The exterior of the center — Photo courtesy of George W. Bush Presidential Center Facebook page
History and political science buffs have a new must-see spot on their Dallas to-do list - the George W. Bush Presidential Center! Opened in May 2013, this huge center on a 15-acre park in Dallas is home to the Bush Presidential Library and Museum and Bush Institute. It's located on the campus of Southern Methodist University and accessible at I-75 and University.
Visitors are given access to a wide variety of official records and artifacts from the Bush presidential term, such as more than 70 million pages of paper records, four million digital photos and 200 million emails. In fact, the library features the largest digital holding of all National Archives and Records Administration presidential libraries.
The George W. Bush Presidential Center museum also features a full-scale replica of Bush's Oval Office, steel from the World Trade Center, and the infamous Florida voting chads from the 2000 election. One of the most interesting parts of the museum is its interactive exhibits that invite museum visitors to put themselves in Bush's position during some of his most challenging choices, such as when he faced entering the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina and the financial bailout.
This Dallas attraction was built with private donations, and it is the 13th presidential library in the National Archives and Records Administration system.
