George W. Bush's library offers his side of the story
Thursday's dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center will be nothing short of a bipartisan lovefest: Former President George W. Bush will host President Obama and the three other living presidents as they unveil the 226,565-square-foot complex at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
On the outskirts of the campus, however, protesters plan on keeping memories of Mr. Bush's controversial decisions fresh.
Less than five years after he left office, those aspects of Mr. Bush's presidency -- the Iraq war, the use of enhanced interrogation, the response to Hurricane Katrina -- are hard to overlook. So in his new library and museum, the former president doesn't try to. Following the theme of his memoir, titled "Decision Points," Mr. Bush's new library appeals to visitors to consider the pressures Mr. Bush faced in office and consider whether they would have made different decisions.
Opening and curating the inaugural exhibit of a presidential library -- like writing a memoir or sitting down for softball interviews -- is just one step former presidents take to "rehabilitate" their reputation after leaving office, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said to CBSNews.com. Mr. Bush may not be able to change the events of his presidency, but he can still influence the way they're perceived.
Photographing the G.W. Bush presidency
"Basically, you're running for history instead of office," Brinkley said. "Legacy is what matters in the end, and you don't give up the fight just because you're not in Washington anymore."
A presidential library, however, isn't just a promotional center for former presidents. Including the George W. Bush Presidential Center, there are 14 presidential libraries and museums administered by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Their construction and opening are paid for by private funds -- more than $500 million was raised for the new Bush complex -- but their upkeep is paid for by U.S. taxpayers. The National Archives expects to spend $68.7 million in administration at the presidential libraries in 2013.
"Our collective mission is to promote a further understanding of the presidency and to provide access to historical materials," Susan Donius, director of the Archives' Office of Presidential Libraries, told CBSNews.com, "to further engage the public in the study of the presidency."
Donius noted, however, that having a president's point of view on record serves more than just his own self-interest.
"If you have the opportunity to come to the Bush Center, you'll see this is a unique story of this president and his history," she said. "He's worked closely with the museum designers to present those key critical moments in his presidency... it gives an interesting perspective, and it's an important historical record of his time in office."
Several presidents have established their presidential libraries in their hometowns, and more recently they've been established on or near a university campus. The 13 previously-established libraries in the Archives' system saw more than 1.9 million visitors in 2012. The most popular museum last year was the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, which saw more than 380,000 visitors.
The libraries and museums house vast archives of documents, records, artifacts and other presidential materials. Brinkley, who has visited every presidential library, said establishing them in each president's home state "breaks up the congestion of Washington, D.C."
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I love Amsterdam, by the way. Beautiful city.
Yeah right!!! A guy who a few years ago was walking the streets of Chicago suddenly gets elected to the state rep where he votes present most of the time then jumps to US Senator and only serves a year before they have him run for president???
NAW he wasn't hand pick to be a party yes man ROFLMAO
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Yeah, right. Because it wasn't like people had had enough of family political dynasties after the Bush disaster, and were concerned that Bill Clinton was hoping for a semi-third term via his wife.
And it wasn't that people who might well have voted for McCain immediately changed their minds when AirHead Palin was announced as a candidate for VP.
Or the fact that the majority of Americans were sick and tired of politics-as-usual in Washington, and Obama was the only one that promised to end that. (Which he might well have had he not run head-long into The Bigot Party Of No even before he was sworn in.)
I love the way right-wing-nuts can only take things totally out of context in order to come up with anything to say. Anything at all. Even if it's totally absurd to anyone with two functioning brain cells.
It's fact as to why we issued the declaration of war against Germany, and fact that I didn't bring up the topic
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What declaration of war would that be, slow?
Since Germany declared war on the US a few days after Pearl Harbor, we NEVER declared war on them...only on The Empire of Japan...your "facts" require much clarification
I point this out not merely to illustrate your appalling lack of knowledge regarding things you insist on pontificating about...
But that like all of you facts-are-irrelevant, reich-wing types, you pull your "facts" out of your butt as you go along...
Deceptively, condescendingly and always irritatingly smugly
Just as Bush did...and continues to do
Which of course wasn't his fault...
We declared war on Germany on Dec 11, after Germany declared war on us.
Fact.
This particular facility will prove to be invaluable for Republican politicians and pundits, as it is undoubtedly the largest repository of revisionist history in the United States.
Joe Biden on Monday, September 15th, 2008 in St. Clair Shores, Mich.
GOP was not interested in why over 2000 Americans died.
GOP was not interested in why it took 5 days to get water to Superdome, while people died of thirst in their wheelchairs.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/sep/15/joe-biden/mccain-supported-republican-backed-investigation/
Bush, WORST PRESIDENT PERIOD!
Answer 17 TRILLION
Google " How much have Iraq and Afghanistan wars cost USA? "
Answer 4-6 TRILLION, with care of veterans reaching out to 2050 and beyond
Google " How much did Bush leave in pipeline already spent for Obama? "
Answer 2 TRILLION
That is 23 TRILLION ON THE LOW END THAT BUSH SCREWED AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our rating
Ribble said Obama "built this $16 trillion debt." His spokeswoman said Ribble meant that the debt had reached that level because of Obama.
But Ribble used the $16 trillion figure, not the roughly $5 trillion that the debt has increased under Obama. Moreover, the debt grew not only due to Obama's actions, but those taken by present and past presidents and Congresses.
We rate Ribble's statement False.
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2012/sep/12/reid-ribble/president-obama-built-nations-16-trillion-debt-gop
LOL! Now that was the best comment of the day!