For the first time in 180 years, there is a president in office whose father was also president. The father of the current president, George Herbert Walker Bush, who served as president from 1989 to 1993, now lives in Houston, Texas, and often travels a couple of hours north to the city of College Station and the campus of Texas A & M University, where his presidential library is located.
At the Bush Presidential Library, the father and son who both carry the title of president are both on display.
The director of the Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Warren Finch, makes the former president's family a major focus of the exhibits. "There are photos throughout the museum of the president and his son, the future president of the United States, and the rest of his children and his grandchildren."
The former president often visits the library for special events and sometimes has to remind reporters that he is no longer in office.
The former President Bush and his wife, Barbara, have roots on the east coast, but, on a recent visit to his library, the 41st president explained why he chose to locate it here at Texas A and M University. He says, "It had to do with the spirit of this place and the sense of value-these kids can tell you-that permeate everything that goes on on this campus. "It also had to do with the fact that I got tired of being hung in effigy at Yale, my Alma Mater. I would go up there and hey, I'd be stretched out like that. I thought I have had enough of that, I am going to A and M. "
George Herbert Walker Bush began his public service career in World War Two, at the age of 18, when he entered the Navy Air Corps. He was shot down over the Pacific, but survived to serve in Congress and the Senate, to become US Ambassador to the United Nations, Special Liaison to China, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Vice President and then, President.
But, while impressed by the resume, many Texans, like Marian Bates of Houston, say they are also pleased by the former president and first lady's down-to-earth manner. "I am just surprised and amazed at how close they are to being just regular people, regular folks, like us!"
The Bush Presidential Library and museum are open year round to the general public.