Sunday, February 19, 2006

Visit to American Presidential Libraries

I am going to Washington at the end of March and am thinking of tacking on a few days to go to the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station and the LBJ Library in Austin. I just wondered if any of you have been to either of them and if you tell me if the trip would be worth it. I've been to the JFK, Nixon and Reagan libraries already.
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9 comments:

  1. ianFebruary 19, 2006 10:16 pm

    George Bush can READ?

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 19, 2006 10:56 pm

    Of course George Bush can read, ian, he got an MBA from Harvard Business School.

    Iain, I was once taken to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta. This would have been far from the top of my list of things to see in the USA but proved to be a truly fascinating place - give that one a try!

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  3. Iain DaleFebruary 19, 2006 11:00 pm

    The George Bush Library is dedictaed to George Bush Senior. George Dubya will no doubt have his own after he leaves office!

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  4. David FarrarFebruary 20, 2006 12:45 am

    Not yet been to any but I am due to go to the Reagan one in August which should be great!

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  5. Iain DaleFebruary 20, 2006 12:55 am

    David, The Reagan Library is superb, but the Nixon one, which is on the opposite side of LA is even better. it's in Yorba Linda. make sure you go there too.

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  6. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2006 7:35 am

    Iain, it's the wrong time of year to go to Austin or College Station. You need to go during football season, which ended a month ago. Save your trip until autumn, and go to a game while you are there - you will learn more about America from watching a High School football game in Texas than from visiting a presidential library.
    That said, the LBJ library would be more worthwhile. It's had a lot of time to bed down and has benefitted from a very good relationship with the University of Texas. The UofT also has fantastic archives in the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, including the papers of Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller and the Watergate papers of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

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  7. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2006 1:10 pm

    By the way, if you do decide to go to Austin, you can always add on a trip to the LBJ ranch just outside town towards Johnson City.

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  8. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2006 1:20 pm

    The LBJ museum in Austin is well worth a visit, Iain.

    Austin - motto something like "Keep Austin weird" - is also a fantastic city. More California than Texas.

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  9. EdwardFebruary 20, 2006 8:42 pm

    LDJ definitely worth it. I haven't been to the George Bush one!

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