Nearly 30,000 people, including US President George W Bush, were present when former president Bill Clinton inaugurated his presidential library at a rain-soaked ceremony in Little Rock, Arkansas.
"This library is the symbol of a bridge, a bridge to the 21st century," Clinton said on Thursday evening to a rare gathering of current and former US leaders, members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, rock musicians, Hollywood stars and other people.
The gathering included all the surviving ex-presidents except Gerald Ford, 91, who was not feeling well enough to attend.
"The record is all in there. What we did at home, what we did abroad," Clinton, 58, who is still recovering from open heart surgery two months ago, said.
"I want young people to see not only what I did with my life, but to see what they could do with their lives," he said, standing on the podium in front of the $165 million, glass-and-steel library housing his presidential archive.
"We all do better when we work together," Clinton said appealing for national unity towards the end of a 20-minute speech after remarks by Bush and other ex-presidents. "Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more."
Clinton also urged the current president to seize the opportunity to promote the West Asia peace process, a goal Clinton said he tried hard to achieve during his eight years in office.
Bush hailed Clinton as "an innovator, a serious student of policy and a man of great compassion" who, during his term, became a "tireless champion of peace" in West Asia, halted ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and demonstrated "deep empathy for the poor and the powerless".
The library features a replica of the Oval Office as it appeared when Clinton occupied the White House from 1993 to 2001 -- the only such full-scale replica in a presidential library -- as well as 14 alcoves dealing with different aspects of the Clinton presidency.
One of the alcoves, entitled 'The Fight for Power', has stirred some controversy for its portrayal of Clinton's 1998 impeachment.
The display lumps together the sex and perjury scandal that led to the impeachment -- stemming from Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky -- with the Whitewater land deal investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr and other elements of what the exhibit calls 'the politics of persecution'.
Other items on display range from Clinton's presidential limousine to the sunglasses and saxophone he used when he performed on the Arsenio Hall television show when he was running for president.
Situated on nearly 30 acres on the south bank of the Arkansas River, the 148,000-square-foot library was designed by New York architect James Polshek and includes a number of high-tech features.
It also has a penthouse where Clinton reportedly plans to spend time working on his papers away from his home in Chappaqua, New York.
