President Clinton made it clear that he wanted neither a monument nor an anonymous box, but a catalyst to revive downtown Little Rock. The site, Mr. Polshek said, is 'an unbelievable mess,' with decayed buildings and an eroded river edge. Of course, an exact copy of the Oval Office, down to the carpet threads, is a must. It would not be a huge stretch to say that just as dogs take on the facial characteristics of their owners, so, too, have some of the libraries taken on some of the characteristics of the presidents they serve,' Mr. Polshek said last week. The instinct to immortalize is hard-wired into the presidential genetic code.
Most presidents settle for whatever they can get.
Ronald Reagan's library was first supposed to be at Stanford University, but the students and faculty did not want to endorse him. His library sits in Simi Valley, where Hollywood filmed some of its westerns. The Clinton Presidential Center is right off Interstate 30, the most heavily trafficked interstate in the region. He uses its pivotal location, within walking distance of Little Rock's hotels, restaurants, malls and expanded convention center, as a talking point with donors. History cannot be rewritten by wishful thinking,' he once said, but he might have known that each president would give it his best shot.