Thursday, November 20, 2014

Wednesday at the G. W. Bush Library in Dallas

What a fun day we had today! Gail and Mark picked us up at 8:30 this morning to take us to the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, TX, about 2 1/2 hours away.  Bob and I had visited the JFK Library in Boston earlier in the year, and since there are only thirteen presidential libraries we thought we should try and visit them all.  Three of them are actually in Texas, so we might be able to see all the Texas ones on this trip.

We stopped in to a little restaurant before going to the museum, Cafe Brazil.  They offered a coffee bar with a nice selection of coffees.  I had a coconut chicken salad that was divine!

We can only compare Bush's library to Kennedy's.  Bush had the luxury of planning his, as well as five more years in office to attain memorable moments.  So much of the Kennedy exhibits dealt with the way life was during the time of his presidency, in addition to the Cuban missile crisis and his assassination.  It seemed quite a bit smaller than the GWG Library.  Bush dealt with 9-11, the war on terrorism, No Child Left Behind, and the financial crisis.  Of course, Bush's exhibits presented his side of events, with little or no mention of his unpopularity during his presidency (Bush had at different times the highest popularity ratings and the lowest ratings of any US president during his term of office.)

The life size reproduction of the Oval Office as it appeared during Bush's presidency was fascinating.  We were allowed to walk around it and even sit in (the reproduction of) his chair.  Gifts that the Bushes had received from dignitaries all over the world were displayed.

There were many interactive exhibits with cool technology.  And the docents were wonderful in answering all our questions.

Mark behind the desk.

The 9-11 exhibit was very moving, and featured a timeline with short films of events throughout that morning. It was very well done. 

We really enjoyed our visit to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and look forward to seeing other presidential libraries.

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