Clinton presidential library unveiled

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/927945.cms" alt="/photo/927945.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">(L-R) Former US First Lady Sen.Hillary Clinton, her daughter Chelsea, current First Lady Laura Bush, and former First Lady Barbara Bush attend the grand opening ceremony of the William J Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">(AFP Photo)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />WASHINGTON: Nearly 30,000 people, including President George W Bush, were present when former President Bill Clinton formally inaugurated his presidential library at a rain-soaked ceremony in Little Rock in Arkansas.<br /><br />"This library is the symbol of a bridge, a bridge to the 21st century," Clinton said on Thursday at the rare gathering of current and former US leaders, members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, rock musicians, Hollywood stars and other people.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/927947.cms" alt="/photo/927947.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">(L-R) US President George W Bush, and former US Presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush, are announced at the grand opening ceremony of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">(AFP Photo)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />The gathering included all the surviving ex-presidents except Gerald Ford, 91, who was not feeling well enough to attend.<br /><br />"The record is all in there. What we did at home, what we did abroad," Clinton, 58, who is still recovering from open heart surgery two months ago, said.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/927949.cms" alt="/photo/927949.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">(L-R) Former US First Ladies Rosalynn Carter, US Senator Hillary Clinton, current First Lady Laura Bush, and former First Lady Barbara Bush are announced at the grand opening ceremony of the Clinton Presidential center in Little Rock. </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">(AFP Photo)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />"I want young people to see not only what I did with my life, but to see what they could do with their lives," he said, standing on the podium in front of the 165-million dollar, glass-and-steel library housing his presidential archive.<br /><br />"We all do better when we work together," Clinton said appealing for the national unity toward the end of a 20-minute speech after remarks by President Bush and former Presidents George H W Bush and Jimmy Carter during the occasion.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section4"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/927951.cms" alt="/photo/927951.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">(L to R) First Lady Laura Bush, US President George W Bush, Chelsea Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton smile as they listens to former president Bill Clinton (R) during the opening ceremony. </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">(AFP Photo)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />"Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more." Clinton also urged the current president to seize the opportunity to promote Middle East peace, a goal Clinton said he tried hard to achieve during his eight years in office.<br /><br />President Bush hailed Clinton as "an innovator, a serious student of policy and a man of great compassion" who, during his term, became a "tireless champion of peace in the Middle East," halted ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and demonstrated "deep empathy for the poor and the powerless."<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section5"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/927952.cms" alt="/photo/927952.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">US President George W. Bush (C) looks up as he and his wife First Lady Laura Bush (L) and Chelsea Clinton (R) shield themselves from the rain with an umbrella during the inauguration.</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic=""> (AFP Photo)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />The library features a replica of the Oval Office as it appeared when Clinton occupied the White House from 1993 to 2001 -- the only such full-scale replica in a presidential library -- as well as 14 alcoves dealing with different aspects of the Clinton presidency.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section6"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/927954.cms" alt="/photo/927954.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">Barbara Bush (L) wipes water off the shoulder of her husband former US president George Bush (R) during the inauguration function. </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">(AFP Photo)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />One of the alcoves, entitled, "The Fight for Power," has stirred some controversy for its portrayal of Clinton''s 1998 impeachment.<br /><br />The display lumps together the sex and perjury scandal that led to the impeachment -- stemming from Clinton''s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky -- with the Whitewater land deal investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr and other elements of what the exhibit calls "the politics of persecution."<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section7"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/927955.cms" alt="/photo/927955.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">US Senator and former US presidential candidate John Kerry waves to a crowd before the inauguration of the William J Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">(AFP Photo)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />Other items on display range from Clinton''s presidential limousine to the sunglasses and saxophone he used when he performed on the Arsenio Hall television show when he was running for president.<br /><br />Situated on nearly 30 acres on the south bank of the Arkansas River, the 148,000-square-foot library was designed by New York architect James Polshek and includes a number of high-tech features.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section8"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/927957.cms" alt="/photo/927957.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">US former-president Bill Clinton (L) kisses his wife Senator Hillary Clinton(D-NY) during the inauguration ceremony of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">(AFP Photo)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />It also has a penthouse where Clinton reportedly plans to spend time working on his papers away from his home in Chappaqua, New York.</div> </div>