It sounds like you do not believe that George Bush should get a library at all. THAT will never happen. As a US President, he will have a library and it will go to a University. That University is not going to be shamed by the greater academic community for what is or is not available for public examination. The ex-President will.

Why not be the University that does get to examine the contents? Why are so many complaining that it won’t be a “good enough” library? It is a Presidential Library, which is better than no Presidential Library at all.

Cristin Lavelle [SMU '04]

What in the behavior of the Bush Administration in the last six years could lead one to believe that anything coming out of this library and institute will say anything but positives about the Bush Administration? The answer is nothing. If any papers or materials were to reflect negatively on this presidency, you can count on not having access to them. And this is not speculation on my part: Note the Bush Executive Order giving the president and his family representatives the unprecedented ability to restrict access to his papers for as long as they see fit. This library and institute will unquestionably be an unabashed source of administration propaganda.

David Cole (‘82)

While Professor Abraham’s argument is sound, it doesn’t address the other side of the equation: the resulting implied and reciprocal contract the proposed Bush Library and Institute have with SMU. That contract would appear to say that these Bush institutions have the same commitments to diversity of opinion and independent scholarship. The problem is that the organizers of the Institute have already voiced their lack of interest in both of these values. As reported in Thomas DeFrank’s recent New York Daily News article, the “legacy-polishing” institute, to be called the “Institute for Democracy,” “…will hire conservative scholars and ‘give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President’s policies,’ one Bush insider says.”

What this appears to indicate is that, unless the Bush Institute lives up to the Methodist and SMU standards of diversity of opinion and independent scholarship, this is a lopsided contract. And, therefore, one that SMU shouldn’t sign.

David Cole (’82)

Ben:
I read your comments in the NYTimes today. Let me remind you that LBJ wasn’t popular when most of us were in college. His administration was partisan and very unpopular. His library has not hurt the reputation of UT. From your resume, I can tell that you were not even born yet. Not that I ever voted for him and personally think that he has not demonstrated astute judgment on many fronts, Turner and key SMU stakeholders want the library. There is an old adage: General decide and soldiers march. Remember that.
[name removed]

Here is my response:

Dear [name removed]:

Well, yes, but UT is a much bigger place than SMU, and they didn’t turn over their public face to an advocacy institute run by LBJ’s cronies. And LBJ’s stance on classification of documents and secrecy has allowed his library to be a major resources, whereas Bush has already taken steps to ensure that he has unprecedented ability to keep documents secret under executive privilege, even against the wishes of future presidents. As to generals deciding and soldiers marching, this isn’t the army, it’s a university, so we’re not soldiers but faculty. And it’s time to do our jobs.

Ben

And his rejoinder, to which I didn’t bother to reply directly:

unfortunately, you’ve not been here long enough and I’ve been here too long. Regardless of the time and energy you and others devote to this project, Turner and the Board will go ahead as planned. He will nod his head in agreement, but nothing will happen. It’s really out of his hands. Key stakeholders of the university and donors to SMU and the Republican party have made a decision. As an assistant professor, I would caution you to choose your battles carefully. Scholarship will either keep you here or afford you the opportunity to leave. Championing loosing causes will not keep you here or get you another job. You are a soldier and so am I. You are battling it, while I accept it. After more than 4 decades, I realize that institutional battles are for ‘locals” and not for “cosmopolitans.’ Locals think that recognition is earned by their host institution. Cosmos earn respect from professional colleagues not at their host institution but by their professional colleagues.