Throughout his military and political career, Dwight Eisenhower made sure people knew his roots were firmly planted in the soil of Abilene, Kansas.

“He was from the Midwest and he was proud of it,” says Dawn Hammatt, director of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene.

After a $29 million renovation, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Mo., is open to the public again. The library’s deputy director, Kelly Anders, says it now has new exhibits and videos to help tell the story of the man who went from being a Missouri farmer to president of the United States.

“From the moment you step through the front door, everything is new,” she says.

WEST BRANCH, Iowa — To some, the only Iowa-born president is defined by the Great Depression. Only months after Herbert Hoover took office, the 1929 stock market crash created one of the toughest economic times in the history of the United States.

However, historians are trying to change the narrative around the 31st president.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library gets its fair share of international visitors among the 5 million people who have been there since it opened 17 years ago. One was Daniel Day-Lewis.

The British actor toured the library and museum in preparation for his title role in the 2012 movie Lincoln, for which he won an unprecedented third Academy Award for Best Actor.