Bush’s historic home

Midland, Texas is famous for four things: oil, football, Baby Jessica, and Presidents Bush. OK, that’s technically five things. Throw in Tommy Franks and that’s quite a record. I spent half of the 80s there, enjoying the warm weather, a good public library, and great little league soccer. And it just got better, because now George W. Bush’s childhood home is restored and open to the public. It opened yesterday with Laura, HW, and Barbara on hand (home video). Apparently, Bush is so successful that he gets landmarks before his term is over. Peter Wallsten of the LAT filed an excellent piece on the house, and had this fair point to make:

[P]romoters of the house as a historic landmark acknowledge that defining its particular story line has not been easy. Although the house itself suggests modest beginnings, the young couple that occupied it belonged to one of the most powerful families in contemporary American history, combining the wealth and power of Wall Street with a record of high public office.

George H.W. Bush’s father, Prescott Bush, had been a U.S. senator from Connecticut, for instance, and the family tree included an original partner of financier J.P. Morgan. In some ways, the family compound on the ocean at Kennebunkport, Maine, may be a more authentic symbol of who the Bushes are.