"I've seen what these libraries can do as far as the bus tours--I hate to say the AARP," he says. "The AAA, they put this on the touring maps. It's a very large enticement as a tourist attraction."

The presidential complex will house an enormous collection of memorabilia and gifts from the Clinton years. Already, thousands of boxes of materials are sitting in the former warehouse of an auto dealership in Little Rock. The storage is temporary--planners hope to have the library constructed within several years--and already the materials are slowly being sorted and organized.

Once the library is built and the materials are catalogued, researchers will be able to study them in a climate-controlled wing of the library.

Clinton was a president often said to be concerned about history's judgment of his administration. In fact, the Clinton Presidential Center website already offers three sections: one on the presidential library; one on Clinton's charitable foundation; and one on the president's "legacy."

"It was an eight-year period in our existence in our country, somewhat turbulent, but it's going to be there," Pryor says. "There are always naysayers and people who are negative about anything. But I think the positive elements will prevail."