Ralph Applebaum Associates

The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum is a public policy center and national archive whose media-rich permanent exhibition uses the latest digital technologies and draws upon an extensive electronic archive, a photo and video library, and eighty million documents. An in-depth program conveys the substantive history of the Clinton administration, communicates the big ideas of the Clinton Presidency, and traces the effects of public policy on people’s lives.

Adhering to the exacting standards of the National Archives and Records Administration, RAA was invited to create a permanent exhibition drawn from 2 million photographs, 80 million pages of documents, 21 million e-mail messages, and 100,000 artifacts.

Presidential correspondence, international agreements, the First Lady’s second inaugural gown, and gifts from heads of state provide a contextual backdrop to sixteen policy-based multimedia alcoves. Full-scale replicas of the Oval Office (furnished exactly as it was during President Clinton’s tenure) and the Cabinet Room contain interactive programs on how decisions were made, crises averted. Exhibits using artifacts and written personal reflections along with interactive features offer a look at the First Family at home: White House holiday celebrations and state events are represented, as are objects sent from admirers around the world.

The Presidential Library and Museum has had a major local economic impact, spurring $3.3 billion in new projects in the surrounding parts of Little Rock. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world to its grounds each year.