Reflections On The George W. Bush Presidential Library

On Southern Methodist University's Campus

With My First Lady In The Oval Office

1988

Another fine morning in Texas, with blue skies, a chilly 56º for here.  No wind to speak of, and it feels like a Chautauqua fall morning, with lots of leaves still on the trees and lots of green, with just a hint of the winter to come.

Yesterday we went separate ways in the morning, me to the Subaru dealer about ten minutes away to get an oil change, easy and pleasant, a modern facility, like something out of a futuristic movie.  It took about 45 minutes, the only problem was figuring out how to use their coffee machine; you fit the foil packet into the machine, no tearing, just push it in and turn the sucker on and viola, a cup of java or your choice.  Afterwards, I went to Tyler's, a hip tee shirt/fleece/skate board shop and picked up a Texas tee, orange and white, kind of cool, then walked around the strip mall, neat shops like Trader Joe's, various coffee shops, GAP and Istanbul Cafe, a Turkish eatery with all kinds of good Turkish food.  Next time.  I got home around 12:00, took Cody for a walk, warmed up some prime rib, mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch and watched NFL highlights.  Meanwhile, Beth and Evie were out shopping till 1:00.  Beth has a world of patience when shopping with Evie; I have practically none.

From Bush's Inaugural in 2001

When Evie and Beth returned, Evie quickly showered because we wanted to head off to the George W. Bush Library And Museum on the campus of Southern Methodist University, an easy three mile drive from their house. The museum is fairly new, obviously, on 12 acres just off the SMU campus. It's a large stone building, with annexes off to both the left and right.  It was busy, a nice day to be out and about in Dallas.  The museum follows W. from his childhood, growing up in Texas, to his courtship of Laura, and not much about his schooling at Andover and Yale.  It's definitely a tale of a Texan.  It then follows his career, first as governor, then as President.  And as President, all his achievements are proclaimed with large poster sized texts, letters, memorabilia, charts, and videos. Things like No Child Left Behind and his dedication to ridding Africa of AIDS are typical displays.

Engravings Of Those Who Lost Their Lives in 9/11

The most interesting, however, were the sections on the four world changing events during his Presidency: 9/11, the war in Iraq/Afghanistan, Katrina, and the Recession/Depression of 2007. We spent most of our time at these four areas, often disagreeing with the videos or text which, naturally, defend his decisions.  At each section the viewer gets to hear Bush explain in his own words his decisions at the time and in retrospect. The most moving section was the 9/11 display where all the names of the men and women who lost their lives in the four planes, the Twin Towers, along with the fire fighters, were engraved on the wall.  We found the name of one of my students, Todd Weaver, and my son Tom's college roommate's brother, Todd Douglas Pelino.

Sitting In The Catbird Seat

The Bushes

We ended up in a replica of the Oval Office, then an exhibition of Christmas at The White House, Evie's favorite part...she's a Christmas fanatic.  Overall, we felt it was lacking, with little of the awe, the nostalgia that we felt at Harry Truman's Library in Independence, MO. Perhaps George Bush's decision to invade Iraq is still too close for us and just makes us angry at all the lost lives, American and Iraqi, the chaos and hatred that his decision precipitated in the Middle East.   Interestingly, Dick Cheney is rarely mentioned if at all.  We are glad we went, however, and the guides were really helpful and friendly.  The last thing we saw was a recent Bush painting of 'Lamb Of God,' which will appear on his Christmas card this year.

Bush's Painting 'Lamb of God'

We were home around 4:30, having spent almost two hours touring the museum.  Both Marisa and Mitch were home.  Marisa asked me to evaluate one of her essays for class; the teacher asked that a parent evaluate it, so I did it for her.  It was fun as she's enthusiastic about her work and a quick learner.

Working On Marisa's Essay On Equal Rights For Women

While Evie and I were at the museum, Beth put together our dinner, a Greek chicken marinated for three or four hours in yogurt and Greek spices, then baked in the oven.  It reminds me of Evie's lemon chicken, only healthier.  We, of course, relaxed before dinner with some wine out of a carton, as both Costco and Trader Joe's now sell wine this way.  It's virtue...it keeps after its been opened.  Rami
unfortunately was not able to get home from work until after 8:00 so we had dinner without him.  We were all hungry from our day, devoured the chicken, rice, and salad.  We wanted to watch a movie with Marisa, a German film we love called Mostly Martha, but we could not get the large TV to work and the subtitles on the smaller TV were too hard to read, so we went back to our old standby....reruns of The Office.  We watched it upstairs while Beth and Rami watched their shows downstairs, the virtue of having more than one TV.

Father And Son