Lest We Forget

Neither of us were big supporters of George W. Bush but we are fans of Presidential libraries and museums. These institutions not only give a close look at the individual president but also at the context in which he served. We live close to the Hoover Museum and try to get to their special exhibits and a couple of years ago really enjoyed the Truman Museum in the Kansas City area. So yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Bush Museum on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas.

Of course, the defining event of the Bush presidency was the 9/11 attack and a considerable part of the exhibit area is devoted to that. It is an important but disturbing reminder. Twisted beams from Ground Zero anchor the display and excellent media presentations set witness memories against the overall events. The surrounding grey wall in the photo is engraved with the names of every person who died that day in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

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Other exhibits focus on the campaign to conquer AIDS in Africa, the financial crisis, and First Lady Laura Bush's interest in literacy. There is a replica of the oval office and displays chronicling winners of the Medal of Honor, Medal of Freedom and the National Humanities medal during Bush's presidency. I was gratified to see the Iowa Writer's Workshop listed in 2002  for the humanities medal.

All in all, a very worthwhile afternoon. The weather is pretty good and we returned to our camper and a crockpot of soup to nurse our colds and whine a little.

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