Field Trip Paper

Field
Trip Project: William J. Clinton President Library

A.
Mills Bryant

Harding
University

The destination for the field trip is a very conceivable
and inexpensive trip for the students and school districts involved. The field
trip chosen is the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock,
Arkansas. The pertinent facts of Clinton’s life are important to the prior
knowledge of visiting the destination.

William
J. Clinton, whom the library was named after, was the 42nd President
of the United States. He served in the Presidential office from 1992-1998. He
was named for many accomplishments throughout his presidency, and was
considered a positive president with high approval ratings despite the overall
ending of his career early due to a sex scandal that concerned a White House
intern named Monica Lewinsky.

Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August
19, 1946 in Hope, Arkansas. He was inclined in High School to adopt the name of
his step father, Clinton, after losing his biological father to an automobile
accident. Clinton attended Georgetown University, Oxford, and Yale and completed
his law degree in 1973. He was eventually elected to be the Arkansas Attorney
General. This was after her marriage to Hillary Rodham, who he met while he was
in school at Yale. He was eventually elected to his presidency and then was
able to do meaningful and productive work while in office which included “pursued
a moderate but progressive domestic agenda. During his tenure, the welfare
system was reformed, the sale of handguns was restricted, environmental
regulations were strengthened, and a massive federal budget deficit was turned
into a surplus. On the international scene, the Clinton Administration expanded
international trade, intervened militarily to end “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia,
launched peace and trade initiatives in Africa and the Middle East, and
promoted a framework for peace aimed at ending the strife in Northern Ireland.”
(William J. Clinton Biography)

The catalyst to his impeachment which is still a major
lingering issue for some former Clinton supporters and a large portions of
Americans today, was the sexual scandal that included his relationship with a
young White House intern resulted in the President’s impeachment by the House
of Representatives. A trial in the Senate found the President not guilty of the
charges brought against him. President Clinton apologized for his conduct and
vowed to keep working as hard as he could for the American people. As a result,
Bill Clinton left office with historically high approval ratings for the job he
had done as the 42nd President of the United States.” (William J. Clinton
Biography)

Clinton has dedicated lots of his time post-Presidency to
leading different civic and philanthropic movements and groups. These things
have proven his care and want to provide a better America and an opportunity
for Americans to flourish in society. “The staff and volunteers of the William
J. Clinton Foundation focus on programs of community service, drug acquisition
for HIV/AIDS treatment, and fighting childhood obesity in the United States.
The Clinton Global Initiative garners the expertise of leaders from around the
world in addressing global issues of health care, education, clean energy and
environment, job training, and entrepreneurship in under-developed countries.” (William
J. Clinton Biography)

The specifications for Clinton Library are a very
pertinent part of the field trip in consideration. The specifications are as
follows… It is situated on 17 acres (69,000 m2) of land located next to the
Arkansas River and Interstate 30 and was designed by architectural firm Polshek
Partnership, LLP with exhibition design by Ralph Appelbaum Associates. The main
building cantilevers over the Arkansas River, echoing Clinton's campaign
promise of "building a bridge to the 21st century". With a
68,698-square-foot (6,382.3 m2) floor plan, the library itself is the largest
presidential library in terms of physical area, although the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library has the greatest space overall, due to its addition of the
90,000 square feet (8,400 m2) Air Force One Pavilion in 2005. The archives are
the largest as well, containing 2 million photographs, 80 million pages of
documents, 21 million e-mail messages, and 79,000 artifacts from the Clinton
presidency. The Clinton Library is also the most expensive, with all funding
coming from 112,000 private donations. (Clinton Presidential Center)

When
visiting the museum you are apt to see different displays that are part of a
current display, as well as replicas and memorabilia of the Clinton’s
presidential term. The Clinton Library is a great field trip destination due to
its rich history and context of American government.

References

Clinton Presidential Center. (n.d.). In *Wikipedia*. Retrieved May 18, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton\_Presidential\_Center.

William J. Clinton Biography. (n.d.). In
ClintonLibrary.gov. Retrieved May 18, 2018. https://www.clintonlibrary.gov/clintons/william-j-clinton-biography/