W's Presidential Library To Feature Gun Once Owned by Saddam Hussein
Former President George W. Bush was never known as a man of letters. Even Karl Rove was hard pressed to lie about his reading competitions with W, who was memorably captured reading the picture book The Pet Goat on the morning of 9/11. As the George W. Bush Presidential Library takes shape at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, it shouldn't be a surprise that artifacts, not books, will take center stage.
The prize of the $200 million library, according to the Guardian, is a 9mm Glock once owned by Saddam Hussein, who had it in his possession when he was captured by U.S. forces in Tikrit. (Clearly, he was planning to attack the US with this gun.) The library will contain 25 special exhibits related to the Bush presidency within a design by Robert A. M. Stern, responsible for designing 15 Central Park West, Madonna's building, in New York.
SMU, the alma mater of Bush's wife Laura, expects to start building the "library" in 2010, but for now presidential devotees have a few landmarks to check off in Texas: Bush 41's presidential library in College Station includes a replica Oval Office where visitors can pose for pictures, while the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park is an easy side trip from Austin. (Recommended trip reading: Robert Caro's multi-volume LBJ biography, which we haven't gotten around to but ought to keep you occupied from Amarillo to Brownsville. )
Related Stories:
· Bush Is A Book Lover [Wall Street Journal]
· Saddam Hussein's gun to go on display at Bush library [Guardian U.K.]
· Regime Change Travel: Sorry, Crawford [Jaunted]
[Photo: Chris Boese]
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