George Walker Bush - 43rd President of the United States of America (2001 to 2009)

Arriving at the George W. Bush Library and Museum I am surprised by the traffic. The parking lot is at capacity when I arrive but am able to get the very last spot. The second and third spillover lots have people walking from them in the heat to the building. This museum is busier than “rock stars” like Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Regan, which were full; W. is at or past capacity.

Inside there is a line. It’s long and snakes through a massive lobby. Once I pay admission I go into the next line for the audio tour device. When I have the device in hand I am in a third line to enter into the museum. The ceiling of the lobby is impressive. Its walls are digital and slowly move through the beautiful Texas landscapes. Landscapes turn into a movie about the people of Texas, the people of America, and evolve into the importance of the constitution before turning back into the look of the solid stone façade of the walls.

The good people of Texas are very kind and gracious with please, thank you, and pardon me. I am overwhelmed by how nice everyone is, nicer than Canadians. At one point the whole lobby, filled with people in three different lines, sing Happy Birthday to someone out of sight from me. It was heart warming.

The first stretch of wall covers family when entering. This is the family of George and Laura and the two girls. It leads to some of the pins and stickers of a campaign that seem to be required to every presidential museum. However, this election was unlike any in history. A daily breakdown of events for counts, recounts, hanging chads, and videos of the networks coverage that evening re-tell the story. This is a semi waiting area for fifteen-minute video of the President and First Lady giving the extensive highlights of the eight years in office. There were several things I was reminded of happening during this time. It starts with the goals of the campaign, is rerouted after the events of 9/11, and builds on to tell about the importance of education and service. This is called, “A Charge to Keep”.

Education, commerce, taxes, and compassionate conservatism is in an area called “Creating Opportunity” outside the theater. These are many of the campaign goals that were carried over from the Governorship of Texas.

The line to the next area is slow to move through, but once turning the corner, there it is, twisted wreckage from the towers. An area called “Responding to September 11” leaves me with a sadness that I have only ever felt one other time while at the Pearl Harbor remembrance. There are moment-by-moment accounts, documents and agenda for the public to review, and a video that takes visitors through to September 20^th.

Steps away, an area called “Defending Freedom” detailing other global terrorist activities and attempts to thwart them. A globe of the area shows the number of democracies in the 1950’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, and then in 2008, a shift from 17 to 121 countries. There is a digital table that allows the viewer to pull videos, documents, and images on Afghanistan and Iraq.

Around the corner, two sections after, is standing theater with individual kiosks. Each kiosk as details pouring in asking the participants to make decisions based on this data while a clock ticks down. This data is aggregated and disseminated on a master screen in the front. It’s an impressive exercise in helping people understand many of the aspects a president might face. Similar to a situation room simulator at the Ford, LBJ, Reagan, and Carter locations this one focuses on decisions that this particular president faced.

My favorite part of the museum is in the back of the building, a small theater where Jenna and Barbara Bush go through the favorite moments of their fathers two terms and highlight some very funny clips. Next to this is the Oval Office. In nearly every presidential museum there is a replica you can look at, but this one you are allowed to walk through and sit behind the desk. The museum staff is very good at managing the lines to keep them moving while continuing to talk about the items you are seeing, the importance they have, and the context in which they were applicable.

SIDE NOTE: At each location on this tour I buy some postcard, refrigerator magnets, and the official pen or pencil of the President. The George W. Bush Museum, while the most innovative I have been to, the one that takes the longest to get through because there is just so much stuff, by far the busiest, it was also the most expensive. While I did find magnets, the only pen they sold was a Cross pen over $100. The next most expensive pen I have purchased was at the LBJ for $3.95. This museum needs more low-end items.