During our recent visit to Texas, my husband (a former high school history teacher) and I had the chance to take in some presidential history. On our second full day in Dallas, we visited the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, located on the Southern Methodist University campus. The center’s permanent exhibit looks at the life and career of President Bush, focusing on the major events and decisions of his presidency. It also hosts seminars and forums and special exhibits, such as the current one, Freedom Matters, exploring the pursuit of liberty in the United States and around the world.

The handsome building, sheathed in indigenous white limestone, is surrounded by the Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park, 15 acres of grounds representing native Texas environments. After passing through  the outside courtyard, we walked into the entrance hall, dominated by a large hanging sculpture evocative of the presidential seal. On either side of the reception area were large display cases of some of the gifts presented to President and Mrs. Bush during their time in the White House from foreign dignitaries. We enjoyed seeing everything from jeweled swords to magnificent jewelry. Beyond was a three-story atrium which featured a projected, filmed frieze depicting the diversity of the peoples and cultures of our country.

The exhibits covering the president’s time in office focused on key legislation passed and significant events, such as the fight against AIDS worldwide, Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq War and, of course, the September 11 attacks. These were presented through a range of media including short films, key documents and interactive exhibits. Certainly the most emotional exhibit for me was the 9-11 one; I immediately choked up as I rounded a corner and came upon a large twisted girder from one of the twin towers and watched once again the film of the planes hitting the buildings and the coverage from the succeeding days. However, there were lighter moments as well, including some footage of comedian Steve Bridges from the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006. Visitors also had the opportunity to sit at the president’s desk in a replica of the Oval Office   and have their picture taken in a presidential pose.

The next day we headed to downtown Dallas to explore The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and delve into a pivotal moment in American history, one that, even though I was a very young child at the time, made a very strong impression on me. The sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building was the primary crime scene for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The main exhibit there, John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation, covers major events during Kennedy’s presidency — including the Civil Rights movement, the increased tensions in Southeast Asia, the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis — in addition to the events leading up to Nov. 22, 1963, and the subsequent investigations.

Before we even entered the museum proper, we took in views from the building of iconic Dallas sites, from the Santiago Calatrava-designed Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge over the Trinity River to downtown skyscrapers  and the Hyatt Regency Dallas’s Reunion Tower. Once on the sixth floor, one first sees a bust of JFK and then winds through displays depicting the young candidate’s presidential campaign, his wife’s popularity, and everyday life and the political issues of the early 1960s. Eventually one comes to the plexiglass-enclosed corner overlooking Dealey Plaza and the streets the presidential motorcade took that November morning. Cardboard boxes screened Lee Harvey Oswald from the rest of the floor  and provided support for the sniper’s rifle. Further displays shared the worldwide outpouring of condolences and grief and the many investigations and theories into the assassination’s perpetrator(s ?) and motives.

We also took some time to go outside to view the exterior of the building, the location where the president was struck down,   the Grassy Knoll and surrounding historic buildings, such as the impressive 1892 Dallas County Courthouse. It proved to be a very moving and instructive visit, one I’m glad we made.

We did have one more brush with presidential history on our visit to Texas. We drove to the Hill Country, west of Austin, for a short, two-day visit, and as we passed through the small town of Johnson, Texas, I looked up to see the entrance to the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch National Historic Park, home of Johnson’s “Texas White House.” With no time to stop that day, we’ll just have to make a return visit.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor