LITTLE ROCK, ARK. ? Bill Clinton, America’s first baby boomer president, opened his library Thursday with a rock ‘n’ roll gala that hailed the $165 million glass-and-steel museum as “a gift to the future by a man who always believed in the future.”

Despite a steady, bone-chilling rain, nearly 30,000 people joined a celebration that included tributes from President Bush, his father and former President Carter. Rock stars Bono and The Edge of the band U2 performed a three-song set before Clinton spoke to a crowd that included dignitaries and ordinary folk. Poetry and gospel singing added a down-home flavor.

“The story that began in a little house on Hervey Street in Hope, Arkansas, inspires people from every background all over America,” President Bush said of Clinton’s rise from small-town beginnings to the White House.

The William J. Clinton Presidential Center is a sleek, futuristic complex that contains more than 80 million items from the former president’s life, including photos, e-mails, excerpts from famous speeches and gifts from world leaders. The library celebrates eight years of peace and prosperity and dismisses his impeachment as a Republican vendetta.

The 27-acre complex is cantilevered out over the Arkansas River — an allusion to Clinton’s desire during his presidency to build a “bridge to the 21st century.”

“What it is to me is a symbol of not only what I tried to do but what I want to do with the rest of my life, building bridges from yesterday to tomorrow, building bridges across racial and religious and ethnic and income and political divides,” said Clinton, 58, accompanied by his wife and daughter.

“I want young people to want to see not only what I did with my life but to see what they could do with their lives,” he said, “because this is mostly the story of what we the people can do when we work together.”

Bush called the library “a gift to the future by a man who always believed in the future, and today we thank him for loving and serving America.”

Attending the dedication of President Clinton's library were, from left, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter, Barbara and George Bush, Laura and President Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Clinton.

A number of celebrities traveled to Little Rock for the opening, including actors Ed Begley Jr., Kevin Spacey and Robin Williams, and Democratic luminaries John Kerry and Al Gore, Clinton’s vice president.

Clinton pointed out that during the eight years he and Gore led the country, the nation reduced the national debt and reformed the military while also reducing poverty and making college accessible to more people.

A steady rain pelted the crowd throughout the ceremony, and a soldier stood near the podium bearing an umbrella to protect each speaker from the elements.

“If my beloved mother were here, she would remind me that rain is liquid sunshine, and I shouldn’t complain about this because the ground probably needs it and somebody is benefiting from it,” said Clinton, who was raised by a hard-working widow, the late Virginia Kelley.

President Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton share an emotional moment at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center during opening ceremonies Thursday in Little Rock, Ark.

Clinton, much thinner as a result of his September heart surgery, chuckled several times as the other ex-presidents recounted stories of past meetings with him, and often slapped his thigh.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said the new library “is like my husband: it’s open, it’s expansive, its welcoming, it’s filled with life, and the exhibits tell the story of someone who loves his fellow man, who cares deeply about all of our children, who recognizes our common humanity.”

President Bush admired Clinton’s talent as a man of the people, telling the story of a voter who praised Clinton’s ability to look you in the eye, shake your hand, hold your baby and pet your dog, “all at the same time.”

The president’s father said he was vexed by Clinton’s political skill when he lost his re-election bid to the Arkansas governor in 1992.

“It has to be said that Bill Clinton was one of the most gifted American political figures in modern times. Believe me — I learned that the hard way,” the elder Bush said to uproarious laughter. “He made it look too easy, and oh, how I hated him for that.”