Cowboy hats, boots, Saddam's pistol headed to Boosh presidential library (WaPo)

Cowboy hats, secret files and more headed to Bush library
By Steve Campbell
Monday, December 28, 2009

LEWISVILLE, TEX. -- Eight years of "still-evolving" American history is meticulously catalogued, wrapped, stored and guarded in the climate-controlled warehouse.

Included here are 68 million pages of documents, a surfboard, 175 million e-mails, countless cowboy hats, 3,845,912 photographs, Stan "The Man" Musial's autograph, gold and silver swords, handmade quilts, diamond jewelry, cowboy boots, classified files, a gift from the pope and the 9mm Glock pistol that Saddam Hussein was armed with when he was rooted out of his spider hole in Iraq.

Welcome to the Bush White House, now in storage in Lewisville, where there is even wood flooring from the Oval Office and chairs from the press room.

It will all eventually move to the $300 million George W. Bush Presidential Library opening at Southern Methodist University in 2013. But for now, archivists are trying to get their arms around the massive collection of documents and "museum objects" stored in the 60,000-square-foot facility managed by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Lavish personal gifts -- such as the diamond-and-sapphire jewelry given to first lady Laura Bush by the king of Saudi Arabia and custom cowboy boots with the large "GWB" monogram from Houston bootmaker Rocky Carroll -- grab one's attention first.

<SNIP>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/27/AR2009122701651.html

of the Bush presidency: fake cowboy, fake warrior, fake president.

n.t.

Remember these?

An illegal war souvenir.
An illegal war souvenir.

Guess I was wrong. I suppose putting them in a museum makes a difference.

Gifts from other governments above a specified limit (I do not know the current limit) are turned over to the state department. This goes for all government employees. These gifts are under Dept. of State control. Since State has limited storage facilities, these gifdts to the President - and possibly from othe admin. personalities - go to the library. They are still subject to State audit.

Gifts from individuals are handled differently. Consumables such as foodstuffs may be used or donated. Other gifts are donated anonimously. Only so many tee shirts on a theme are needed. The balance are usually donated to the National Archives for the Library. Any gifts kept by the President are subject to tax. Most Presidents get boots, hats, saddles, tee shirts and "kitch" stuff.

the cornerstone of the exhibit, symbolizing bush's most notable "achievement" and the event that really "made him" as a "president," will be an entire room devoted to 9/11.

Or how about the photo of him sitting and doing nothing but staring off into space when told America was under attack?

Perhaps we should just flood SMU with copies to hold until 2013? :evilgrin:

I mean, they would if they could get away with it. You damn well know the sick, blood thirsty mutherfucker would do it.

This would be like Hitler memorabilia at the Roosevelt library.

Why? Did the spurs on his boots scratch/pit the wood grain? (I remember reading once, many years ago, that Jackie Kennedy was shocked to find the wood floors pitted and splintered because Ike wore his golf spikes in the White House).

68 million pages of documents? And, I bet, not one page read by dimson.

:puke: