I was down in Texas this past week and decided to do some touring of historical sites. The G.W. Bush Presidential Center was near my hotel, so in the late afternoon I headed over. The George W. Bush Presidential Center lacks substance.
There are metal detectors and a moving belt that scans your baggage. It is a similar experience that you will find at the airport. Once the security screening is over, you go go pay for entry into the exhibit halls. The cost is $26, but if you become a member, it is free. Memberships start as low as $50.
As you walk in, there is a lot of unused space that has G.W. Bush’s artwork a long the walls. Presidential libraries are basically propaganda projects since the President sets them up after leaving office while they are very much alive. However, I did find the wall lined with his paintings a bit much.
He set his library up highlighting different aspects of his Presidency. He has domestic policy section, highlighting his domestic achievement. One area that was displayed prominently was his the No Child Left Behind Act, which was domestic win for his administration.
There is a War on Terrorism section, which includes actual metal from the World Trade Center after the 9/11/2001 attacks. The medal is a horrific site. I could get sense of the horror the people in those buildings must have felt.
This section shows President Bush at his best going after terrorism. He makes sure to point out that a terrorist attack on American soil did not happen again. The highlights are mostly things he said and did immediately after the attacks. My biggest disappointment was he never mentions Iraq and barely mentions Afghanistan.
I tried to understand that as veteran myself. I wanted to make excuses for him, such as he did not want to exploit service members in his library, but Iraq was such huge part of his Presidency. I felt it should have been in there because lives were lost during that war.
G.W. Bush did included a neat interactive platform where you get to pretend that you are the President that has to make a pivotal decision. I chose the Katrina disaster. I ended up selecting to send troops without police power to help make the peace. That was the only option that seamed feasible. It turns out that is the same one Bush selected when it happened.
I rate the library a B-. It was good, but without the Iraq war receiving a mention, I felt it was lacking in substance.