George Bush $500 Million Library: Will Bush Disclose Donors?

Former US president George W. Bush has raised $500 million to fund the construction of his George W. Bush Presidential Center, with its library, museum and institute. According to Mark Langhorne, the head of the Center foundation, half of the funds went toward the construction of the Center, while other portions were used to fund a mandatory endowment to the federal government and another endowment to Southern Methodist University, on which campus the center will reside. All five living presidents and their spouses are expected to attend the April 25 library dedication. It will be opened to the public on May 1.

The identities of the donors have not been disclosed, nor has Bush said if he will do so. In 2009 Langhorne said that it was the Center's policy not to disclose who the donors were. No law obligates former presidents to do so, although the Clinton foundation -- which oversaw a similar presidential center constructed to commemorate Bill Clinton -- published the names of donors as part of an effort to avoid conflicts of interest regarding Hillary Clinton's new post as Secretary of State. In Bill Clinton's case, the list showed that governments from Saudi Arabia to Norway made contributions as well as corporations and billionaires with interests in U.S. foreign policy. Before he left office, Clinton pardoned convicted financier Marc Rich, whose ex-wife later donated $450,000 to Clinton's foundation.

In March, a House committee green lighted a bill which would make donors to the institutions a matter of public record. The next step will be a vote in the White House. The bill would require future presidential library foundations to report donors to the National Archives four times a year so that they could then be available in an online database.

The $500 million is more than Bush received for either presidential run, during which he was subject to limitations on fundraising from any one source.

The National Journal reported that the library will feature, as its signature exhibit, a 17-foot, two-ton twisted piece of steel wreckage from the World Trade Center which experts have qualified as "impact steel" -- a piece of one of the towers actually struck by one of the planes on 9/11. The relic, which is being presented in the main exhibit hall, is meant to serve as a reminder of the ways in which Bush kept the United States safe after 9/11, according to a Bush acquaintance quoted in the article.