Ronald Reagan and Interactive!

In 2016-2017, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library hosted the traveling exhibit Interactive! The Exhibition. In conjunction with this exhibit, objects from the Reagan Library's permanent collection that are related to advances in technology were on display.

Technology changed in leaps and bounds during President Reagan’s lifetime, from telegrams to teletypes to telephones. When Ronald Reagan was born in 1911, superconductivity was discovered, the first aircraft landing on a ship was completed, and Charles Kettering filed the patent for an electric starter motor, rather than a hand crank motor. In contrast, in 2004 the second Mars Exploration Rover (MER-B) landed, the planet Sedna was discovered at the farthest edge of our solar system, and the iPod Mini, Facebook, and Gmail all debuted. President Reagan was in office during the rapid advancements in technology of the 1980s. He oversaw the first missions of the space shuttle programs, and the development of the Star Wars missile defense system. Home computers--PCs, Macs, and Commodores--became widely available. People were mesmerized by Tron in the theaters and Halley’s comet in the night sky. It was the decade that gave us Walkmans, CDs, VCRs, Microsoft Windows, cable TV, camcorders, mobile phones, home game consoles, and the first 3D printing patents.

In 1984, during the State of the Union Address, President Reagan said, “Tonight, I am directing NASA to develop a permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade.” The International Space Station has been manned continuously since November 2000, just one of President Reagan’s lasting visions of technological advancement.