February 22, 2008

Quotes from Officials and Publications
on The George W. Bush Presidential Center at SMU

Civic Leaders

“For Dallas and SMU to be the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Center is a great honor and tremendous opportunity. The historical archives, artifacts and programs of the Center will be a major addition to the educational and cultural resources of our city, serving our residents, attracting visitors from throughout the world, and strengthening our economy. Since its founding nearly 100 years ago with the help of Dallas leaders, SMU has been a source of pride for Dallas, and partnership between campus and city has been instrumental in attracting the Bush Presidential Center. We look forward to working with the leadership of SMU, the Bush Foundation, and University Park and Highland Park in welcoming the George W. Bush Presidential Center.”
— Tom Leppert, Mayor of Dallas

“SMU and University Park have grown and flourished together. And now both have reached another milestone—serving as home to a unique national treasure. President and Mrs. Bush are long-time friends of our community, and now we will welcome them back with the historical records of their service in Washington. Our residents will be among the few nationwide to have the honor of a presidential library in their neighborhood, bringing history to life as it touches their lives. This is an exciting day indeed for us all.”
— Blackie Holmes, Mayor of University Park

“SMU has long been a valued source of enrichment and opportunity for our community. And now the University has brought our town another distinction, that of being neighbor to the George W. Bush Presidential Center. We will benefit in special ways from the collections, programs and dialogue on the major issues of our time. As our community prepares young leaders for our nation, they will have ready access to the records of leadership during a unique era in U.S. history. We celebrate a town and gown relationship that continues to bring mutual benefits, culminating now in a presidential library.”
— William D. White, Mayor of Highland Park

“We expect it (the Bush Library) to be an important economic engine for Uptown, downtown and other in-town areas, as well as the entire region. The library will bring new jobs, direct and indirect revenue, and as many as 500,000 visitors each year.”
— Ron Gafford, chair of the board, Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, The Dallas Morning News letter to the editor, Jan. 28, 2007

SMU Leaders

“It’s a great honor for SMU to be chosen as the site of this tremendous resource for historical research, dialogue and public programs. At SMU, these resources will benefit from proximity to our strong academic programs, a tradition of open dialogue, experience hosting world leaders and a central location in a global American city. We thank President Bush for entrusting this important long-term resource to our community and for the opportunity for SMU to serve the nation in this special way.
— SMU President R. Gerald Turner

“For students and scholars in areas such as history, political science, law and international affairs, a presidential library at one’s doorstep is an incredible resource. But for scholars and students of all disciplines, a presidential library enlivens the campus environment with visiting dignitaries, seminars, and scholars from around the world. The Bush Presidential Center will make SMU even more of a living laboratory for examining ideas and their impact on societal challenges.”
— Paul Ludden, SMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

“At SMU, the George W. Bush Presidential Center will be associated with a university that is on the rise. With this added benefit to an SMU education, we will attract additional outstanding students and faculty. Securing this library represents an important step forward in academic achievement for SMU and for our service to Dallas and the nation.”
— Carl Sewell, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees and Dallas business leader

“As students, we are very excited about the potential that the Bush Library will bring to the SMU community. It will be an opportunity for students to engage with and learn from political experts and world leaders. As a political science major, I am proud that my university concerns itself with political issues that are facing our globe today. This library will positively impact the SMU campus in numerous ways; however, I am especially excited about the interactions, conversations and knowledge that current and future SMU students will have in association with the Bush Library.”
— Katherine Tullos, SMU student body president

SMU Faculty

“Campuses are good places to situate presidential libraries because universities are vital to the American marketplace of ideas, and they are bulwarks of our free society. They can serve as repositories of archives from which we will learn and grow as a nation.”
— James F. Hollifield, SMU professor of political science and director of Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU, The New York Times op-ed (National Edition), Jan. 20, 2007

“The Presidential Library Center will offer unmatched opportunities to interact with officials who have shaped public policy in this era and with scholars who will write its history. The Center’s resources and programs will be invaluable to national and international researchers and scholars, including those at SMU.”
— Gary Evans, professor of electrical engineering, president of the Faculty Senate and SMU Board of Trustees member

“To anyone— faculty, student or visitor— the Bush Library will sooner or later disclose what we would otherwise never know about one of the most influential administrations in American history. It will prove an inexhaustible public good in the years to come. Like the LBJ Library in Austin and other presidential libraries across the country, the Bush Library will benefit generations of those who wish to understand and learn from the American past.”
— James K. Hopkins, professor and former chair, Clements Department of History, SMU

“Every day I think of another way that the presidential library would help my work as a scholar and teacher. . . . A hundred years from now, when we are all dead and gone, scholars from around the world will still be going to the George W. Bush Presidential Library to understand our shared history. The library is a gift to generations yet to be born.”
— Rebekah Miles, professor of ethics at SMU's Perkins School of Theology, United Methodist clergyperson, member of United Methodist University Senate and vice chair of Commission on Theological Education,United Methodist Reporter commentary, Jan. 26, 2007

“The fellows and visitors at such centers (presidential institutes) typically include nationally and internationally prominent scholars, as well as major political figures from both parties. . . . Regardless of one's ideological perspective, having such people on campus. . .will be a boon to SMU students, adding a dimension of educational experience that few other universities will be able to match.”
— Matthew Wilson, SMU associate professor of political science, The Dallas Morning News, Viewpoints page, Feb. 5, 2007

“The Bush institutions (library and institute) furnish an invaluable opportunity to explore the historical, political and philosophical issues of a critical period in American history. They also provide the site for the careful examination of the theological and religious dimensions of politics.”
— William J. Abraham, Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies and an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, Perkins School of Theology, SMU,The Daily Campus commentary, Jan. 25, 2007

“While tourists flock to the museums, scholars work quietly…with chronologies, policy memos, notes of meetings and other forms of internal communication. As we speak, that goes on in every presidential library and now it will go on in Dallas. When LBJ opened his library (as I recall the quote), he said ‘here it is, warts and all.’”
— Dennis Simon, SMU associate professor of political science, Dec. 20, 2006

Church Leaders

“The United Methodist tradition in higher education values open dialogue and diverse opinions as we debate the great issues of our time within the context of our faith community. The Presidential Library Center will be a unique resource for that inquiry. It will enhance SMU’s strong commitment to the Wesleyan tradition of academic excellence. In addition, we are pleased to welcome President and Mrs. Bush, two members of The United Methodist Church, back to the Dallas community.”
— Bishop Scott Jones, president of the College of Bishops of the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church and an SMU trustee

“It is entirely consistent with the character of Methodism to ponder the great social issues of the age. . . . It is certainly legitimate in the practices of Methodism for one of its own universities to provide hospitable space for a presidential library, museum and institute. That is not because the University will commit its views and values to the ideology of a particular politician. It is because Methodist universities are unafraid to tackle the greatest challenges of the age.”
— William Lawrence, dean, Perkins School of Theology, SMU, Statement to Mission Council, South Central Jurisdiction, The United Methodist Church, March 14, 2007

“The College of Bishops of the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church affirms the Southern Methodist University Board of Trustees in their negotiations to host the George W. Bush Presidential Library. We believe Southern Methodist University's trustees and administration are acting responsibly and in good faith in the dialogue and discussions surrounding the presidential library. The College also voices its appreciation of the work of SMU President Dr. Gerald Turner throughout this process. We celebrate President Turner's careful stewardship and advocacy of the historic relationship between the university and the church.”
— Resolution regarding Southern Methodist University and the George W. Bush Presidential Library, Feb. 5, 2007

Media

“The announcement that the White House will start negotiations with Southern Methodist University about a George W. Bush library, museum and possible institute gives Dallas the chance to add a new layer to its intellectual life. . . . A serious research institution would allow experts to add to the nation's debate on many fronts. . . . The fact that SMU could host all this work will not only benefit the university, it also will strengthen the city. Everyone knows Dallas as a financial center. If negotiations go right, the complex will seed its creative class.”
— The Dallas Morning News editorial, Dec. 22, 2006

“Seventy-five years from now, the Bush institution will fit on the SMU campus as well as Hoover (Institution) does now at Stanford with as little thought of the wars in the Middle East as there is currently of the Great Depression.”
— Lee Cullum, journalist based in Dallas,The Dallas Morning News commentary, Jan. 24, 2007

“It's hard to imagine a more prestigious project or a better feather in the cap of the Dallas area and SMU. . . . He (SMU President R. Gerald Turner) is to be congratulated for an enormous victory, one that will boost the standing and economy of our region for decades to come.”
— Dallas Business Journal, Jan. 12-18, 2007

“. . . a presidential library isn't built for the present generation. It is not our present ethical sensibilities but history that transcends partisan politics.”
— Wick Allison, D Magazine, Publisher's Note, March 2007

Other Experts

“Presidential libraries are of enormous value. The only way to learn about history is to understand when things went wrong and when things went right, and I think it would be an enormous tribute to all of you here to have that (George W. Bush) library.”
— Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and author, Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series, SMU, Jan. 16, 2007

“The LBJ Library was the first presidential library to be located on a university campus. Thirty-five years later, I think both the UT community and the scholars, government officials, and museum visitors who come to us from around the world would agree that the partnership has been enormously beneficial to both the library and the university. Congratulations to the Bush Library Foundation for choosing a site that will help to insure that the Bush Library will continue to be a vibrant, living institution for many years to come. And congratulations to SMU for accepting and supporting a rich and exciting resource for scholars, students and the community at large.”
— Betty Sue Flowers, Director, LBJ Library and Museum

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