Presidential Libraries

As part of a release of archival tapes and documents Monday, the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum revealed fresh records that reflect the 37th president's heated campaign to investigate, intimidate and smear political rivals and opponents of the Vietnam War. Among the documents is a handwritten note from Nixon's top aide, H.R. Haldeman, on June 23, 1971, which may shed light on the origins of Nixon's infamous "enemies list."

His approval ratings are among the lowest for any president in modern U.S. history. He's presiding over the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He acknowledges that many Americans have repudiated his Republican Party. And he's been utterly eclipsed by a charismatic successor. Things haven't worked out so well for President Bush. He's banking on a kinder and gentler future. With the days counting down on Bush's White House lease, plans for the George W.

If David A. Horrocks could point to a favorite historical gem housed inside the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, it would be this: a single sheet of paper, outlining a 1975 senior staff meeting. Ford had called the aides into the Oval Office to iron out key staff changes. Donald H. Rumsfeld would become secretary of Defense. Dick Cheney would be named chief of staff. George H.W. Bush would "replace Bill Colby at CIA."

A group of Methodist ministers from across the nation launched an online petition drive urging Southern Methodist University in Dallas to stop trying to land George W. Bush's presidential library. The petition says that "as United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate."

The University of Dallas withdrew its bid for George W. Bush's presidential library, citing the library site selection committee's exclusive talks with nearby Southern Methodist University. Last month SMU emerged as the apparent winner for the library with the announcement of the negotiations, putting it ahead of the other two finalists, the University of Dallas and Baylor University in Waco.

A lavish gala was to kick off a display of Nancy Reagan's ball gowns Thursday night, but visitors to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley were buzzing more about the landmark's record-keeping problems -- lapses so severe that National Archives officials are unable to say whether gifts to the Reagans have been stolen or are lost inside the massive museum complex.

Southern Methodist University will be home to George W. Bush's presidential library, officials formally announced in Dallas, ending more than a year of negotiations marked by resistance from some faculty and ministers who questioned the deal. First Lady Laura Bush is an SMU graduate, and the Bushes are expected to live in Dallas when his term ends.

A Methodist leadership group endorsed building George W. Bush's presidential library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, essentially ending nearly two years of opposition. The largely symbolic votes dashed the hopes of opponents, many of whom contend that the Bush administration's views conflict with church teachings. The Bush library, museum and public policy institute is expected to open in 2012 or 2013.

President Bush's aides contend that he hasn't thought much about what he will do when he leaves office in January 2009. But there are indications that plans are underway. Bush has named a close friend, former Commerce Secretary Don Evans, to head the search for the location of his presidential library. Evans said he was being assisted by one of the president's brothers, Marvin Bush, and by Craig R. Stapleton, the husband of a Bush cousin and the nominee to be ambassador to France.

More than 30,000 people are expected Thursday when former President Clinton opens his $165-million presidential library, and civic leaders say the campus is already functioning as a catalyst for a renaissance here, helping to spur a building boom. The presidential library -- the nation's 12th, and the largest private development in Little Rock history -- has been built on a 30-acre site that had housed abandoned warehouses and trash for as long as anyone can remember.