Reagan’s Gifts Headline Exhibit

There’s a portrait of the “Great Communicator” made entirely out of butterfly wings, an AK-47 assault rifle captured during the invasion of Grenada and a tattered U.S. flag that flew over the American Embassy in Afghanistan before and after the Russian occupation in the 1980s.

These are among the tens of thousands of historic, quaint and sometimes oddball gifts bestowed on President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, during his two terms in the White House. A new exhibit titled “Gifts of the President,” showcasing more than 400 of the items, opens at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley on Sept. 5.

Choosing pieces for the exhibit was challenging at times given the vast collection of presidential gifts, said Rob Zucca, the exhibit’s designer. Most of the gifts are kept in underground storage rooms at the hilltop library and include many handcrafted or one-of-a-kind pieces, from a custom-made horse saddle to a 4-foot-by-10-foot painting of the Statue of Liberty made by 1960s pop art guru Peter Max.

“It’s a very difficult thing to do, with more than 100,000 objects to pick what will fit and go together nicely,” Zucca said. “We try and lean on the stuff that has a really killer story and make sure that story gets told.”

Such items include a large golden emblem with the profiles of Reagan and former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev commemorating their historic December 1987 Washington summit that greatly altered the relationship between their two countries and hastened the end of the Cold War. On each side of the men are replica Colt Peacemaker revolvers from the 1870s.

Indeed, the library’s staff is still scrambling to put last-minute touches on the museum exhibit, which will stay open for at least six months.

“We keep adding to it,” said Thomas Thomas, curator of the exhibit. “We see something we like and we bring it up.”

There’s the hand-woven Navajo wool rug made in the image of the American flag and a wooden desk replicating the southern view of the White House.

Similar gifts are displayed together, producing several themes: belt buckles, jewelry, bronze and wooden busts of Reagan, portraits, sculptures and Waterford crystal shaped like a boat, a boot and a cowboy hat.

And what would a presidential library be without a few oversized objects? Such as a giant pencil Reagan received from the National Assn. of Student Councils, a huge gavel from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and a 4-foot-wide “VETO” stamp from a critic of government spending.

“We’re pretty much done at this point,” said Patricia Marion, a museum employee who was helping place saddles on their stands Thursday. “There will be something for everybody to enjoy.”