The mission of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University is to preserve and make available the records and artifacts of George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States. We promote civic literacy and increased historical understanding of our national experience, and foster a community of public service and volunteerism.
We accomplish this mission by offering rich educational and public programs, original museum exhibits and access to our archival holdings.
Bush Library and Museum Facts and Figures
The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum opened to the public Nov. 7, 1997. The library's research room opened Jan. 20, 1998, according to Presidential Records Act guidelines. The library and museum is part of the George Bush Presidential Library Center at Texas A&M University, a 90-acre area on Texas A&M's West Campus that is also home to the prestigious Bush School of Government and Public Service, the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation, and the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center.
The Bush Library and Museum is one of 13 Presidential Libraries in the National Archives and Records Administration's Presidential Libraries system. For more information about Presidential Libraries, please visit http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/.
The library and museum is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the preservation, research, and exhibition of official records, personal papers, and memorabilia of George Bush. The museum has a main gallery space dedicated to "The Life and Times of George Bush" and a changing exhibit gallery, the Ansary Gallery of American History. The first exhibit in the Ansary Gallery documented the life of President and Mrs. Bush since the White House, with memorabilia that included the parachute used in his 1997 jump with the U.S. Army Golden Knights in Arizona. Other exhibits that have been featured include: "Flexing the Nation's Muscle;" "The Longest Winter: Berlin and the Cold War;" "Christmas in the White House;" "Barbara Bush: An Extraordinary Journey;" "Trains: Tracks of the Iron Horse;" "The White House in Miniature;" "Beyond the Moon: NASA's Continuing Mission;" "The Culture of Wine;" "The Heart Truth® Red Dress Collection and First Ladies Red Dress Collection;" and "Headed to the White House."
The Bush Library and Museum's archives contain more than 44 million pages of documents, 2 million photographs, thousands of sound and video recordings, and other volumes of information documenting the life and career of President Bush. The library and museum's documents include George Bush’s vice presidential and presidential records, as well as scores of personal papers from his public service career as a U.S. congressman, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing, China, and director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The museum collection holdings contain more than 100,000 artifacts, including more than 3,000 of the gifts from foreign heads of state that George Bush received as president, as well as gifts that he received as vice president.
In 2007, the museum completed an $8.3 million renovation to the main exhibit on the life of George Bush. With the renovation the museum's video content and visitor interactive participation have increased tenfold. The museum now features state-of-the-art audio guides featuring the voices of George and Barbara Bush as well as their daughter Doro Bush Koch. The guides are available in English and Spanish, and an audio descriptive version is available for visitors who are visually impaired. The cost to rent an audio guide is $3.00.
The museum's main exhibit has items ranging from a 1925 film of George Bush's first steps in Kennebunkport, Maine, to documents highlighting his service at the CIA and United Nations, and records and correspondence from his tenure as the 41st President of the United States of America. Other areas of the gallery feature a TBM Avenger aircraft, a 1947 Studebaker, ordinance from Operation Desert Storm, a segment of the Berlin Wall, replicas of President Bush's Camp David Office, Oval Office and White House Press Room, as well as numerous foreign and domestic gifts.
Of special significance is a museum classroom, the first of its kind in the Presidential Libraries network. The classroom can be used by student groups as a computer learning lab or as a traditional classroom. It is the Bush Library and Museum's educational mission to inform and enrich learning for all ages about American History, the role of the Presidency in general with special focus on the Administration of George Bush, the 41st President, and benefit the educational quality of the community through support of civic literacy programs.
The museum is open seven days a week with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Hours are Monday through Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays noon to 5 p.m. The research room is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except federal holidays. Museum admission is $7.00 for adults; senior citizens and retired military are $6.00; groups of 20 or more with advanced reservations are $5.00, children 6-17 years old are $3.00, children under 6 are free, and Texas A&M University System and Blinn College students with a valid ID are free, all other college students are $3.00.
