Did I hasten Bush 41’s death by scheduling my trip to his gravesite before he actually died? I hope not.
| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Location | College Station, TX |
| Operated By | National Archives and Records Administration |
| When Visited | December 14, 2018 |
| Who With | Solo visit |
| Presidential Significance | Presidential Library and Burial site of George H. W. Bush. Museum also has content related to George W. Bush |
| Pre-Visit Reading | N/A |
I’d had this Presidential road trip mapped out in my mind for a while. I’d take a four-day weekend and hit both Bush Presidential Libraries and Dealey Plaza in Texas. Eventually Bill Clinton’s birthplace and childhood home, just a bit over the border in Arkansas got added to the itinerary, along with some stops actually (gasp!) not related to presidential history.
But I held out on actually embarking on this trip. Why? Because George H. W. Bush was old. Like, really old. And not in great health. I’m not trying to be morbid here folks, but he’d lived a long life but it was evident it was nearing the end. And that end involved plans to be buried at his Presidential Library. It was simply more efficient for me to hold out until I could visit his library and his gravesite in the same visit.
Once Barbara Bush passed away in April of 2018, I figured things were close, like it might even be a Carrie Fisher/Debbie Reynolds kind of thing. When George ended up in the hospital shortly after Barbara’s death, I, like much of the country, thought “well, this is it.” But it wasn’t.
As 2018 marched along, I made sure to keep a couple vacation days available, mentally earmarking them for my Texas adventure. Towards the end of the year, I needed to go ahead and plan my remaining days off before they expired. After the new year, I wouldn’t be able to take a long weekend for a while. I scheduled to take off December 13 and 14, the Thursday and Friday leading into the last weekend in 2018 I had available for a getaway. I did this intentionally to keep the Texas road trip possible, but and the dates neared I increasingly assumed that I’d end up staying at home, or maybe making an alternate presidential road trip to Georgia.
Then it happened. It was late on November 30 when a haptic tap from my Apple Watch drew my attention to a news alert announcing Bush’s death. It was exactly two weeks before the time I had planned off, enough time for all the pomp and circumstance that goes along with a State funeral, plus a little buffer. I was going to Texas.
I must admit, I felt a little guilty. This was compounded in the days following when multiple people familiar with my presidential tourism hobby said something to me along the lines of “Wow, you must be excited that George H. W. Bush died!” Was I excited that he was dead? Not particularly. But did his inevitable passing just happen to come at a time that had exciting implications for my travel plans? Well…yeah. Within 24 hours of seeing that news alert, I had my hotels booked and arrangements made. I would see H. W.’s grave, as my dad teased me, “before he even had a chance to get cold.”
But enough back story. On with the visit!
The George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is located on the campus of Texas A & M University, which just happened to be holding a series of graduation ceremonies the afternoon that I visited. My arrival coincided with that of several hundred others heading to the 2:00 ceremony a down the road from the library. So, my visit started with a bonus 30 minutes of frustration. But we’ll just glaze over that pick up once I arrived.
As I walked up to the main building, I noticed that the eight American flags out front were all at half staff, and for George Bush himself (see the pic at the top of this post). Once I passed through the metal detector at the from door, I entered the lobby, and the first place I encountered one of the red area rugs that proved to be ubiquitous. The room was large and circular, with several photos of George H. W. Bush on display.
As I gazed up to take it all in, one of the several staff members standing nearby stepped toward me and said hello. I said hi, assuming that signal the conclusion of our perfunctory social interaction. However, she stood there, expectantly smiling at me. I sensed she thought I would have questions about what to do and would be eager for her expert guidance. The thing was, I had a fairly good idea of how museums worked, and this one didn’t seem particularly unique.
I tried to come up with something. “So, uh,” I said, gesturing towards the admission desk, “I buy tickets over there?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “But there is one thing you should know first. The only restrooms in the building are right over there.” She pointed to the opposite side of the lobby. I immediately regretted questioning her attention…turns out she did have valuable information I needed!
After visiting the restrooms, I bought my ticket, making some small talk with the college student working the counter about the recent increase in visitors. Then I headed to the entry to the museum area, where another lady was handing out audio guides and maps. When I started looking at the map, she immediately asked if I was looking for the gravesite (almost as if there had been a lot of people interested in that recently!) and proceeded to give me directions. I figured I would go ahead and visit the gravesite before heading into the museum.
The gravesite was a short walk away from the main building, maybe the equivalent of a couple blocks. To get there, you walk through an open area between the library and the buildings belonging to the Bush School of Government and Public Service. In this area there is a statue of Bush, as well as another statue celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall that contains a chuck of the wall itself. Then you walk part way around a pond and through an entryway to get to the secluded spot where the gravesite is.
There was a steady stream of small groups and individuals making their way back and forth. This was the seventh day the gravesite had been open to the public following Bush’s burial, so I wasn’t sure how busy it would be. I ended up spending about ten minutes at the gravesite, during which time the crowed milling about at any given time fluctuated between ten and twenty people. Not too bad.
After I visited the grave, I headed back inside. I returned to the lady at the museum entrance, who asked to see my ticket. She was standing in front of a wall of audio guides which she was presumably tasked with handing out, but I had to ask for one. She seemed surprised that someone wanted one, but gladly handed one over and instructed me on its functionality. I never actually used it.
Then it was exhibit time! Compared to other Presidential library museums, the space was on the smaller side and very plain. It was basically a big box with exposed ceilings. But, the exhibits were well done and interesting, which I would choose over a big, fancy building any day of the week. Plus, I really liked that the museum covered Bush’s whole life, not just his years as President (W could have taken a page from his dad’s library here, but that’s another post for another day).
The museum started off with exhibits about his family and Barbara Bush and his his time serving in WWII in the Navy. Then it went into his days in east Texas making oil money, serving in Congress, being UN ambassador, diplomat to China, director of the CIA, and Vice President, and, of course, President. If you think about it, a President only serves in that office for 8 years max (the exception being FDR), but they live a lot of years outside of that. I really do love when these museums cover the President as a whole person, so this was appreciated.
I won’t go into detail about every exhibit, but I’ll name a few highlights for me:
- Footage of George H. W. Bush being rescued after having had to eject from his airplane during WWII. A short video containing this footage was playing on a loop. I’d seen it before, but it doesn’t get old. With smart phones and people recording every little mundane event today, it’s easy to overlook how unlikely it was that this video exists.
- The Oval Office, or at least half of it. A recreation of the Oval Office is a common staple in Prudential Libraries, but I’ve found it’s usually roped off, or you can go in only if the professional photographer on staff takes your photo. Only part of the Oval was replicated here, but you were free to walk around, explore, and snap your own photos. So that’s a win. (There was also a recreation of the Situation room, but I didn’t get a pic because I didn’t want to interrupt the family that had taken it over to discuss a pressing situation–where they were going to eat afterwards).
- Crazy Sock Display. How can you not love a display commemorating fun socks? This case wasn’t in the museum proper, but in the hallway you walk down between the end of the exhibit space and the exit. But it’s still a highlight in my book.
I did have a couple minuses. First, there was no orientation video. I’m a big fan of an orientation video at museums and historical sites. Even if the video isn’t amazing, it gives you a moment to sit and mentally shift from traveling to get there to being in the mindset to take everything in. That was missing here.
Second, the gift shop wasn’t my cup of tea. I will definitely spend some money in a Presidential site gift shop, but I was struggling to find anything I wanted here. It was a small-fish gift shop that kind of felt like generic gift shop for old people (which, let’s face it, is probably the target demographic here) with some bland Bush and generic presidential merchandise mixed in. Eventually I settled for a small magnet, about the size of a Sacajawea dollar coin. I declined when the cashier offered a bag.
“Well, let me give you this here,” she said, proudly presenting me with a roughly 4×6 card featuring Bush’s picture as if it was he finest treasure in all the land. “Now do you want a bag?” she asked, almost smug in the knowledge that she had me. I consented to the bag.
I honestly didn’t think to look at the card and see what all was on it until the next day. Below Bush’s picture were his birth and death dates, and the back listed all his public service and included a thank you from the Bush family for helping to honor and celebrate Bush’s life. Extensive research (ie a Google search) revealed that this same card was also distributed at Bush’s Texas visitation. Not sure if they just had a surplus or whatever, but it was a nice touch to hand these out to visitors even though the official funeral events were over.
Finally, one last thing that is really neither a plus or a minus, but maybe a “huh?” There were a whole bunch of these red area rugs everywhere. I thought that was an interesting choice. Most of the space had a fairly sterile office/academic building look, but then there were all these rugs that kind of looked more like they belonged in a residential environment. Some looked like they hadn’t stood up to the foot traffic very well, especially the fringe. But whatever.
Overall, the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was definitely worth a visit. For me, Bush was the first “new” President of my lifetime. I was born during Reagan’s first month in office, so by time Bush ran I was old enough to understand what was going on as far as the election, but too young to really have a political opinion or understand policy or whatever. For me, this visit helped me to learn more about Bush, while also enjoying some nice nostalgia absent of of strong political feelings (the same can’t be said of my visit to his son’s library the next day, but, again, that’s another post entirely).