Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Guests are confronted with the situation in Vietnam, just as President Nixon was on January 20, 1969. Explore the contentious national conversation surrounding the Vietnam War and President Nixon’s actions and decisions. Artifacts and vivid images highlight the stories of the POWs as well as their celebrated homecomings.

Discover President Nixon’s domestic policy legacy including major reforms across military, environmental, judicial, and civil rights arenas. He ended the draft, created the Environmental Protection Agency, appointed four Supreme Court justices, and signed key legislation like Title IX and the Clean Air and Water Acts. Nixon also advanced school desegregation, signed the National Cancer Act, strengthened voting rights for youth with the 26th Amendment, curbed organized crime, and empowered Native American self-determination.

A Soviet missile replica provides a backdrop for this exhibit that explores the broader global issues of communism and the Cold War and their role in shaping President Nixon’s policy of détente. A large piece from the Berlin Wall highlights this iconic symbol of the split between the Communist and non-Communist worlds.

Step into a space that explores Pat Nixon as an influential First Lady and America’s Ambassador of Goodwill. From her world travels to domestic initiatives, Pat Nixon shaped the ongoing progression of the role of the First Lady as an active, welcoming, and vital presence in the White House and throughout the world.

Stepping through an iconic moon gate portal, relive the historic handshake between Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai during the 1972 trip to the People’s Republic of China. Images, videos, and artifacts explore the relationship between the U.S. and China, Nixon’s China initiative, the diplomacy that culminated in the trip, the events of the Nixons’ time in China, and the legacy of the “week that changed the world.”

A highlight of the First Family’s daily lives. An interactive experience invites guests to explore some of the events and entertaining that occurred in the Nixon White House, as well as information on the Nixon family.

A re-creation of President Nixon’s study at La Casa Pacifica immerses guests in the life of the working Western White House in San Clemente.

Explore images and artifacts highlighting President Nixon’s goals and achievements in the Middle East – most notably in regard to the Yom Kippur War – as well as how his policies in the region remain relevant today.

At this interactive station, guests play the role of an unnamed advisor to President Nixon. By consulting actual advisors and examining a multitude of official memos, reports, and news media, visitors advise President Nixon on a course of action for three important decisions — bombing Cambodia, aiding Israel during the Yom Kippur War and implementing an all-volunteer military.

Nixon’s landslide victory in the 1972 campaign provides a portal into the next gallery. A captured moment in time, scenic balloons hang frozen mid-fall above the path, and directly ahead guests hear words from Nixon’s second inaugural address.

The exhibit explores the personalities, actions and intentions at the heart of the Watergate scandal, chronicles the events beginning in June 1971, with the leak of the Pentagon Papers and ending with President Nixon’s public explanations of Watergate after he left office. The content of the Watergate exhibit that opened at the Nixon Library in 2011 remains.

Looking through the windows offers a serene view of the humble farmhouse where Richard Nixon was born and spent his earliest years. A gallery of displays and photos tells the story of Nixon’s family and childhood, his meeting Pat Nixon and service in World War II.

Leave behind Richard Nixon’s early years and step into a dynamic series of galleries capturing some of the peak moments of the future president’s ambitious political career, including his time in Congress, the Fund Crisis of 1952, and the Vice Presidency.

Find yourself on a re-creation of the set for the 1960 Nixon/Kennedy debates. An old-fashioned television camera hulks in its place. Following the loss to JFK, many wrote-off Nixon’s future political aspirations. Guests will see how Nixon made his remarkable comeback in the late 60’s.

Step out of the triumph of 1968 and into a replica of President Nixon’s favorite room in the White House. This multimedia experience in the Lincoln Sitting Room delivers the sites and sounds of the important events of the Nixon presidency accompanied by commentary from the President.

In a realistic re-creation of President Nixon’s New Jersey study, begin an exploration of Nixon’s work as an elder statesman and advisory to his successors in his post-presidential years.

From books to film, television, drama, opera, and more, Richard Nixon left a lasting mark on American culture. Explore both Nixon’s own contributions through his 10 books and others’ interpretations of the man and his legacy in popular culture.

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is a nationally recognized research center that allows students and scholars the opportunity to study, debate and analyze President Nixon’s significant legacy and historic presidency.

More information on visiting the Research Room can be found at nixonlibrary.gov.