New presidents exhibit opening at History Museum
I was never one of those kids who, when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, offered up the stock answer, “President.” For the life of me, ever since I was old enough to understand that it was a job, I never wanted it and never quite understood why anyone would.
It really is thankless n and tough. Most of the time, the people you serve hate you, and, the rest of the time, they ignore you.
But 43 men have held the job (Cleveland is counted twice, since he served two non-consecutive terms) and hundreds have sought it. Women have tried to run for it several times, and a few black folks have made a run. The late Shirley Chisholm did so. She was both black and a woman. It appears that we will get one or the other or possibly both sometime this century.
To date, though, it’s been 43 white men who have ranged from magnificent to terrible in job performance.
These are the presidents history gave us, and these are the presidents who will be examined in the next major exhibit at your Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden.
From George W. to George W. n the exhibit will, through artifacts and memorabilia, give insight into the office of the President of the United States and the men who held it. More than 350 items will be on display during the exhibit’s run, June 12 through December 8, 2006. Virtually all the items are priceless, and many are whimsically useless, yet they are each important to the understanding of the highest office in the land and the men who held it, however long or briefly.
A 1930s electric clock with a figure of the man who held the office the longest, Franklin Roosevelt, is a highlight. The Roosevelt likeness is piloting the “Ship of State” supposedly through the rough waters of the depression.
A miniature log cabin from the 1840 campaign of the man who held the office the least amount of time, William Henry Harrison, also has a place in the exhibit.
You’ll see the magnificent inkstand used by Abraham Lincoln to write his first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.
A CBS microphone used by FDR to convey one of his famous morale-boosting “fireside chats,” a 1901 plate commemorating the first three assassinated presidents n Lincoln, James Garfield and William McKinley n will be on display.
The fourth slain president, John F. Kennedy, and his family are represented in several media, including a ball gown worn by his first lady Jackie Kennedy and a record album made by Kennedy impressionist Vaughn Meader. (Meader, who died recently, had a wonderful comic career imitating JFK until that fatal day in Dallas.) There is a “closed” sign that was placed in front of the National Museum after the Kennedy assassination in 1964. Seeing it will transport you momentarily back to that November day, when everybody who is old enough to remember knows exactly where he or she was when the news hit.
George Washington’s chair will be on display, along with his compass and other items during The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Behring Center and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service created the exhibit.
The exhibit is much more than a collection of items connected with our nation’s Chief Executive. It is an up-close examination of the documents and artifacts that helped set America on its course and the men who somehow kept it there. It will help us to understand why some presidents were great, others just average, and still others just plain bad!
Video stations will let you see life inside the White House, the roles various presidents have played in positioning the United States in a prominent place in the world, as well as the tragedies of assassinations and a mourning nation.
Any way you slice it, in this age of super patriotism and super skepticism, learning more about presidents and how they come to office, go about their business and make decisions can only be a helpful lesson.
Last Take
Speaking of making decisions, tune your TV to HEC-TV (Charter Cable Channel 26 in St. Louis City and 13 in the county) at 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays for an examination of perhaps the ultimate decision-making president, Harry S. Truman. From deciding the fate of Europe after World War II, to dropping two atomic bombs on Japan to end the war there, Truman faced some of the toughest decisions of the last century. You can experience it with him on A Place in Time n Truman: Year of Decisions.