Qualla: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. On November 4, 1991, five presidents stood together on a hillside in Simi Valley. It was the first time in American history that five living presidents had gathered in one place, and they had come to dedicate a library. Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Richard Nixon â€” a span of administrations covering a quarter century of American history â€” stood in the California sun as the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library opened its doors. The building commanded a view that stretched, on clear days, to the Pacific Ocean.

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: Built in the Hills

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0. The library occupies a hilltop in the hills above Simi Valley in Ventura County, at an elevation that places it above most of the marine layer that routinely obscures the Los Angeles basin. Architect Hugh Stubbins designed the building in the Spanish Mission style â€” red tile ro...

Image: Xuthoria | CC BY-SA 4.0

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: Air Force One on the Ground

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David Valdez, Public domain. The library's most spectacular artifact arrived in 2005: SAM 27000, the Boeing VC-137C that served as Air Force One for seven presidencies, from Richard Nixon through Bill Clinton. The aircraft is 152 feet long and required the construction of a dedicated 90,000-square-foot pavil...

Image: David Valdez | Public domain

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: The Wall Comes to California

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0. In addition to Air Force One, the library holds a section of the Berlin Wall â€” one of the physical remnants of the structure whose fall in November 1989 punctuated the end of the Cold War. The presence of this fragment at a Reagan library is not incidental; Reagan's 1987 speech...

Image: Xuthoria | CC BY-SA 4.0

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: A Resting Place on a California Hillside

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Philrock, CC BY-SA 4.0. Ronald Reagan died on June 5, 2004, at his home in Bel Air. His state funeral brought his body to Washington for ceremonies at the Capitol Rotunda and the National Cathedral, after which he was returned to California and buried on the grounds of the library he had dedicated thirt...

Image: Philrock | CC BY-SA 4.0