TX Universities fight for GW Bush Library

Anonymous Patron writes “The Waco Tribune-Herald has an editorial discussing efforts by Southern Methodist University and Baylor University to eventually earn the distinction of having the George W Bush Presidential Library on their campus.”

January 5, 2005 by Uncategorized 3

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3 Responses

  1. Bishop says:
    January 5, 2005 at 9:23 pm

    THe battle
    Speaking as someone who worked at SMU for about 5 years, I think it will come down to what W. wants ‘his’ library to be.

    If he wants to actually use it himself, Baylor is much closer to his ranch at Crawford. Also, it will be a big fish in a relatively small pond and would really be a showcase establishment.

    SMU is in the middle of Dallas and would be *very* convienient for researchers to get to. Also, Laura is an alumn of SMU and serves on the Board of Regents (or whatever its called). THe downside is that it would, at best, be a medium size fish in a *very* large pond.

    THe only other option is A&M where GB senior’s library is. THat might make it a sentamental favorite.

    It will be interesting to see what happens 🙂

    Reply
  2. watkd says:
    January 6, 2005 at 2:26 am

    Texas Tech: the logical choice
    Why isn’t Texas Tech mentioned as a serious contender. It is the largest public university in Texas after UT and A&M, which already have presidential libraries. The President has the right to choose the location of his library. But, why ignore a good West Texas university such as Texas Tech. Bush claims his roots are in the West Texas city of Midland. Here, he lived as a young boy and married his wife Laura. Therefore, why not support this region of the state by awarding the library to Texas Tech?

    Reply
  3. Bishop says:
    January 6, 2005 at 4:44 am

    Re:Texas Tech: the logical choice
    Speaking as a native West Texan and the son of two alumni of Texas Tech, its out in the middle of nowehere.

    Also, Lubbock is over 2 hours away from his ‘home’ town. Its a bit of a stretch to claim any connection.

    I loved Tech as a kid and almost went there for college, but it would be fairly inconvienient for most researchers.

    Finally, and this is purely subjective, TT hasn’t been fighting as hard for it. All of the others have spent $$ on potential sites and even PR teams to promote them as choices. Presidential libraries are built almost enitrely on contributions so that counts for lot! Once they are built, then they are turned over to the government, but that initial push comes from cronies normally.

    Personally, I see it as a long shot . . .

    Reply

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