George Bush Library - Horses Over the Wall

A stop on Texas A&M Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

On the western edge of campus stands the presidential library of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president. It was built between 1995 and 1997 on 90 acres beside the Bush School of Government and Public Service. Its archives hold Bush's presidential and vice presidential papers, the vice presidential papers of Dan Quayle, more than 38 million pages and about a million photographs.

The great bronze of horses leaping over broken concrete is The Day the Wall Came Down by Veryl Goodnight, dedicated in 1997. The horses stand for the human spirit breaking free, and the graffiti on the rubble copies real graffiti from the Berlin Wall, which fell during Bush's first year in office. A second casting stands in Berlin.

Behind the pond on the grounds is the Bush family gravesite. The president rests there beside his wife Barbara, who died in April 2018, months before him, and their daughter Robin, who died in 1953 just before her fourth birthday. The gravesite follows the museum's hours, so check the library's website before you go.

Getting here: This is the tour's long leg: about 2 km southwest along George Bush Drive West, roughly 25 to 30 minutes on foot, or ride a campus bus to the Bush School stop (check Transportation Services for current routes).

Did you know?: Each casting of The Day the Wall Came Down weighs about seven tons and stretches roughly 30 feet long.

Photo op: Frame the leaping horses from the front so the library building rises behind the rubble of the wall.

More on Wikipedia: George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum · George H. W. Bush · Veryl Goodnight · Barbara Bush

George Bush Library - Horses Over the Wall

Stops on this tour