George W. Bush Presidential Center
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which opened on April 25, 2013,[1] is a complex that includes former United States President George W. Bush's presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the George W. Bush Foundation. It is located on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park, Texas, near Dallas.[2][3] It will be the future resting place of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States (2001–2009), and his wife Laura Bush.
This article is about the library of the 43rd president (2001–2009). For the library of the 41st president (1989–1993), see George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.George W. Bush Presidential Center
2943 SMU Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75205, United States - Southern Methodist University
November 16, 2010
April 25, 2013
207,000 square feet (19,200 m2)
Presidential library[edit]
At 207,000 square feet (19,200 m2), it is the second-largest presidential library, behind only the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.[13] Like most presidential libraries it includes a full-size replica of the Oval Office and the Resolute Desk where visitors may have their pictures taken with. Particular focus is made on Bush's decisions after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and includes artifacts from the event. Another section include "Decision Points" interactive exhibits about key events in his presidency, the title taken from Bush's memoir. Other exhibits include Hurricane Katrina and the 2008 global financial crisis, and a collection of items from First Ladies of the United States. A temporary exhibit hall has rotating exhibits from American history. Bush's paintings are also exhibited in the museum. There is a 14 acre native garden adjacent to the site dedicated to Laura Bush, and a farm-to-table restaurant, Café 43.[26]
Policy institute[edit]
Ambassador James K. Glassman, a former State Department official, was appointed founding executive director of the center's George W. Bush Institute in September 2009, and held that position until 2013. It will be an "action-oriented think tank" independent of SMU.[27]
The institute is planned "to advance four causes he adopted as his own while in office: human freedom, global health, economic growth and education reform".[28] He has also started a women's initiative led by his wife, Laura, as well as a military service initiative to help US veterans. At the November 2010, groundbreaking, the former president said to attendees, "The decisions of governing are on another president's desk, and he deserves to make them without criticism from me. But staying out of current affairs and politics does not mean staying out of policy."[15] Laura Bush addressed the crowd "to promote the importance of fighting for women's rights around the world."[17]
In 2012, it published The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs (Crown Business, 2012), a collection of essays. Five Nobel Prize winners contributed.[29][30] The presentation was broadcast five times on Book TV between August and December 2012. The book contains a foreword by George W. Bush, and covers immigration, Social Security, tax policy, and energy policy. It suggests policies for the U.S. gross domestic product annual growth to reach 4%.[31][32][33][34][35] When President Donald Trump proposed repeal of NAFTA in 2017, Matthew Rooney, the director of the economic growth initiative at the Bush Institute defended NAFTA on multiple fronts but suggested an update is needed.[36]
In early 2018, the Bush Institute received two $10 million endowments, one each from Boeing and Highland Capital Management, in support of the institute's programs.[37]