A cross-country road trip to U.S. presidential libraries

With its mountaintop location and sweeping ocean and valley views, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley is dedicated to the legacy of the 40th president, sworn into office in 1981. Don’t miss the Air Force One Pavilion, which features multiple presidential transportation exhibits—including Reagan’s actual Air Force One airplane.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library is located on the grounds of the boyhood home of the 34th president in Abilene, Kansas. On the library’s 22-acre campus, you’ll find a 25,000-square-foot museum, a Place of Meditation, and the six-room house where Ike and his siblings grew up.

Herbert Hoover was inaugurated as the 31st president of the United States in 1929, just a few months before the stock market crash that marked the beginning of the Great Depression. His presidential library is located on the grounds of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch, Iowa, and features exhibits that tell the story of the life and work of the first president born west of the Mississippi River

In 2004, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum absorbed the Illinois State Historical Library, which features exhibits about Illinois history and preserves important state documents in the 8 miles of below-ground stacks. Highlights include an original copy of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln family letters, and Barry and Louise Taper’s prized collection of Lincolniana and assassination materials. The associated museum and Lincoln’s restored home are also located nearby in Springfield.

You’ll find the Gerald R. Ford Library at his alma mater’s campus, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where the former president was also a visiting professor. The library hosts speakers and events as well as temporary exhibitions throughout the year. The permanent collection features more than 100 rarely-seen artifacts that tell the story of Ford’s life with a focus on his presidency during the Cold War era. Another related stop is the Ford Museum in Grand Rapids about 130 miles west of Ann Arbor.

A short drive from downtown Boston, the JFK Library honors the legacy of the 35th president with interactive exhibits and an artifact collection. Designed by renowned architect I. M. Pei—whose other work includes the Louvre Pyramid and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—the building compliments the waterfront location and guides visitors through Kennedy’s political life in chronological order, ending in a light-filled atrium.

This library and museum sits 130 miles northeast of Clinton's birthplace and houses artifacts and timelines detailing what life was like for the 42nd president. Permanent displays include replicas of both the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room, and the presidential limousine which was custom built by Cadillac in the early '90s.

Housed inside of the Bush Center on the campus of Southern Methodist University, the library and museum houses more than 43,000 artifacts from the 43rd president's two terms. The immense physical and digital archives includes thousands of letters received following 9/11, and students can get the full experience in the original White House Situation Room.