economy

Good for Texas Tour: Presidential Libraries Edition George W. Bush Presidential Library

Snapshot (PDF)

Introduction

The George W. Bush Presidential Library (GBW Library) opened in Dallas at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 2013. The GWB Library is part of the 23-acre George W. Bush Presidential Center (Bush Center) that is dedicated to the 43rd President of the United States. The Bush Center welcomes guests to learn about important topics through the lens of the U.S. presidency and the life of George W. Bush.

History

The Bush Center houses the GBW Library, operated by the U.S. National Achieves and Records Administration, which provides access to official documents and artifacts from the Bush Administration. Choosing a location for the GBW Library was a popular topic leading up to President Bush’s second term in office as the White House waited to make a final decision until after the election. In late 2005, several colleges and one city were asked to submit bids for their location to house the library: Baylor University, SMU, the University of Dallas-Irving and the city of Arlington. SMU won the bid.

The Bush Center compound was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects and situated on sustainable Texas land developed by Michael Van Valkenburg Associates. This 140,941-usable-square-foot complex received platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program (PDF) in March 2013, making it the first presidential library to do so. The center received this certification because it used regionally sourced and recycled materials; is equipped with water efficient landscaping and energy conserving mechanisms; and helped restore the surrounding habitat by planting 17.6 acres of native trees.

The cost of construction, estimated at $327 million in 2023 dollars adjusted for inflation, was paid for through privately raised funds reportedly totaling $654 million. The remaining funds were used as endowments to the federal government and to SMU to strengthen the relationship between the library and school.

The library and museum chronicle George W. Bush’s presidency through a collection of more than 70 million pages of text, 30,000 recordings of audio-visual materials and 80 terabytes of electronic records containing more than 200 million emails (Exhibit 1). This museum also contains exhibits showcasing key moments of Bush’s presidency, including the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War as well as replicas of the Oval Office and the Situation Room. Through December 2024, the library will feature an exhibit titled “Freedom Matters” that explores the pursuit of liberty and the importance of freedom. The Bush Center holds teacher workshops, creates classroom materials and employs the “Presidential Hats Program,” which aims to give students in grades 3-5 the opportunity to examine the powers of the president through role-playing exercises. The public can also participate in the “Civics for All of US” program at the library to increase civic literacy through the exploration of U.S. Government records.

George W. Bush Presidential Center Information

Square Footage	Textual Records	Photography	Audio-visual Records	Library Artifacts	Electronic Information
140,941 usable square feet	70 million pages	3.8 million photos	30,000 recordings	43,000 artifacts	80 terabytes

Source: George W. Bush Center

Economic Impact

In 2023, the Bush Center is estimated to have contributed $134 million to Texas’ gross domestic product, with total employment — direct and indirect — of nearly 1,300 (Exhibit 2). The center also commissioned an update of several exhibits and a reconfiguration of the Texas Rose Garden, which reportedly totaled about $5 million and contributed to the center’s nearly $224 million output.

George W. Bush Presidential Center, Estimated Impact to the Texas Economy, 2023

Contribution	Value
Total employment	1,249
Gross domestic product	$134,009,000
Output	$223,719,000
Disposable personal income	$80,101,000

Notes: “Total employment” refers to direct and indirect employment; “gross domestic product” refers to the total value of all final goods and services produced in Texas; “output” refers to the total value of all goods and services (final and intermediate) produced in Texas; “disposable personal income” refers to post-tax incomes.
Sources: REMI Model for Texas and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

According to an economic impact analysis (PDF) by the Bush Center, since its inception in 2013, the center’s 10-year regional economic impact exceeds $2 billion due to operations, the creation of local jobs and hosting approximately 2 million visitors. The center boasts a yearly average of 321 jobs, with nearly $262 million in annual labor earnings and an overall contribution of nearly $6 million in revenue to the state of Texas.

Attendance

In 2014, more than 490,000 people visited the Bush Center, the highest attendance recorded in recent years (Exhibit 3). Although the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced attendance rates in fiscals 2020 and 2021 at all U.S. presidential libraries and museums, attendance at the center has been on the rise since then.

Exhibit 3 data

Fiscal Year	Value
2014	490,887
2015	300,333
2016	210,989
2017	218,879
2018	185,735
2019	174,450
2020*	61,656
2021*	22,843
2022	75,838
2023	97,500
Total	1,839,110

*Museum was closed to the public for most of the fiscal year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note: The federal government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

George W. Bush Institute

Adjacent to the GWB Library is the George W. Bush Institute, a solution-oriented nonpartisan policy center that engages experts, policymakers and leaders to create meaningful and lasting change at home and abroad. The Bush Institute aims to ensure opportunity for all, strengthen democracy and advance free societies, and it is rooted in the values of freedom, opportunity, accountability and compassion.

Laura Bush Foundation for American Libraries

First Lady Laura Bush used her background as a former librarian and teacher to establish the Laura Bush Foundation for American Libraries in 2002. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded $21 million to more than 3,600 low-income schools to expand their book and print collections and further support its goal of “encouraging students to develop a love of reading and learning.” In the most recent grant cycle (2022-2023), the foundation awarded $1.5 million to 300 schools across 36 states. Some recipients used the funding to add dual language books to their collections.