The George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
In August of 2012 I spent a week at Galveston Beach, Texas, a beautiful spot east of Houston on the Gulf Coast. One day I gave in to my potus_geeks side and drove to College Station, Texas to see the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. This is a terrific Presidential Library dedicated to one of my favorite presidents.
The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is located on a 90-acre parcel of land on the west campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. The facility was dedicated on November 6, 1997 and opened to the public shortly thereafter. It was designed by the architectural firm of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum. The Bush Library and Museum is situated on a plaza adjoining the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center and the George Bush School of Government and Public Service.
The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum lists as its mission the goal of preserving and making available for research the official records, personal papers and artifacts of President George H.W. Bush, "to support democracy, promote civic education and increase historical understanding of our national experience through the life and times of George Bush." The archives contain more than 44 million pages of personal papers and official documents, as well as personal records from associates connected with President Bush's public career as Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations, Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Records are housed in acid-free storage (Hollinger) boxes in a balanced humidity and temperature atmosphere. The archival storage area houses 13,000 cubic feet of records and the library has a National Security vault holding 3,500 cubic feet of Presidential Records. In addition to memorabilia, speeches, and reports found in the textual collection, there is an extensive audio-visual and photographic archive that includes approximately 2 million photographs and thousands of hours of audio and video tape. The museum has almost 17,000 square feet of permanent exhibit space and 3,000 square feet of temporary exhibit space.
Like many other presidential libraries, this facility contains a replica of the Oval Office. Unlike those presidential libraries, visitors can enter the office, sit behind the president's desk, and have a souvenir photo taken. Speaking of photos, behind the cut are some of ones I took on my visit there last August.
1. I arrived at George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which is on the grounds of Texas A&M University, in College Station. For some reason the flags were at half mast, probably because of the recent (at the time) Sikh temple shootings.
2-3. In the yard they have this great sculpture of some horses jumping over an authentic piece of the Berlin Wall. It was very impressive.
4-6. Inside on the main floor when I was there they had this display of some art (paintings, sculptures, and photography) from Texas high school students. They were very talented.
7-9. There were a lot of paintings of President Bush, including these:
10. The Presidential limousine was on display, and it looked very comfy inside.
11-13. The exhibit proceeded chronologically through President Bush's life. These are some of the exhibits highlighting his life as an 18 year old fighter pilot, captain of the Yale baseball team that went to the first College World Series, and later on as Director of the CIA. The last one had a neat exhibit in which you put you hand on a reader and it showed how a satellite locked in on your position. I tried it out.
14-16. These are a few of the exhibits from Bush's Vice-Presidency and his Presidency, including an exhibit about what a White House dinner is like and a tribute to Dan Quayle.
17-18. They had a model of President Bush's oval office. I got to sit at the desk (and of course had my picture taken at it, which they do for a fee.) You're not supposed to take pictures in the office, but they let me snap a couple.
19. This is a model of President Bush's office at Camp David.
20. There was more of the Berlin Wall inside the museum.
21-22. They had a model of the White House situation room. I sat in the President's chair there too.
23. They had a room on the First Gulf War that was pretty interesting. I liked this quote.
24. The display ended with a section on his defeat in 1992 to Bill Clinton and a section on his very active retirement including skydiving on his 80th birthday.
Since my visit there over a decade ago, both President Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush have passed away. Their final resting place is located on the grounds of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Center, where visitors may come to pay their respects.
Following is more information on this most impressive facility:
Webpage: http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/
Location: 1000 George Bush Dr W, College Station, Texas
Hours of operation: Monday through Saturday - 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/bushlibrary
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/thebushlibrary
Twitter: @BushLibrary
The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is located on a 90-acre parcel of land on the west campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. The facility was dedicated on November 6, 1997 and opened to the public shortly thereafter. It was designed by the architectural firm of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum. The Bush Library and Museum is situated on a plaza adjoining the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center and the George Bush School of Government and Public Service.
The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum lists as its mission the goal of preserving and making available for research the official records, personal papers and artifacts of President George H.W. Bush, "to support democracy, promote civic education and increase historical understanding of our national experience through the life and times of George Bush." The archives contain more than 44 million pages of personal papers and official documents, as well as personal records from associates connected with President Bush's public career as Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations, Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Records are housed in acid-free storage (Hollinger) boxes in a balanced humidity and temperature atmosphere. The archival storage area houses 13,000 cubic feet of records and the library has a National Security vault holding 3,500 cubic feet of Presidential Records. In addition to memorabilia, speeches, and reports found in the textual collection, there is an extensive audio-visual and photographic archive that includes approximately 2 million photographs and thousands of hours of audio and video tape. The museum has almost 17,000 square feet of permanent exhibit space and 3,000 square feet of temporary exhibit space.
Like many other presidential libraries, this facility contains a replica of the Oval Office. Unlike those presidential libraries, visitors can enter the office, sit behind the president's desk, and have a souvenir photo taken. Speaking of photos, behind the cut are some of ones I took on my visit there last August.
1. I arrived at George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which is on the grounds of Texas A&M University, in College Station. For some reason the flags were at half mast, probably because of the recent (at the time) Sikh temple shootings.
2-3. In the yard they have this great sculpture of some horses jumping over an authentic piece of the Berlin Wall. It was very impressive.
4-6. Inside on the main floor when I was there they had this display of some art (paintings, sculptures, and photography) from Texas high school students. They were very talented.
7-9. There were a lot of paintings of President Bush, including these:
10. The Presidential limousine was on display, and it looked very comfy inside.
11-13. The exhibit proceeded chronologically through President Bush's life. These are some of the exhibits highlighting his life as an 18 year old fighter pilot, captain of the Yale baseball team that went to the first College World Series, and later on as Director of the CIA. The last one had a neat exhibit in which you put you hand on a reader and it showed how a satellite locked in on your position. I tried it out.
14-16. These are a few of the exhibits from Bush's Vice-Presidency and his Presidency, including an exhibit about what a White House dinner is like and a tribute to Dan Quayle.
17-18. They had a model of President Bush's oval office. I got to sit at the desk (and of course had my picture taken at it, which they do for a fee.) You're not supposed to take pictures in the office, but they let me snap a couple.
19. This is a model of President Bush's office at Camp David.
20. There was more of the Berlin Wall inside the museum.
21-22. They had a model of the White House situation room. I sat in the President's chair there too.
23. They had a room on the First Gulf War that was pretty interesting. I liked this quote.
24. The display ended with a section on his defeat in 1992 to Bill Clinton and a section on his very active retirement including skydiving on his 80th birthday.
Since my visit there over a decade ago, both President Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush have passed away. Their final resting place is located on the grounds of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Center, where visitors may come to pay their respects.
Following is more information on this most impressive facility:
Webpage: http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/
Location: 1000 George Bush Dr W, College Station, Texas
Hours of operation: Monday through Saturday - 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/bushlibrary
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/thebushlibrary
Twitter: @BushLibrary