crime rates fell every year that President Clinton was in office, eventually reaching a 27 year low by the end of his administration. This area of the permanent exhibit explores the domestic crime policy of the Clinton administration with photographs, charts, video, and objects from the collection of the Clinton Library.  

Putting People First

“You have to put your people first. You have to educate and invest and provide affordable health care to all … because we don’t have a person to waste.”

– Governor Clinton, June 22, 1992

In keeping with his belief that government could be a force for positive change in people’s lives, President Clinton took action to ensure the health and security of millions of Americans. In 1993, he signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which enabled workers to take time off to care for newborn children and sick family members. His attempt to reform the nation’s health care system, spearheaded by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, was defeated, but it set the stage for step-by-step improvements such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program. In 1996, President Clinton signed a welfare reform law designed to move people from welfare to work, ending welfare as a way of life. Anticipating the retirement of the baby boom generation and the burden that would place on Medicare and Social Security, he enacted strict fiscal policies that extended the life of the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds. This exhibit area includes letters sent by citizens to the President and First Lady during the health care reform debate of 1993 and 1994, and a timeline of actions taken by the Clinton administration to improve the lives of children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly.  

Learning Across a Lifetime

“We must expand the frontiers of learning across a lifetime. All our people, of whatever age, must have the chance to learn new skills.”

– President Clinton, State of the Union Address, February 4, 1997

Believing that America’s prosperity depended on its people having the skills to compete in the emerging information-based economy, President Clinton worked to improve educational opportunities for people at every stage of life. Programs like Healthy Start, Head Start, America Reads, and the 21st Century Community Learning initiative expanded access to pre-natal care, pre-school, tutoring, after school programs, and summer school. President Clinton called for higher standards, hired more teachers, wired schools to the Internet, and supported the creation of charter schools. He increased federal college aid in the form of grants, work-study programs, tax credits, scholarships, and lower student loans. Adults who were already in the workforce gained easier access to training and employment assistance through government education and employment programs. This area of the permanent exhibit provides an overview of Clinton administration education initiatives through text, photographs, and video supplemented by various objects, including children’s drawings and letters to the President and a display of the President’s favorite books.  

Building One America

“The ideals that bind us together are as old as our nation, but so are the forces that pull us apart. Our founders sought to form a more perfect union. The humility and hope of that phrase is the story of America, and it is our mission today.”

– President Clinton, Commencement Address at the UC San Diego, June 14, 1997

President Clinton took office at a time when racial demographics in the United States were changing while social and economic gaps were widening. He saw the country’s diversity as a source of strength and made sure that diversity was reflected in those who staffed his administration. To help alleviate poverty, he raised the minimum wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit. He called for the creation of Empowerment Zones to encourage private investment in economically disadvantaged communities. And he defended affirmative action against those who sought to end it. President Clinton sought to promote dialogue between groups, inviting leaders of all major faiths to the White House, creating a White House office on racial issues, and establishing the first presidential liaison to the gay community. In the wake of a number of high-profile hate crimes in the 1990s, he called for tougher laws against them, and made church arson a federal crime. In 1993, President Clinton created AmeriCorps, a domestic Peace Corps that enabled young people to gain work experience and pay for college through community service. This exhibit alcove supplements its story with speeches and correspondence dealing with these issues, as well as memorabilia from AmeriCorps teams representing different parts of the country.

Science & Technology

“[The Technology Revolution] is a powerful, sweeping transformation … but we can already see its potential: Giving millions of Americans the opportunity to join in the enterprise of building our nation.”

– President Clinton, MIT Commencement, June 5, 1998

As the 21st century approached, the pace of scientific discovery continued to accelerate. Under President Clinton, the federal government supported scientists by providing increased funding for their endeavors, including their work in new frontiers of science such as biomedical research and nanotechnology. In 2000, President Clinton announced the completion of the Human Genome Project, which produced a map of human genetic code. President Clinton recognized that a technology revolution was underway that had the potential to drive economic growth. His administration encouraged the spread of the Internet and worked to create a legal environment that would allow online commerce to flow freely. President Clinton believed that new technology should narrow, not widen social and economic gaps between people. He took action to bridge the digital divide, connecting schools and libraries to the Internet, and providing funding for community technology centers in low income areas. This exhibit alcove includes various documents and objects relating to science and technology during the Clinton years, including the Telecommunications Act of 1996, an e-mail sent to President Clinton by Senator John Glenn from an orbiting spacecraft in 1998, and a display of two personal computers from 1993 and 2000.

The Fight for Power

“If you are to honor the Constitution, you must look at the history of the Constitution and how we got to the impeachment clause. And, if you do that, and you do that honestly, according to the oath you took … you cannot convict him.”

– Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers, Address to the U.S. Senate, January 21, 1999

During the 1990s, a climate of increasingly intense partisanship overtook Washington politics. In 1994, an Independent Counsel was appointed to investigate the Clintons’ involvement with the Whitewater Development Corporation, a failed real estate venture they invested in during the 1970s. Months later, the 1994 elections created a Republican majority in both houses of Congress. The years that followed saw a series of ideological battles between Congressional Republicans and the White House. The fight over the 1996 federal budget led to two government shutdowns. Congress blocked an unprecedented number of Presidential appointees. And the President’s opponents frequently attacked him personally. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr eventually expanded his investigation of Whitewater to include the dismissal of White House Travel Office employees and President Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On December 19, 1998, the House of Representatives passed two articles of impeachment charging the President with perjury and obstruction of justice. The Senate held a trial in early 1999, hearing arguments from Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee on one side and the President’s lawyers on the other. On February 12, the Senate acquitted President Clinton of both charges. On display in this area of the permanent exhibit are documents illustrating the partisan conflict of the 1990s. Visitors can see President Clinton’s veto of the 1995 Republican budget, the Independent Counsel Act of 1994, and excerpts from the handwritten notes for Senator Dale Bumpers’s closing statement during the impeachment trial.

Preparing for New Threats

“So even as we reduce the global stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, we must also reduce the danger that lethal materials could wind up in the wrong hands, while developing effective defenses for our people if that should happen.”

– President Clinton, Address to the 51st General Assembly of the UN, September 24, 1996

When the Cold War ended, the United States faced two new challenges to its national security: the rise of global terrorism and the potential spread of weapons of mass destruction. The United States was the target of a series of attacks by terrorists in the 1990s, from the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 to the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. President Clinton made the fight against terrorism a top priority, increasing funding for counterterrorism and working with other countries to freeze terrorist assets, gather intelligence, and track down fugitives. The Clinton administration thwarted a number of terrorist plots, including planned attacks on New York City tunnels, airlines, and New Year’s Eve millennium celebrations. The administration also sought to get “loose nukes” under control and to prevent the spread of WMDs. In 1995, the United States agreed to an indefinite renewal of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, with President Clinton intervening personally to convince other heads of state to sign on. In 1997, President Clinton convinced the Senate to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international ban on the development and stockpiling of chemical weapons, making it less likely that they would fall into the hands of terrorists. This exhibit alcove includes military gear and models of weapon systems developed as part of the administration’s plan to create a more agile U.S. military to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Expanding Our Shared Prosperity

“We must put a human face on the global economy. An international market that fails to work for ordinary citizens will neither earn, nor deserve, their confidence and support.”

– President Clinton, Remarks at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting, October 6, 1998

President Clinton recognized that globalization, the worldwide integration of finance, trade, communication, and culture, was neither good nor bad but an inevitable fact. The world was becoming more interdependent, and he believed that the United States could not build its own future without helping others to build theirs. Recognizing that an economic crisis anywhere can affect economies everywhere, the administration intervened to prevent financial crises in Mexico, Asia, and elsewhere from spreading around the world. Seeing trade as an engine of prosperity, the Clinton administration opened new markets to American goods by negotiating nearly 300 trade agreements, including the historic North American Free Trade Agreement, and they integrated labor and environmental protections into international trade policy. President Clinton worked to close the divide between the developed and developing world. In 1999, he announced that the U.S. was willing to forgive debt owed by poor countries if those countries spent the savings on health, education, and poverty reduction. Other wealthy nations followed suit. The administration also financed 2 million micro-credit loans to help people in poor countries start businesses. This exhibit alcove includes various documents on the subject of globalization as well as gifts to the President from countries in the developing world.

Little Rock Nine

“Seeing the Little Rock Nine face down the angry mob fascinated me, and inspired an emotional bond that has lasted a lifetime.”

– President Clinton’s foreword to A Mighty Long Way, by Carlotta Walls LaNier, 2009

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court declared that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In 1957, nine African-American teens attempted to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Orval Faubus ordered the National Guard to block their entry. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, and on September 25th, they escorted the Little Rock Nine into the school through the angry mob that had gathered outside. 11-year-old Bill Clinton followed the events from his home in Hot Springs and was inspired by their bravery. In 1999, President Clinton presented the Congressional Gold Medal to each of the Little Rock Nine on behalf of the U.S. Congress in a special ceremony at the White House. The Nine collectively donated one of these medals for exhibit at the Clinton Presidential Library. It is displayed in this area of the permanent exhibit, accompanied by a narrative of the crisis, President Eisenhower’s televised address on Central High, and video of the White House ceremony in which the Nine were awarded the medal.
 

– 

Search Our Site

In this Section

Featured Items