Lou Cannon Dies At 92

Above, President Reagan with Lou Cannon and his wife, Mary Cannon, in 1985. 

It has been reported that journalist and Ronald Reagan biographer Lou Cannon has passed away.

He reportedly died yesterday at a hospice facility in Santa Barbara, California due to a stroke. He was 92.

I have an autographed book by Cannon that I bought some years ago at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

Here is the cover:

Here is the autograph: 

Trigger, Bullet and Buttercup Headed To The Reagan Library

Above, Trigger and Bullet at John Wayne: An American Experience in 2021. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since its opening in 2020, the John Wayne: An American Experience museum at the Fort Worth Stockyards has featured in the main lobby Trigger and Bullet, Roy Rogers horse and dog. Later, Dale Evans's horse, Buttercup was added to the display.

They will be having a "going away" party this coming Saturday as they are to be sent to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Above, Ronald and Nancy Reagan with Roy Rogers.

I visited the John Wayne: An American Experience in January 2021. Upon entering, visitors immediately saw the animals on display. 

For details on the going away party, go here.

China Sanctions Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Above, yours truly at the doorway of Air Force One (SAM 27000) at the Reagan Library.

This is downright silly.

China is imposing sanctions on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California for hosting a meeting between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

According to the Daily Mail (U.K.):

China is imposing sanctions against the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and other US and Asian based organizations in retaliation for the this week's closely watched meeting between the US House Speaker and Taiwan's president.

The Reagan library in Simi Valley, California, was the site of the rare high-level, bipartisan meeting Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted this week for talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

The sanctions effectively are a travel ban on the individuals in charge of the library and other groups involved in the meeting. They're also banned from working with Chinese organizations.

To read more, go here. 

Air Force One: 20 Years At The Reagan Library

Above, Air Force One on Father's Day 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is hard to believe that 20 years have passed since the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library took possession of Air Force One 27000.

I have visited Air Force One at the Reagan Library at least four times over the years.

Above, after a job interview in Thousand Oaks, I stopped in at the Reagan Library.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted the following on Facebook:

This September 8th marks the 20th anniversary of the Reagan Foundation taking ownership (via permanent loan) of Air Force One 27000, which now proudly sits on display in the Reagan Library’s Air Force One Pavilion. Join us virtually on September 8th for a panel discussion as we commemorate this historic day. The panel includes Jim Hooley, President Reagan’s Director of Advance, LtCol Steve Chealander, one of President Reagan’s Military Aides, and Jim Robinson, the Air Force One Pilot who flew 27000 on September 8, 2001.

https://www.reaganfoundation.org/.../online-at-the.../

The program promises to be an interesting one.

Ronald Reagan's 1980 Acceptance Speech

Above, I was there (circled) as a California delegate.

6 Best Presidential Presidential Libraries and Museums

Above, the main lobby of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

History has always been one of my passions. When traveling, I generally look for places of historial significance.

Do It Yourself RV has an interesting article on six best places of presidential interest. Some are presidential libraries and museums and some are homes. Of the six items listed, I've been to three of them.

You don't need an RV to go to any of them, but it sure does help having one!

They begin their article with:

One of the greatest things about traveling the country—whether in an RV or otherwise—is the opportunity to see all of the amazing historic sites our nation has to offer. Sure, our country may be young. However, we’ve had a lot going on in our short history, and it is fascinating to witness the sites where incredible historic events took place. 

My family and I love exploring historic places and history museums of all kinds. We’re especially fond of two types of historic learning opportunities: living history museums and presidential sites. Today we’re going to talk about the latter. 

From libraries and homes to museums and national parks, there are dozens of super cool presidential sites across the US. These are all awesome ways to look back on some of the most influential people in our country’s history.  The give us a chance to learn more about how they thought and what they believed. 

Of course, some of the historic sites are better than others. Therefore, if you have only a limited amount of time, you will need to pick and choose. Below I’ve compiled a list of our top 6 favorite presidential sites in the US. If you’re limited on time, pick one of these and rest easy knowing you absolutely cannot go wrong with any option on this list.

Above, Air Force One at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here.

No More Oval Office Striped Wallpaper!

Above, the replica Oval Office at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last summer, President Trump did something that I had been clamoring for: he got rid of the horrid striped wallpaper Barack Obama installed in the Oval Office.

According to the Mercury News:

As much as Donald Trump was derided for initially taking himself away for a 17-day golf vacation, his long absence from the White House was necessary for an important reason. 

It allowed a team of more than 200 people from multiple agencies to complete much-needed renovations on the West Wing and the home’s interior. 

The main work on “the people’s house” involved not very glamorous updates: replacing an overworked heating and air conditioning system, refreshing floors, woodworking and paint and repairing the South Portico steps for the first time since the Truman administration, CNN reported, following a tour the White House gave to reporters Wednesday. 

Of course, the most intriguing site of renovation work was the Oval Office, the seat of power in the America and the free world.

The Oval Office looks a lot better now that the striped wallpaper is gone.

To see what the Oval Office looks like today, go here. 

A Pope and a President

Above, President Reagan meets with Pope John Paul II during a visit to the Papal
 Library in the Vatican Pontifical Palace. Reagan Presidential Library Photo.

A new book is now out about the relationship between a protestant U.S. President, Ronald Reagan and the Polish Catholic Pope, John Paul II. It was a relationship of two men who oversaw the implosion and collapse of European and Soviet communism in the 1980s.

National Review has an article on the book, A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century in which author Paul Kengor is interviewed by Kathryn Jean Lopez.

It begins with:

This weekend, Pope Francis marks the 100th anniversary of events in Fatima, Portugal, important to the life of Pope John Paul II and even — as Paul Kengor argues in a new book — President Ronald Reagan. In A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century, Kengor presents both the pope and the president as understanding Divine Providence’s role in their lives and in history. We talk a bit about the bonds between these men and the Marian events in Fatima, which John Paul II believed were intimately connected to the sparing of his life, and more.

To read the full article, go here.

Get Rid of That Wallpaper!

Along with getting rid of Obama government holdovers, President Trump needs to get rid of the gawdawful wallpaper.

President Trump has made some changes to the Oval Office decor, but I've been appalled seeing the wallpaper Obama installed on the walls still there. For more on Trump's changes so far, go here.

Below is a comparison of Barack Obama's Oval Office decor and Ronald Reagan's (from the Oval Office replica at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library).

Above, Obama's Oval Office.

Above, Reagan's Oval Office. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Trump Targets "Out-Of-Control" Boeing Air Force One Contract

Above, the last Boeing 707 to serve as Air Force One on display at
 the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

President-elect Donald Trump is none too happy with the contract between Boeing and the federal government for the next generation of Air Force One jets.

According Fox Business:

President-elect Donald Trump has a message for Air Force One builder Boeing (BA): Get off my plane. 

Trump criticized Boeing on Tuesday for what he called “out of control” costs associated with a project to build two new Air Force One jets. He called for the federal government to cancel the company’s contract. 

“Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” Trump wrote in a message on Twitter (TWTR). 

Trump later spoke to reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, saying the project is “ridiculous.” 

“I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number,” Trump said. “We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money.”

There are currently two Boeing 747 jets that serve as Air Force One. They were put into service during the end of the George H. W. Bush Administration. Previously, Boeing 707s served as Air Force One.

According to talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh, Boeing was a big donor to the Clinton Foundation.

To read more, go here.

Father's Day At The Reagan Library, Part Two

Above, Amber and I waiting for the library to open.

When Amber and I visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Air Force One in Simi Valley during Father's Day yesterday, I must have taken over 40 photographs.

I posted 13 of them yesterday, but here are some more:

Above, a GOP elephant. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the main entrance. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the Ronald Reagan statue at the main entrance. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the library pay station. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Air Force One. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Air Force One with the Father's Day banquet set up below. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the tail. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, a nice setting for a luncheon banquet. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, visitors boarding Air Force One. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, a view from the Air Force One Pavilion. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, looking towards the Reagan tomb. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the book section of the gift shop. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Father's Day At The Reagan Library

Above, the statue of Ronald Reagan at the main entrance. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For Father's day, Amber too me to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Air Force One in Simi Valley, California.

We wanted to the the special exhibit of artifacts from the Vatican.

We got to see all that and the rest of the library and toured the inside of Air Force One (SAM 27000).

This was the busiest we've seen the library. A special Father's Day luncheon is to take place below Air Force One. We decided to skip that.

Here's some more photos of our time:

Above, the main entrance. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the replica Oval Office. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the forward section of Air Force One. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the aft section of Air Force One. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the luncheon set-up below Air Force One. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Amber enjoying the view outside of the Air Force One Pavilion. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, a chunk of the Berlin Wall. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, a visit to the tomb of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the headstone. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, our souvenir photo. Photo by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Above, while waiting for the library to open.

Above, at the Air Force One Pavilion.

GOP Debate 2

Above, from left, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.

My initial impressions.

The second GOP Presidential Debate was carried live by CNN from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California tonight in front of Reagan's Air Force One.

All of the candidates did well during the three hours it went on. The first segment was virtually a gang-up by many of the candidates against Donald Trump, the current front-runner. Many of the comments seemed more appropriate on the playground of a junior high school, including some by Trump.

Carly Fiorina took part in this debate as her poll numbers shot up following the first debate.

I saw no clear-cut winner in this debate. Jeb Bush was more vigorous and Ted Cruz had more speaking opportunities.

Basically a draw.

New Air Force One Jets Coming Later This Decade

Above, the forward section of SAM 27000 at the Reagan Library. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is hard to believe sometimes how time flies.

It has been about 25 years since the current Boeing 747-200 Air Force One jetliners (SAM 28000 and SAM 29000) were put into service during the administration of President George H. W. Bush. "SAM" stands for "Special Air Missions."

Plans are now in place to replace those two jets with newer model Boeing 747-8.

According to an article in Financial Times:

One of the world’s most exclusive customers could be the last buyer of the aircraft that democratised long-haul air travel after the US defence department selected Boeing’s 747-8 to be the US president’s new Air Force One. 

The fleet of presidential aircraft, due to enter service later this decade, could be among the very last passenger versions of the long-haul aircraft to be built because airlines increasingly favour two-engine long-haul aircraft over four-engine craft. 

The new aircraft will replace a pair of 747-200s that came into service as the presidential aircraft in 1990, during the presidency of George HW Bush. The type became an all but inevitable choice after the Pentagon decided that the presidential aircraft needed to have four engines. The only other currently manufactured four-engine long-haul jet is Airbus’s A380, manufactured in France.

Above, the tail section of SAM 27000. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Originally, the jet-age Air Force One (with the distinctive graphics we are familiar with) started out during the Kennedy Administration with a Boeing 707 (SAM 26000). SAM 26000 was relegated to back-up status when SAM 27000, another Boeing 707, was put into service in 1972 during the Nixon Administration. SAM 27000 now is on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

SAM 26000 is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio.

To read more, go here.

A Visit To The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Part 2

Above, an alternate shot at the doorway of Air Force One. Photo by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Above, the first version of the Air Force One doorway photo, but cropped. Photo by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Here's a few more photos I took today at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California:

Above, the Oval Office replica. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Air Force One. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the tail section of Air Force One. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the underside of Air Force One. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the 1966 Bat-Cycle. Photo by Armand Vaquer.