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DALLAS (AP) -- A tour of the George W. Bush Presidential
Library and Museum begins in a bright area representing his early
domestic agenda, but with one turn, visitors find themselves in a
darkened room surrounded by chilling reminders of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks.
This contrast, symbolizing Bush's
abrupt shift in priorities less than eight months into his first term,
is among the most poignant exhibits at a museum being dedicated this
week that also chronicles the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hurricane
Katrina, the Florida recount and various other historical events.
Bush
told The Associated Press last week that he wanted to make sure the
part of the museum devoted to 9/11 was powerful enough to remind
visitors of how much the world changed that day.
"It's
very emotional and very profound," Bush said. "One of the reasons it
has to be is because memories are fading rapidly and the profound impact
of that attack is becoming dim with time, and we want to make sure
people remember not only the lives lost and the courage shown but the
lesson that the human condition overseas matters to the national
security of our country."
The George W. Bush
Presidential Center, which includes the library and museum along with
Bush's policy institute, will be dedicated Thursday on the campus of
Southern Methodist University in Dallas. All the living presidents,
including President Barack Obama and Bush's father, George H.W. Bush,
plan to attend. It will open to the public on May 1.
The
museum uses everything from news clips to interactive screens to
artifacts to tell the story of Bush's eight years in office. A container
of chads - the remnants of the famous Florida punch cards - is part of
an exhibit about the 2000 election, which Bush won after the Supreme
Court ordered Florida to stop its recount process more than a month
after Election Day.
In the 9/11 display,
called the "Day of Fire," video images from the attacks flash around a
twisted metal beam recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade
Center. The exhibit also includes the bullhorn Bush used days later to
address a crowd of rescue workers at ground zero: "I can hear you. The
rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings
down will hear all of us soon."
Longtime Bush
adviser Karen Hughes was standing just a few feet away from the
president when he began making the unplanned speech. Hughes said she
remembers turning to Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe
Allbaugh and saying, "That's going to be in his library someday."
Brendan
Miniter, who served as the liaison for the Bushes as the museum's
exhibits were developed, said the idea was to present the facts and "let
them speak for themselves." He said they also did not want to shy away
from more controversial aspects of the administration.
"I
suspect that people would have thought that we wouldn't have talked
about say enhanced interrogation techniques or the decision to create
the prison in Guantanamo," he said, adding that former Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice is featured in a video about why the
administration felt both were necessary.
Visitors
also are taken through a timeline of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A
display at the end makes the case against Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein, including that he ignored 17 United Nations Security Council
resolutions demanding he disclose his weapons programs and fired at
British and American pilots monitoring the U.N.-imposed no-fly zone.
The
exhibit also acknowledges the biggest controversy about the
justification for war: No weapons of mass destruction were found.
A
"Decision Points Theater," lined with rows of interactive screens,
seeks to put visitors in the shoes of a president. It provides facts for
them to decide such questions as whether to invade Iraq or provide
bailout money during the financial crisis.
"It's
conflicting," Miniter said. "You go to the Capitol Hill and somebody
will say you need to provide some resources to stabilize the financial
industry, and then somebody else will say no, let it work itself out,
don't do anything."
A "Freedom Wall" in the
museum features pictures including a soldier greeting children, former
first lady Laura Bush supporting women's rights and the Bushes meeting
with freedom advocates.
The impact of AIDS
around the world - a focus of Bush's international outreach efforts - is
illustrated with a large map of the world. Small photographs of the
faces of those suffering from the disease are placed into the shapes of
the continents of the world, with those with more AIDS cases, including
Africa, looming larger.
The museum also
features a section on life at the White House, displaying a ball that
obviously got some heavy use by the Bushes' late dog Barney. A
full-scale replica of the Oval Office leads outside to an actual rose
garden. The center also features a 15-acre park recreating a Texas
prairie.
Bush said his focus will continue to
be the George W. Bush Institute, which has featured programs focused on
education, economic growth, global health and human freedom. Through the
institute, his activities have included yearly bike rides with wounded
military veterans and traveling to Africa as part of an effort among
several groups to fight cervical and breast cancer in sub-Saharan
Africa.
He also recently took up oil painting,
inspired by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Bush, who
was the 43rd president, signs his works "43."
"I'm a beginner and I tell people that the signature on my paintings is worth more than the paintings," Bush said.
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George W. Bush Presidential Center, http://www.bushcenter.org
George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu
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