Lone Star State travels: Post-Presidential

Hi everyone,

I'm typing this up as I digest lunch after spending the morning at the new George W Bush Presidential Center, where I spent most of the morning.

The center is another attraction you really need to see. The building is very new and has lost none of its 'new' feeling. About 70% of it covers domestic issues like No Child Left Behind, the election campaign and White House life. The other 30% covers September 11 and the ensuing wars. A focal point in that 30% is a massive length of steel from the World Trade Center.

The museum component takes a little under a day to see properly and is well pitched at the general public - in particular it sheds light on the debates you might not have paid attention to at the time, like NCLB was for me. It resists presenting Bush as the last word in Presidential excellence, and also resists the temptation to settle old scores (for example, the largely unfair criticisms after Hurricane Katrina are not engaged with).

After looking at it, my string feeling is that September 11 was kind of a disaster for W. While it legitimized him as a leader after the election in Florida, it caused such a left-right polarization that his fairly modest domestic agenda was swamped. Had he had more time to mature as president, and more time to massage through changes, like those to social security, he would probably have left a reputation as a reasonable, perhaps unspectacular president, but with a record of nuts-and-bolts success.

Well, I should post this and see some more of Dallas while I can. Flying to New Orleans tomorrow.

Will try to post this evening.