George W. Bush Presidential Center

The George W. Bush Presidential Center opened April 25, 2013. It houses former President George W. Bush's presidential library, museum, George W. Bush Policy Institute, offices of the George W. Bush Foundation, and the George W. Bush Policy Institute. It is located in University Park, Texas near Dallas, on the campus Southern Methodist University (SMU). It will be the final resting place for George W. Bush (2001-2009), as well as his wife Laura Bush.

Officials at Baylor University in Waco (Texas) began to work on a bid to purchase the library before Bush became president. They believed their proximity to Bush's ranch in Crawford, and their location within 100-miles (160 km) from Austin, Dallas, and the Bryan College Station metropolitan area gave them a good chance of winning such a project. Officials at Southern Methodist University (SMU), began to work on their bid for the library shortly after Bush was elected president.

It published The 4% Solution: Unleashing America's Economic Growth (Crown Business 2012), a collection essays. Five Nobel Prize winners were involved. Between August 2012 and December 2012, the presentation was broadcast five more times on Book TV. The book includes a foreword from George W. Bush and covers immigration, tax policy and energy policy. It proposes policies to increase the U.S. gross national product annual growth rate to 4%. Matthew Rooney, director of the Bush Institute's economic growth initiative, defended NAFTA on many fronts when President Donald Trump proposed to repeal it in 2017. However, he suggested that an update be made.

Two endowments of $10 million each from Boeing and Highland Capital Management were given to the Bush Institute in early 2018 to support its programs.

Ambassador James K. Glassman was a former State Department official and was appointed the Center's George W. Bush Institute's founding executive director in September 2009. It will be an independent, action-oriented think tank.

The institute will "promote four causes he took on as his own during his time in office: human liberty, global health and economic growth, education reform, and human freedom". He also launched a women's initiative, led by Laura, and a military service initiative to assist veterans. The former president stated to attendees at the November 2010 groundbreaking that "the decisions of governing" are on another president's desk and that he should make them without me criticizing. However, staying out of politics and current affairs does not mean that you should stay out of policy. Laura Bush addressed the crowd to "promote the importance of fighting against women's rights throughout the world."

Current and former US politicians were also present, as well as over 10,000 invited guests, which included dignitaries from around 50 countries and ambassadors. These included:

It covers 207,000 square feet (19.200 m2) and is second in size to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California.

The center, which includes a presidential museum, library, institute, and offices of the George W. Bush Foundation, was dedicated April 25, 2013. It featured all former presidents: Jimmy Carter (George H. W. Bush), Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The National Archives and Records Administration manages the museum and library privately, while the university is represented on the institute board. The project raised more than $500 million to construct and endow the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

The last time George W. Bush (then outgoing president), Obama, George H. W. Bush and Carter met was in the White House in 2009. This was just days before Obama's first inauguration.