George W. Bush Presidential Library - Part 1

Before moving away from the Dallas area (to the Houston area), my daughter and I took time to visit the new George W. Bush Presidential Library on the Southern Methodist University Campus. There is so much to see and do at the complex. We were told the average stay is around 2 hours but we did many of the interactive events, spending just at 3 hours. Time flew as we immersed ourselves in this historical presidency.  Because there is so much to see and do, I'll divide our visit into 2 seperate blog postings - the serious side of the position and another on the humanity of being Commander in Chief.

The building is beautiful.  The grounds include native Texas wildflowers and what is referred to as the "Texas Rose Garden" is positioned outside the Oval Office, just as the White House garden is truly positioned.

My daughter, Melissa, outside the Library Complex as we waited to go in.


As you prepare to enter the formal library rooms, you first encounter a 360 degree projection. While we waited, we experienced an ariel tour of Washington DC starting at the Lincoln Memorial, beyond the Washington Monument and up the Capital Steps.  Then came a series of photos of American leaders and the words of our Constitution. 

In the atrium is a lifesize statue of the two Bush presidents.

Interactive events are located in nearly every section.  Guests are encouraged to participate, putting into action the thought that #43 was a 'people's president'.

I was fasinated by this 'official tally sheet'.  I guess that in this age of electronics, I didn't really think such a document existed.

By far the most moving part of the complex was the information relayed about the 9/11 attacks and aftermath.  I wasn't prepared to see a mangled beam from what they believe was Tower II surrounded by walls covered in the names of those who perished.  Inset in the walls, surrounded by the names of those who were part of the particular incident, were monitors replaying the news reports of Tower I, the plane hitting Tower II, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania Crash site. I was overwhelmed to hear the day, and the week, recounted in the words of President Bush as well as interact by hearing other's stories of the day.  I took time to sit at a monitor and write out my experience as I recalled where I was, what I was doing and how I responded to the horror of what our country was experiencing.  I wasn't the only one there in tears as we rubbed our hands over the mangled beams and relived 9/11.

We were fasinated to be able to interact with others as well as various situations, to experience without the pressure, the way in which a leader of our country goes about receiving information and making decisions.   Decision Points offers the gathered group four situations to choose from, hear video details and then see if collectively you come to a similar decision as the President.  It follows up with a video of Bush sharing the reasoning behind the decision he made.


The self-guided tour (enhanced by I-Pod technology offered to each visitor) concludes with a reminder that there is much to glean from each of these situations.  To that end, the Presidential Complex offers academians the opportunity and access to over a half million documents relating to this Presidency and our International relations.