CULINAIRE @ George W. Bush Presidential Center Review

Excellent layout. I have gone to several Presidential Libraries and I really liked how their library flowed. It is also very interactive compared to over libraries. The staff were all very friendly. The parking lot is actually located across the street from the library which is interesting because it had a fair amount of traffic. We didn't eat at the restaurant on site, but the food smelt amazing.

Not being a fan of the man, i didn't know what to expect. But the library is well worth the tour. Right now (spring 2016) they're hosting a temporary exhibition with artifacts, quotes, visuals of every president in the US history. That will take about 30 minutes.

The main gallery covers 9/11 events, "no child left behind" policy, the war on terror. There are short movies with George W Bush himself which are really well made.

You can also visit the exact replica of the Oval Office when Bush was president and get a picture sitting at his desk

Regardless of your feelings towards the 43rd president, the library is really good whether you agree with his political views or not.

A friend recommended we go the Presidential Library and we went without really understanding that it is basically a history and a tribute to President George W Bush. That said, regardless of your political persuasion and feelings about his presidency, it was an interesting walk through the history of the nation at the time of his presidency. The museum is extremely well done with many interactive exhibits. It has an exact replica of the oval office and the docents gave an interesting history of the room. The docents were also very knowledgeable about other Presidential Libraries in the Nation.
If you like politics, government, and history, I recommend a visit!

Beautiful building with well-selected exhibits. Interactive and fun. Today the Smerconish Show was broadcasting from the Courtyard...a real treat.

Very cool museum. For sure worth the visit for anyone interested in presidential history. Very impressive building and exhibit.

The exhibition lacks proper depth. Pricy for what you can get. In addition to the admission fee, there is a $5+ parking fee.

Native park in the back is an oasis in the big city.

Great review of some of histories more impactful moments.
The 9/11 section is just incredible.

Nice place. It shows the life of George W Bush and Barbara Bush !

Daughters 5th grade class went there today on a field trip and was not pleased. Obviously they didn't communicate with the school about taking lunches in for big classes. First Lady we dealt with was extremely rude! Kids had to eat there lunches for breakfast in their "park" which consisted of high grass and weeds! When they rushed to eat (only having 10-20 minutes) they had to throw all of their drinks and tried to go in but was told they had to wait. After waiting for almost 30 minutes outside with NOTHING to keep hydrated they were finally able to walk around the museum in complete silence. Could barely ask questions without the very rude lady being exactly what she was RUDE! Never going back again!

I love presidential libraries and this didn't disappoint. Was great to see recent history laid out like this.

Amazing place loved the Oval Office. Wish I could live in the library. President George W. Bush was a great president and person I wish I could meet him!!!

This is a little bit out of the way and off the beaten track. Totally worth it.
On a college campus, you walk in to a gorgeous, high ceiling atrium and purchase your ticket. One side dedicated to George W. Bush. Currently, the other side is a tribute to all the first ladies.
It was completely fascinating to learn about how young George grew up, the path to his presidency and then his presidency.
The tour is self-guided. It's a small library and there is a short film at the beginning.
At the end, you walk into a replica up of the oval office, complete with a photographer to take your picture behind the desk.
To exit, you meander through a small gift shop.
There is a cafe, I didn't get a chance to explore that.

Apparently once you get inside the place is great from the other reviews but the parking and staff are really hurting the place for people visiting from out of state and our fellow disabled Americans.

I m a college student and tried to make a day out of visiting the campus and touring the library and museum. I didn t.

They raised the price from $13 to $18 without updating the website information. They then told me to come back when the new exhibit is closed and it will return to $13. Brought exact change with me for obvious college related reasons so I didn t go.

Also the parking is paid and they don t take cash only cards. I was told the only free parking available was at the train station across the highway and probably a quarter mile away.

There is no direct entrance to the museum from the highway, so you have go through the campus and dodge and weave a bunch of college students to get to it.

Can t comment on the inside but outside looked good. Also the gift is pricey.

Absolutely powerful when you consider the breadth and enormity of everything that happened to the US during his tenure: 9-11, The war on terror, Katrina, helping AIDS in Africa etc. Some very engaging and very interactive displays there. Well worth the trip and admission.

Spent several hours here. Really cool seeing the replica of the Oval Office. I also loved the Decision Points activity. Got to see the special exhibit of his paintings that he made of the wounded veterans. What an honorable man.

It's an awesome place to visit and you learn a lot from this museum. So, I would highly recommend this place in Dallas.

Wonderful museum. Well kept, freshly updated, some interactive exhibits. Beautiful recreation of President Bush's Oval Office.

Very informative and beautifully presented Presidential Library and Museum! Loved to travel back in time and see how short-lived memories are! Even for people who did not vote for G.W.Bush it is quite an experience and gives us time to reflect , and maybe change ones opinion. Decision-making is never easy - and you know afterwards whether one's decision was the right one. An US- President is not an absolute monarch like the Sun King LouisXIV.

Fantastic. Very modern with touchscreen, interactive learning, a walk in Oval Office, walking prairie in the back. Friendly staff that's always willing to help and converse.

Parking is $7, but the key is to show up with tons of people do so that when everyone leaves, they simply let you out without paying.

Enjoyed our visit... Learned quite a bit... Staff were very helpful.

It s a beautiful presidential library with so much to read, observe and do. I had admission through the Dallas CityPass, which is major savings. I also got there at opening and was able to park across from the library for $5, so major savings on parking. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Especially enjoyed the replica Oval Office and 9/11 exhibit. Also the vid with the family as it was just really warm. Lasting impression: grand!

$16 for admission to a very small museum that isn't worth it in my opinion. No one sees the actual library, there are no tours of that part. When we asked about the "library" the answer we got was " Y'all wouldn't be interested in that, its just a bunch of old archives. Have you seen the oval office?" Yes we saw your fake oval office that was roped off for cleaning staff in the middle of the day on Saturday. No we don't want to go back through the security, take a picture behind the desk, and then pay for it in the gift shop you force us to exit through. Also thanks for telling two young, interested girls that we wouldn't be interested in something historical. For the record, if there was a backstage archive tour, we would have paid 10x admission for it. We enjoy old archives and libraries.

The kids had fun & learned a lot on their field trip here.

What I expected, very nice new facility with the history of 43. The replica of the Oval office was a bonus. Staff was very friendly and helpful.

The Bush Presidential Center is the first presidential library located near the city centre, second only to the Ronald Reagan Library in California, collecting approximately 70 million pages of text, 43,000 artifacts, 4 million photos and 80 trillion Megaelectronics, including more than 200 million emails.
This is the second presidential library I have visited.

Great experience. I was very pleased with everything.

Thank you for your service, Mr. President

Very moving to experience in depth the Presidency of George W. Bush and family. I recommend highly!

Imagine all those books. How many years worth of colouring
in do you think there is in there.

Excellent experience. Helpful and knowledgeable attendants. Definitely exceeded my expectations.

What a scam you have to pay to park, out of the 19 other Presidential libraries I have been too it is the only one that you pay to park and at 16 dollars a person it is twice what others charge as far as presidential libraries go it is also rather small. Also only the Bush librararies have metal detectors and heavy security. I was treated like a suspected terrorist just walking in the front door. Security yelling instructions, take off your belt, and so on. It makes you think what a hated president W was to have such heavy security.

Way overpriced, more than double the cost of any presidential library I have visited, you even have to pay for parking!

It s called library but there re no books at all. 15 minutes and we got out. It s a waste of time unless you re a big fan of Bush. And on top they re charging $21 for the entrance.

As a veteran of the Global War on Terror this was a powerful place to visit. I would put this on any "Must See" list if you were to visit Dallas. I really enjoyed that the museum focused on the early Bush days, into the Presidency, and learning more about the individual that was Commander in Chief during my time of service.

Regardless of your political perspective, visiting the Presidential Libraries can be very interesting. It was fun getting my picture taken sitting at the desk in the Oval Office! Also glad to see the Portraits of Courage exhibit, portraits of veterans painted by him.

Visited the library during construction with the construction club from Missouri State University. The building even at that point, was awesome. There was to be an exact replica of the oval office and they had a piece from the WTC that was being built around, because of it's size. I definitely need to go back to see the finished product.

A very excellent place to be & to do research from.

This place blows way overpriced for what you get. Everything is overpriced the parking, food, gift shop. The worst part it glorifies G.W. in the worst way.

Everyone was so friendly and caring. Can t wait to make another visit once again soon!

I've been to the library before, but attended today for a book signing by President George W. Bush. I introduced myself and thanked him for his service. His response, "Thanks for coming out, dude!" God bless Texas!

George W Bush Presidential Center is a must see place in Dallas. It is really an unique experience. The Bush Center is home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which is operated by the National Archives and Records Administration, and the George W. Bush Institute. The George W Bush Presidential Center is located on the campus of SMU in Dallas, Texas.

In English below.
In French: Very expensive for a museum to the glory of the Bush. Please note this is not a library, you will not find any books there, which in the end is not so surprising when you are interested in G W Bush. History is written with a huge bias. Funded by Exxon Mobile ...
In english: very expensive for such a museum dedicated to the glory of Bush family. This is not a library. There is no books. Nor really surprising when you think about it. The Bush story is from Bush so not really objective. This is financed by Exxon Mobile ...

Didn't think that my first visit to a Presidential Library would be this one but I was in town so knocked it off the list. There are plenty of cool artifacts on display they you'd find interesting if you're into politics or history.

Give yourself at least two hours so you're not rushing yourself in there.

Parking is $7 and is literally across the street. If you are paying cash you have to pay inside but they take credit cards as you are exiting the lot. Entrance is $16 but there are discounts available for kids.

Make sure to go into the true to size Oval Office replica. It is also furnished to be an exact replica of how the office looked during his second term.

Also leave some time for "Decision Points". It is an interactive exhibit. You go into a room and see how you would make certain decisions and how they compare to the ones Dubya made. The four scenarios they give you are Katrina, the financial crisis, Troop Surge in Iraq and the toppling of Saddam.

Did notice that they didn't sell shot glasses at the gift shop. We usually get them as souvenirs everywhere we go. I'm guessing it is because of his history with alcohol?

Great place to walk run ride a bike and take the family but the staff here is not wearing masks.

Very information but kinda small for the price. Still worth atleast one visit.

Just sitting in the Oval Office would make this worth the price of admission. But with that you get so many interactive exhibits. Also the staff is so knowledgeable and passionate. Every person we passed asked if we needed anything, and then was able to provide a little extra background. Fun visit.

This is a great place for museum lovers. The entry fee is 21$ for single adult person. But the proceedings go to maintenance of the museum.

They successfully created an atmosphere to make us think that he is the Messiah in this world and the father of USA. Upcoming politicians should visit this place to understand how failures can be documented in a way that people will "understand" that his successes and failures we're because of the decisions he made , which was guided by the principles he was brought up with.

Finally the exit via museum stores to buy souvenirs.

This was well worth checking out. W continues to show his value for servicemen by offering free admission for active duty military as well as continuing to paint those affected by the war.

Very well done.
My wife and I visited with our son, daughter in law and two grandchildren, ages 10 and 12. The special exhibit of President Bush's paintings of the servicemen and women wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan was really excellent. President Bush served during an incredibly difficult 8 years and the Museum does a really good job of telling the story. The videos in various places were well done and informative. The oval office was fun for everyone. Our grandchildren loved being allowed to sit behind the desk. Everyone agreed it was an afternoon well spent.

Wonderful experience! Put the politics aside and recognize the history of the presidency. Really interesting. We also got to see a temporary exhibit about the First Ladies which was unique!

Well organized place to visit. Carpool or bring a hybrid fir best parking. Credit card for parking pay...no cash.

/Top of the line museum for quality exhibits. My favorites were the Oval Office, the 09/11 Memorial, and the pleasant docents. About 2/3rds of the museum is dedicated to presidential agenda and accomplishments of George W Bush. It was pretty one-sided (read here: hero worship), but provided an opportunity to explain to my children other aspects of the policy that weren't mentioned.

I highly recommend this museum. I was 5-years-old when Bush took office so I don't remember much about his presidency. This museum teaches you a lot about recent history. It's engaging and fair no matter what you think about his presidency. Look into getting a Dallas CityPass for discounted admission. Every staff member was super friendly and loved answering questions.

History is written very differently here than I remember some of the Bush years. Dick Cheney is barely mentioned. The imploding economy at the end of his second term is glossed over. Whether you liked the man or not the impact he had should still be told including the unpopular policies.

Great place that does a wonderful job of presenting the term of #43. Glad I went.

Took the TRE and connected via Dart. Easy connections and avoided traffic/parking headaches. Very nicely done, some cool interactive exhibits. Friendly employees with lot's of knowledge. Large facility with room to add more of elder President Bush history.

Nicely done, but overall kind of boring. Maybe it'll be more interesting in fifty years to those who don't feel like his presidency is still fresh. Cool stuff to see, not worth admission right now. Nice to see replica of oval office- somewhere most Texans won't ever see. Lots of Texas championship references :)

This was what started my presidential library tour across America. It s very easy to visit this one from my hometown of Houston. It s conveniently located on the SMU campus and currently this is the newest library. With it being the most modern they have built it with all of the technology that comes with a modern library.

Also, this was the first President that was around during my early adult years. Even though I was at an age I could remember I totally forgot all of the events that occurred during his presidency.

The library does a good job of highlighting those key events. A must see presidential library!

It seems to be a good practice for every former president to open his own library and museum. It was built with money from sponsors. The library is located on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

The library houses the archives of Bush. There is also a museum. Following on from Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton, the library is also linked to a policy center. On April 25, 2013, the complex, which also has a golf course, was opened. We only go to the museum.

The first thing you see is a large impressive building. And everything very well taken care of. Hall at the entrance is also immense. Big bigger Biggest. Entire exhibition about the good deeds of Bush jr. Slightly one-sidedly exposed. Anyway, it's his library.

The complete Oval office from the White House has been recreated. You can sit on the (paid) photo behind the desk.

It appears that the day before our visit an exhibition with paintings of Bush was opened. Bush and painting is not a combination that I immediately made up. But it turns out that he took lessons after his presidency and developed into a decent painter.
What is very special is that the exhibition has the theme "Portraits of Courage" and only has paintings of veterans who have been injured in the various wars where America is and has been active. Most paintings are portraits of veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress (or members).

We walk through the exhibition when I get into a conversation with someone who is standing near one of the paintings. I don't immediately notice the parable. But after a few sentences, I realize that the person I am talking to is the person in the painting. It turns out that only today many of the painted veterans are present. The man says that they will cycle with Bush tomorrow to get more attention for the veterans. Apparently this happens every year. Bush is very much in my esteem.

In the meantime, more people have joined and the veteran tells his story. Returned from Iraq mentally confused. He had accidentally shot fellow soldiers. He is now recovered and lives in Sweden. But he says that when the painting was made, he was walking around with suicide plans. The look in his eyes on the painting is indeed very different from that of today. Several listeners stand with tears in their eyes.

Very nice place to visit. Everything is well done.

Great experience going through hard choice of 8 years

Great time for all , the little one have plenty of interactive learning. The staff is helpful and there is plenty of interesting memorabilia

I haven t been to any of the Presidential Libraries before today. This one was as expected with a procession of video, storyboards and photographs capturing the major events. Lots of emotions during the 9/11 stirred during the section.

There are 2 sides one for 43 and the other featuring First Ladies. Both were well done and informational.

There are no recorded tours however you get quite a bit of info. Helpers in each area are overflowing with trivia and not too tough to shake.

A nice $20 afternoon for Texans, Americans and anyone that s learning based or likes museums or just wants to escape the heat.

No pocket knives, oh dear, what will the sheep think! Long line bs! Not going to wait

Checked the website and it shows that the Presidential Library is open today, drove 2 hours just to find it was closed due to the government shutdown. REALLY!!! Update the website at least. I'll reserve all other comments on the state of our government.

An excellent experience. Gorgeous architecture, easy access, substantial (pay) parking, tons of exhibits - some interactive, knowledgeable and friendly staff, all in all a very moving experience.

Very Well done. Forget about the politics. The information gathered for that eight years of our country's existence is bar none the best laid out truthful report of US history. It is a Must see.

After visiting Reagan's Presidential Library, which was incredible, I was a bit hesitant to visit another one for fear of being let down. However, GWB's Library did not disappoint. The staff were extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and the exhibits were excellent (decision challenge was engaging).
One forgets the magnitude and number of challenges GWB faced, yet was able to keep America safe after 9/11. In tandem with improvements at home, he attacked terrorism abroad and demonstrated a commitment to helping the African continent address the AIDS epidemic. A great man who remained committed to his family, country, and faith. Well worth a visit to this amazing center on a beautiful campus.

This was a surprising stop for us. I was not a GBush fan, don't care for politics but we found ourselves right here so we decided to visit. Glad we did, it was very informative and the people here were very nice. I recommend it no matter your politics.

Great museum. A lot of history from the from the Bush presidency. Well worth the visit.

Amazing! The Oval Office was very cool as well as the introductory video.

Don't come here expecting to see the 43,000 items in the collection - because they definitely aren't on display. Instead, you'll find a very favorably presented walk down memory lane of the W years.

This isn't a library, or a museum. It's a perpetual celebration of everything George W Bush. So if you loved the man you can come here to celebrate history. If you hate the man, DO NOT COME HERE! And if you're indifferent but looking for something interesting to waste a couple hours... well, consider this stop after exhausting other options.

Enjoyed the visit. Thought it was worth the price of admission. Really enjoyed the museum.

POTUS Bush centre in Dallas is really good. The Staff and Tour are intelligent and know what they are doing to make it an enjoyable visit.

Fantastic memorabilia! Educational and the restaurant onsite is a great location and treat. President George W. Bush Library is a must visit

Awesome experience, staff were super helpful and nice while we were there. Will be back!!

I attended with my daughters class, and so glad that i did. It is very interesting, and I have a deep respect for the Bush family. I would encourage anyone to visit.

Update....
Since my previous experience management has listened to my concerns, and we were able to get our books. My mom had a lovely day in the exhibit as well.

Old
I hate writing this review. My visits to the Museum itself were actually quite nice. I am always moved by the 9/11 display. This review deals more with the staff and availability and customer service. The other day there was an event where you could get GWB's book signed. I purchased a wristband with two books. I gave this as a gift. The recipient had conflicting events arise and was unable to attend. I tried to call the location that night and got zero response. I emailed them. I called them again. I called them the next day. And Finally got to speak to a human. She informed me that even though I paid for two books, there are no more. But then she said there are extras, but they are now for sale in the bookstore for $250 a piece. In addition to this, I am unable to get a refund for my original amount. I couldn't even credit the $80 toward a book. I would need to talk to the Box Office, which is the number I dialed to talk with her. But no there is apparently nothing that can be done.

This just seems like a poor showing of customer service. I love my University, and I think it is great that we have a presidential library. I just wish the employees running the show actually understood how to take care of customers and alumns

The grounds and building are beautiful. The biggest plus about this place are the staff. They are so enthusiastic and passionate. They love to talk to visitors and answer questions. Great job hiring people. This library also had a great section on 9/11 and Bush's paintings highlighting the sacrifices our veterans have made is cool!

This place is impressive! I would say that politics aside, everyone would appreciate it, but truthfully, you probably have to be at least a little open minded to hearing the Bush side of his time in office. It is set up to let you decide on what you think of the decisions made during his 8 years.
Also aside from politics, the pure history side of things is cool and especially the parts related to 9/11. It really brings you back. Cool place.

Beautiful library. Loves seeing the Christmas displays. The 9/11 tribute room brought tears to my eves, very emotional.. Get your picture taken in the oval office, a great keepsake ..