SMU: George W. Bush Library

[CTroyMathis]

SMU pursuing Bush library
It faces competition from Arlington, other Texas universities
03/13/2002
By LEIF STRICKLAND / The Dallas Morning News

Fourteen months into President Bush's term, Southern Methodist University has launched a campaign to bring his future library to Dallas. "Since Texas already has two presidential libraries" – Lyndon Johnson's in Austin and the elder George Bush's in College Station – "we believe Dallas would be an ideal location for the next one," SMU president Gerald Turner said Tuesday. "We have the location and the amenities for a beautiful site." SMU officials are interviewing local architects and are considering potential sites on and around the campus.

A coordinating committee chaired by Dr. Turner is overseeing the effort, and there are academic and facilities subcommittees. There's also an external committee, led by oilman Ray Hunt. "The four committees are all working toward one destination, and that's preparing a viable proposal," said Tom Barry, SMU's vice president for executive affairs. The committees' initial goal, officials said, is to find a potential site for the library. Later, they will work on plans for the library and its programming, as well as fund raising. Though Mr. Bush probably won't make his decision for years, competition is already strong. Texas Tech University, Baylor University, the city of Arlington, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University have expressed interest.

Some universities are further along in the process. For example, Baylor has selected potential locations for a library and is working on drawings to send to the White House, said Larry Brumley, Baylor's associate vice president for external affairs. All of the parties interested in the library have bonds with Mr. Bush. SMU is Laura Bush's alma mater and is near their former home in Preston Hollow. It is also in the heart of one of the country's biggest Bush political strongholds. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Mr. Bush received more contributions from SMU's home ZIP code, 75205, than from any other in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The ZIP code 75225, which encompasses the area immediately north of the university, was third on the list. Dallas County GOP chairman Bob Driegert said the Park Cities area "is Bush country – very, very strong Bush country." "Many of the leaders in his campaigns came from the Park Cities," Mr. Driegert said. "He has a lot of good friends there – people who he likes and who like him and who he feels very comfortable with." Whether that connection will sway Mr. Bush in favor of SMU remains to be seen. The biggest challenge for the university could be finding a site. Its 170-acre campus is surrounded by shopping centers on the west and by houses and condominiums on the north, south and east.

The largest open space is a cluster of playing fields at SMU Boulevard and North Central Expressway. If officials decided to build a library there, that would give them only 7.5 acres. That might be enough room for a library similar to the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Mo., which looks like a post office, but is not comparable to recent presidential libraries. Bill Clinton's $125 million library, for instance, will be on a 27-acre riverfront stretch. Dr. Turner said size doesn't matter. While freestanding libraries require room for amenities, the Bush library would have all it needed on the SMU campus, he said.

"The amount of land that you need for a library and museum is not that much," Dr. Turner said. "Our site already has everything that you would build if you had excess land." Residents of the University Gardens Condominium complex, near Ford Stadium adjacent to the campus, said they are worried that their homes might be considered. After a two-year public struggle with the complex's homeowners' association, SMU is expected to complete the purchase of a majority share of the 12-acre complex. If a judge approves the deal, the university would control the homeowners' association by the summer of 2003. That leaves holdouts, some of whom are retirees wondering about their homes.

"It's very difficult for me to contemplate moving," said resident Rita Taubenfeld. "I'm 76; I'm really too old to move." SMU plans to use University Gardens for student housing in the short term, but it might consider it for the library down the road, officials said. "That will be dealt with in due time," Dr. Turner said. Despite the competition and the obstacles, SMU officials said they have a good shot at becoming the host of the library. "We could offer a very developed, attractive setting," Dr. Turner said, "with all that SMU and Dallas have to offer."

[jobrayne]

Forget people's political persuasions for the moment, is anyone sick of everything becoming Bush this and Bush that??

[ibryant]

Amen!

You're not alone!! I understand I'm not of the majority in Texas...and I'm not trying to start a political debate, but I can't understand it one bit!!! Why would you want a library named after George W.????? He does nothing but give Texas a bad name and reputation!

[MustangMonkey]

Regardles of the name on the library, it will be a great asset. Plus, the presidential libraries outlast the people they are named after, and generally outlast that persons reputation.

[KelleyUSA]

What struck me was that the City of Arlington is getting involved. If the City of Arlington is making a run- why not the City of Dallas? I think a library of this magnitude would be a great fit for the Arts District and would be a huge tourist attraction. Either way- I think SMU or Texas Tech are considered the early front runners...

[Quiz03]

What I don't get is why doesn't Dallas join in with the SMU proposal. SMU could get all the academic benefit(foreign leaders, a Bush School etc etc), and downtown or Fair Park could get the library and museum and the multitudes of tourists. The Clinton library has a similar relationship so there is a basis for this.

[gc]

Universities, cities vie for Bush presidential library
02:39 PM CDT on Thursday, June 24, 2004
By APRIL KINSER / DallasNews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/062404dntexlibraries.2927e056e.html

President George W. Bush may face an uncertain future in the White House, but one aspect about his presidency is sure: it will be memorialized with an official library and museum.

The recognition that comes with housing a presidential library was evident earlier this month, when tens of thousands of people visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum to pay their final respects and millions watched his funeral and related events on television. Several Texas university and city officials said the spotlight on the Simi Valley, Calif., library has re-energized them about promoting their own potential sites. “Watching (the) ceremonies, I was thinking, ‘Please, God, let us have a presidential library on campus. Please, God, let (Bush) pick us,’” said Tommye Lou Davis, spokeswoman for Baylor University, one of several universities vying for the library. “I couldn’t help but think what an honor it would be and what a plus it would be for our campus to be a repository for history such as that.”

Baylor and Southern Methodist University are polishing proposals for the site, and the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and the city of Arlington also have expressed strong interest in housing the library. “It definitely brings honor and prestige to the university to be the site of a presidential library,” said Patti LaSalle, a spokeswoman for SMU. “Right now, it’s a matter of what we can bring to the equation. Our focus is on our proposal and what we can offer.” The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration oversees 10 presidential libraries throughout the country and will add one more when the William J. Clinton Presidential Center opens in November. Richard Nixon has a privately run library in Yorba Linda, Calif., that excludes his presidential records. Following the Watergate scandal, Congress started taking those documents through the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act and NARA began archiving them. The Richard Nixon Presidential Materials Staff is part of the presidential libraries system.

The first known presidential library is the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Hyde Park, N.Y., which opened in 1916, but it has no affiliation with NARA. Not all former presidents choose to have a presidential library, but every leader since Herbert Hoover has opted for one since Franklin Roosevelt donated his archives and papers in 1939. Each presidential library varies in the memorabilia and information stored among its records. But all NARA-administered libraries house, in total, more than 400 million pages of textual materials; almost 10 million photographs; 15 million feet of motion picture film; about 100,000 hours of disc, audiotape and videotape recordings; and more than a half million pieces of memorabilia, according to NARA’s Web site.

All papers or records produced during the statutory or ceremonial duties of a president and gifts from heads of state are required to go into a presidential library, but personal letters and memorabilia are not, NARA spokeswoman Susan Cooper said. “No two libraries are the same in any way,” Cooper said. “The president’s personality is really reflected in the choice of library and what the library’s mission will be.” University and city officials say the public good of providing knowledge and research are motivating factors in the push for a presidential library. A boost in the local economy through tourism doesn’t hurt either, but it could come with a hefty price tag, said Dr. Donald Dyal, dean of libraries for Texas Tech University. Texas Tech disbanded its George W. Bush library proposal committee after it was decided that the more than $200 million required for the project was not a priority, he said. Other universities and cities are looking at approximately $100 million to $200 million for completion of the Bush presidential library, which would be privately funded through donations and fund-raisers.

“I think everyone would be excited to put a library here, but when it came down to if they would write a check, the silence was deafening,” Dyal said. “Our lack of population also hurt us. If you were elected president would you want to hide your legacy under a bushel?” Texas already has two libraries dedicated to former U.S. leaders. The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum opened seven years ago at Texas A&M University. The Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum opened at UT in 1971. Building the library and accompanying LBJ School of Public Affairs cost about $18 million. Spokesman Robert Hicks said the LBJ presidential library hosted more than 265,000 visitors in 2003. Some of the more popular permanent museum exhibits include a replica of the Oval Office, an animatronic figure of LBJ telling humorous, first-hand stories, and a first lady gallery showcasing the life and causes of Lady Bird Johnson, he said.

“People also like to see the Gifts of State Exhibit, which includes gifts given to LBJ from leaders around the world,” Hicks said. “That one’s always popular.” The projected cost of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, scheduled to open in November, is more than $165 million. Skip Rutherford, president of the Clinton Presidential Foundation, said officials expect the center to draw more than 300,000 tourists and $17 million in tourism revenue. “I’ve spoken with people from SMU and Baylor,” Rutherford said. “My advice to them would be: Do whatever it takes to get it.” In touting the Baylor site, officials are noting the campus’s proximity to Bush’s Crawford ranch and a 200-mile radius reaching almost 80 percent of the state’s population. Baylor has formed a national steering committee, hired three consultants to aid in the proposal and fund-raising process, and sent a letter signed by hundreds of Texas mayors pushing for the Baylor location.

SMU has created four committees to oversee the proposal process and claims first lady Laura Bush as a 1968 alumna and a current member of the university’s board of trustees. The Bushes are former Dallas residents. “These committees have been formed for over three years,” said Tom Barry, vice president for executive affairs at SMU. “Sometimes it runs hot and heavy and sometimes it hits a lull. Right now, we’re doing everything we can to give George W. Bush the best proposal we can give him.” Barry would not give specifics on the proposal’s selling points. But he denied that the university’s recent purchase of the site of the former Mrs Baird’s factory on Mockingbird Lane would be used for the library. “We have said Mrs Baird’s may be used as a temporary library, but we have no intention to use that space,” Barry said. “Our posture has been to do our proposal under the radar screen.”

UT-Austin claims President Bush’s daughter, Jenna, as a graduate and Texas A&M officials believe a father-son library would be ideal, but it doesn’t appear that any universities outside Texas will provide much competition. Although Bush and his father are graduates of Yale University, as is Jenna’s twin sister, Barbara, Yale officials say there has been no public bid to house the library on the campus. City of Arlington officials hope that Bush’s former affiliation with the Texas Rangers as a managing partner could move the president to choose the city. “He knows he has a spot here if he wants to come,” Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said.

Ultimately, Bush himself will make the final decision on where his library will be located, but don’t look for an answer until after the November election. “Quite frankly, presidents consider public discussion of a presidential library as bad politics because it appears to the world that they think they are going to lose,” Rutherford said.

[Foucault]

Although Bush and his father are graduates of Yale University, as is Jenna’s twin sister, Barbara, Yale officials say there has been no public bid to house the library on the campus.
Well, duh. :rolleyes:

[tamtagon]

“Watching (the) [burial] ceremonies, I was thinking, ‘Please, God, let us have a presidential library on campus. Please, God, let (Bush) pick us,’” said Tommye Lou Davis, spokeswoman for Baylor University,

Only time will tell whether the Baptist God is more powerful than the Methodist God. Amen and amen, da-da.

[freewaytincan]

Only time will tell whether the Baptist God is more powerful than the Methodist God. Amen and amen, da-da.

You're not as funny as you think you are.

[Columbus Civil]

I thought it was funny :)

[bloodandpopcorn]

I did too.

[psukhu]

That was funny.


Who has the wealthier, more generous alumni? SMU or Baylor?

[warlock55]

I hope they don't forget to include My Pet Goat in his library.

[clipper]

Sounds like they think they will need the Bush II Library sooner than AFTER a second term..

[Quiz03]

Sounds like they think they will need the Bush II Library sooner than AFTER a second term..


The current timeline is Standard Operating Procedure. Clinton's site was decided on a year into term two.

[noelamador]

hopefully there won't be a term two

[tamtagon]

hopefully there won't be a term two

I know, if a president is going to intentionally mislead the public, I'd rather it concern his/her personal life.

[Foucault]

Who has the wealthier, more generous alumni? SMU or Baylor?
I would say SMU, but Baylor is bigger...SMU is up to its neck with new buildings (and other things); still, they have more fund-raising power, I would say.
SMU is a much more liberal (comparatively) institution than Baylor, so it'll be interesting to see if that has any effect on his choice.

[aceplace]

Maybe we need a politics thread on this board, so those who are so inclined can vent their opinions to one another... we can tell people to TAKE IT TO THE POLITICS BOARD!

As for me... local Dallas-Ft Worth politics is more than I can stand...

[Quiz03]

Maybe we need a politics thread on this board, so those who are so inclined can vent their opinions to one another... we can tell people to TAKE IT TO THE POLITICS BOARD!

agreed

[psukhu]

W is Methodist, right?

[pariah]

well SMU is a methodist school in name only, the religous affiliation is long since gone. by the way, I can't wait for Ws' second term

[freewaytincan]

Maybe we need a politics thread on this board, so those who are so inclined can vent their opinions to one another... we can tell people to TAKE IT TO THE POLITICS BOARD!

As for me... local Dallas-Ft Worth politics is more than I can stand...

No way. I don't want this place becoming another SSC. Or worse, SSP.

[bloodandpopcorn]

Yeah, I can vent on my hate for certain politicians and love for others elsewhere. I'd prefer this forum not to have that going on, as it could cause some anger and other tension flarings that really would not benefit the forumers as a whole.

[zigwamo]

well SMU is a methodist school in name only, the religous affiliation is long since gone. by the way, I can't wait for Ws' second term

SMU is nonsectarian in its teaching, but it is indeed formally affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It also has the Perkins School of Theology.

[Flaming Moderate]

I'm a Baylor grad, but I think SMU has a good chance to land the presidential library. Even if you're a Bush hater or political bigot, you can't deny this would be a tremendous asset. Bush is among the most important administrations in this and last century.

[tamtagon]

I think it would be great to have the library in Dallas even though I disagree more than agree with the policies GW Bush brings. I'd rather it was near the West End to provide another destination in the CBD.

[Quiz03]

I think Fair Park would be a great location for it. Close enough to SMU (if they do win out), but also enough land to provide the buffer around the library. Fair Park has the land and it would provide more of a boost to the other Fair Park tenants than the Cowboys stadium. Presidential libraries and their complex have to provide concrete planters and enough of a setback due to their high visibility as a target. I'm not sure if there is a sufficient plot of land near the West End or downtown given that restriction.

Millions of unique visitors would come per year and it would be a tremendous cultural asset. A&M for example routinely has world leaders come to College Station because of 41's library. Lech Walensa, Gorbachev, Helmut Kohl....I even met Sen. Bob Kerry at one of the many events held because of the Library. What would be more "world-class" than world leaders regularly coming to Dallas?

[bloodandpopcorn]

Good points, Quiz. Though I'm not a fan of many of his policies, I do agree it would be great to have it here.

How many people visit Nixon's presidential library?

[Fobulous]

please don't bring the Bush library here..we've got too much Bush here already...

[freewaytincan]

please don't bring the Bush library here..we've got too much Bush here already...

Read all of the old posts. Then comment. No politics like this!

[tamtagon]

While the foreign policy of GW Bush so far leaves little more than a dubious future for this country, the documentation housed in the library could be very interesting. More than likely, truly insightful and telling information will not be shared, and the whole venture will be an attempt to divert attention from mistakes. I share the sentiment that having this library in Dallas most likely would cheapen the city, but optimistically hope for an unbaised facility where it would be possible to study history; I expect a facility without objectivity. It might be better in Waco. By the way, is there a memorial for the Davidians in/around Waco?

[freewaytincan]

While the foreign policy of GW Bush so far leaves little more than a dubious future for this country, the documentation housed in the library could be very interesting. More than likely, truly insightful and telling information will not be shared, and the whole venture will be an attempt to divert attention from mistakes. I share the sentiment that having this library in Dallas most likely would cheapen the city, but optimistically hope for an unbaised facility where it would be possible to study history; I expect a facility without objectivity. It might be better in Waco. By the way, is there a memorial for the Davidians in/around Waco?

Why let Waco take that tourism from us?

[tamtagon]

Why let Waco take that tourism from us?

Of course I'd rather have another destination in Dallas, but most out-of-state tourist who would make a trip to Waco to see the library would also pass through Dallas. But a destination in Waco would strengthen overall development of the I-35 corridor and additional "in between" destinations provide more compelling reasons to include passenger train service between DFW and Monteray.

[gc]

^ Any word on SMU's pursuit on the library?

[Columbus Civil]

I hope it looks better than the Clinton libray.

[noelamador]

I like the Clinton Library. Little Rock needs something modern and innovative

[F4shionablecHa0s]

I hope that SMU gets the library. I'll still hate the bastard with a passion, but at least I can smile on the fact that Dallas got something pretty cool out of the deal.

[tamtagon]

I think presidential libraries are very interesting, too. The Carter Center in Atlanta's got tons of historical documents, and W. Bush library should have a pretty big catalogue.

[MazelT]

Didn't both Bush and Cheney used to live in Highland park or Preston Hollow? I'm almost sure they both did. That would be interesting to have the library in the same general neighborhood the President used to live in.

[freewaytincan]

I hope it looks better than the Clinton libray.

Well, it looks like something unmentionable if you see it from the side.




Didn't both Bush and Cheney used to live in Highland park or Preston Hollow? I'm almost sure they both did. That would be interesting to have the library in the same general neighborhood the President used to live in.

Yeah, Cheney lived there for a while, don't know how long.

[Geaux Tigers]

I hope it looks better than the Clinton libray.
You mean the Clinton Library and Massage Parlor? "We specalize in happy endings!"

[freewaytincan]

http://www.cdicon.com/clinton.JPG

You guys know darn well what that looks like.

[gc]

^ It is far from my style, but I like it.

[freewaytincan]

^ It is far from my style, but I like it.

Yeah, but you're missing the point. Think anatomically.

And this isn't just me. Everyone I've shown this to - which is a wide variety of people with all kinds of different political views - sees the same thing.

[gc]

^ I knew what you were referring to but chose to ignore it...get to studying!

[freewaytincan]

^ I knew what you were referring to but chose to ignore it...get to studying!

You mean driving; I'm in Dallas this weekend for the first time since August!

[Mballar]

Yeah Urban, why is that the only thing you keep focusing on? While I understand what you are trying to imply, what I don't understand is why that is important to you.

[freewaytincan]

Yeah Urban, why is that the only thing you keep focusing on? While I understand what you are trying to imply, what I don't understand is why that is important to you.

Because...I don't know.

I would like to see the Bush library, should it end up at SMU, be built in the same style as the campus.