From Oklahoma to Texas. This morning 1-3-2014 my daughter Jamie and I drove from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Dallas, Texas to tour the George Walker Bush Presidential Center. The Center houses the George Walker Library and Museum and the George Walker Bush Institute which is located at 2943 Southern Methodist University Boulevard, Dallas, Texas. This facility a 226,000 square foot building and 15 acre urban park on the Southern Methodist University campus. President and Mrs Bush founded the Bush Center to continue their work expanding freedom at home and around the globe. It was built with private donations and was dedicated April 25. 2013 and opened to the public May 1, 2013.
The George Walker Bush Center
The George Walker Bush Institute
George W. Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut while his father was attending Yale University. Following graduation his father moved the family to Texas and California for a period before settling in Midland, Texas. After school in Midland George Walker Bush attended Andover, Yale and Harvard Business School. Following graduation he returned to Texas in the early 1970's and got into the oil business and was very successful. He met Laura Welch a librarian who was a quiet but strong willed individual and eventually married her. Following in his father's footsteps he got into politics and was elected Governor of the state of Texas. During his second term as Governor he ran for President of the United States. He became our Forty Third President in January 2001 and was reelected for a second term in 2004. It is interesting that he was only the second president to follow his father into the office of the president. The other person was John Quincy Adams. There is still one more interesting point and that is the fact that both George W. and Adams were both involved in bitter disputed elections. George W. was a friendly outgoing Texan with a positive attitude. He wanted to bring a spirit of unity and cooperation to Washington. He was a person who delegated assignments. With his business background and training he ran the White House like he would a successful business. I think he is the only president to have a Master Degree in business. He faced several national emergencies such as the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Later he directed the United States invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. His last few years as president were filled with an electorate upset with the continuing war in Iraq, the continuing spread of terrorism and social issues such as abortion, social security reform, immigration, budgetary problems and several other factors. These issues helped lead to a decisive election victory for the Democrats in the 2008 election. This beautiful library and museum opened in the spring of 2013.
George Walker Bush Presidential Library & Museum
Entrance To George Walker Bush Presidential Library & Museum
Entrance To George Walker Bush Presidential Library & Museum
At the dedication April 25, 2013 in attendance were five United States Presidents. Current President Obama and former Presidents Carter, Clinton, George H.W. Bush and George Walker Bush. Current First Lady and former First Ladies were also in attendance in addition to a host of family and friend of former presidents as well as foreign, state and local personages. This is the 13th presidential library in the National Archives and Records Administration. This is the first Presidential Library of the 21st century. It houses 70 million pages paper records, more than 43,000 artifacts, the largest electronic records collection of any presidential library, more than 200 million e-mails, 4 million digital photographs and nearly 50,000 audio & video tapes. How would you like to have to keep up with that? The themes of the museum and library are:
a. The Bush Presidency
b. Defending Freedom
c. Domestic Policy
d. Life In The White House
e. A Charge To Keep.
f. Acting With Compassion
g. The Bush Institute
Concerning the Bush Institute President Bush and Mrs. Bush said it will allow them to continue to serve in causes that are important to them. Further President Bush described the Institute " The Bush Institute is an exciting place: a place of learning, a place of scholarship, but most importantly, a place of action, a results oriented institute that will have an effect on our country and, we think, on the world. " The areas of focus of the institute are:
a. Global Health
b. Education Reform
c. Human Freedom
d. Military Service
e. Women's Initiatives
Now lets step inside this wonderful facility. We move through security to the admission counter and then into Freedom Hall which is the massive lobby. Our first stop is to the right as we go into the Home For The Holidays display.
Home For The Holidays.
This was a temporary display that was wonderful and beautiful. It was scheduled to be closed and dismantled for storage the day after Jamie and I were there. The crowds at the museum were very large and this display in particular was very crowded. I have now visited many Presidential Libraries and Museums and this is the first time I have had to stand in line to get
In.To enter you have to stand in line to go through security screening just like at an airport, then stand in line to get your ticket, then stand in line to get into the particular part of the museum you want to see. So in the following photographs if you see some ones back or head it is because of the crowd and someone walked in front of me. I really got my exercise in moving around to get all the photographs I wanted and even at that I missed a few. Mrs. Bush had models made of the various presidents homes ( I think it was 19 ) and how they were decorated at that day and time and had these displayed in various room of the White House during Christmas of 2001. Some of the following photographs will tell exactly where in the White House these model were displayed.
Gowns Worn By Mrs. Laura Bush
Main Christmas Tree In " Home For The Holidays " Display. The Following Photograph
Tells Details About This Tree.
Details About The Main Christmas Tree
Details About Ornament On The Main Christmas Tree
More Details About The Home For The Holidays Display
Holiday Celebrations At The White House
White House Holiday Program
Victorian Characters Under Massive Chandelier And The Watchful Eyes Of
President Lincoln
President Lincoln
Information About The Gifts Received By The First Family
President And Mrs Bush Honored The Diversity Of Faiths Practiced In America
President Bush Talks To A Group Of Children Visiting The White House
President Bush Shows The Children A Picture Of Santa And His Reindeer While Mrs. Bush Looks On
Another Area Of The Home For The Holidays Display. Notice The Model Of The White
House On The Fire Place Mantle
Enlargement Of The Model Of The White House Shown Above.
Information About The White House
Continuation Of Information About The White House
Information About George Washington And Mount Vernon
Continuation Of Information About George Washington And Mount Vernon
Enlargement Of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello; Charlottesville, Virginia
Thomas Jefferson Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia
Continuation Of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia
James Madison, Montpelier; Montpelier Station, Virginia
James Madison, Montpelier; Montpelier Station, Virginia
Continuation Of James Madison, Montpelier; Montpelier Station, Virginia
Abraham Lincoln Family Home, Springfield, Illinois
Continuation Of Abraham Lincoln Family Home, Springfield, Illinois
Calvin Coolidge Homestead, Plymouth Notch, Vermont
Continuation Of Calvin Coolidge Homestead, Plymouth Notch, Vermont. Replica Model
Theodore Roosevelt, Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, New York, Replica Model
Ulysses S. Grant, Galena, Illinois, Replica Model
Martin Van Buren, Lindenwald; Kinderhook, New York, Replica Model
Martin Van Buren, Lindenwald; Kinderhook, New York, Replica Model
Martin Van Buren, Lindenwald; Kinderhook, New York, Replica Model
Woodrow Wilson Home, Replica Model
Rutherford Hayes, Spiegel Grove, Fremont, OH. Replica Model
Lyndon B. Johnson, LBJ Ranch, Texas White House, Stonewall, Texas Replica Model
Enlargement Of Lyndon B. Johnson, LBJ Ranch,Texas White House, Stonewall, Texas,
Replica Model
Lyndon B. Johnson, LBJ Ranch, Texas White House, Stonewall, Texas Replica Model
Andrew Jackson, Hermitage, Nashville, Tennessee, Replica Model
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Boyhood Home, Abilene, Kansas, Replica Model
Dwight D. Eisenhower,Boyhood Home, Abilene, Kansas, Replica Model
Dwight D. Eisenhower,Boyhood Home, Abilene, Kansas, Replica Model
Herbert Hoover, Birth Place Cottage, West Branch, Iowa, Replica Model
Herbert Hoover, Birth Place Cottage, West Branch, Iowa, Replica Model
Enlargement Of Herbert Hoover, Birth Place Cottage, West Branch, Iowa, Replica Model
Harry S. Truman, Birth Place, Lamar, Missouri, Replica Model
Harry S. Truman, Birth Place, Lamar, Missouri, Replica Model
Continuation Of Harry S. Truman, Birth Place, Lamar, Missouri, Replica Model
John Quincy Adams, Peacefield/ Old House,Quincy Mass., Replica Model
John Quincy Adams, Peacefield / Old House,Quincy Mass., Replica Model
Enlargement Of John Quincy Adams, Peacefield / Old House,Quincy Mass., Replica Model
Replica Model
The ' Home For The Holidays " was spectacular. You could hear the people Oohing and AAhing and saying Oh look at that. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the museum.
Back out into the main lobby. The line you see stretching from the right side of this photograph to the left side is waiting to get into the main part of the museum. Through the glass door in the background is a patio and another building behind that The George Walker Bush Institute and that is where President Bush has his offices. It is said that he will " pop over " to shake hands with visitors on occasion but he did not do so while we were there.
see a pasture scene now. It was beautiful and constantly changing like a motion picture.
As You Enter The Museum Section You Are Greeted With Several Large Panel That Are
Loaded With Information and People Taking Time To Read These Panel Is What Caused The Line Up Of People Waiting To Get In. Once Past These Panels The Traffic Moved Fairly Well.
November 5, 1977
Federal Agencies Working Closely With Religious Organizations
I Remember As A 10 Year Old Child Listening To The Radio And Hearing About The Japanese Attack On Pearl Harbor And The Sickening Feeling I Had At That Time. On
9/11/01 I Had That Same Feeling. Jan And I Were Watching Good Morning America On
ABC And Saw The Planes Fly Into The World Trade Center Towers And The Eventual
Collapse Of Those Tall Buildings. For Me This Was Another Day That Will Live In Infamy.
The Next Several Photographs Are Of A Sort Of Circular Screen Depicting The Events Day By Day Following The Attack On 9/11
Dust
Are Missing. Relatives And Friend Pleading For Information About Their Whereabouts
You Can See How Crowded It Was With People Waiting To Have Their Pictures Taken.
Will Look Like This
He Reportedly Bit A Number Of Guests At The White House A few Of Them Reporters. Mrs Bush Remarked It Was Probably His Way Of Saying He Had Had Enough Of The Paparazzi.
Barney Died At About 12 1/2 Years Of Age.
I would love to go back and visit here again when it is not so crowded so I could take time to really read all the material. I think this one rates in the top three that I have visited and I would highly recommend it to you. I guess one of the overriding thought I have of the men who have served as president is their dedication to service. President Bush said, " Life is service to the end." He is indicating service after the presidency. In his remarks at the dedication ceremony he said " I may have retired from politics but not from service. " I think that is such a commendable thought. Again, I am so thankful that Jamie was able to accompany me on this trip and I believe that one of these days she will write her thoughts about the trip and I will post it in my blog.
Grandpa Bill
Comment: " For in him we live and move and have our being, ' As some of your poets have said, ' we are his offspring.' Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver--an image made by man's design and skill. " Acts 17: 28-29. NIV.
In other words without God we are and have nothing and further that God is not an image made by man but the one and only true God the maker of the heavens and earth.
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