Presidential Timeline Web Site Unveils George W. Bush Timeline - May 27, 2011

The timeline contains many photographs of the events of September 11, 2001.

For those interested in studying the battle against terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is essential to research the decisions and actions of President George W. Bush. The new George W. Bush Timeline, which debuted last week on the Learning Technology Center’s Presidential Timeline Web site, will allow anyone to examine, through primary source materials, the events of the last decade and the impact of a president’s decision-making.

The Bush timeline details over 100 events throughout the former president’s life and contains more than 200 photographs and documents from the George W. Bush Library, one of thirteen presidential libraries that are part of the National Archives and Records Administration. The new library will open in its permanent facility in 2013 on the Southern Methodist University campus. Highlights include many photographs that chronicle Bush’s handling of the events of 9/11 and the days following: leading the nation in a day of prayer, addressing Congress on how the country should respond to the attack, authorizing airstrikes on Afghanistan, and signing the PATRIOT Act. Many other important issues and events are also covered, such as Bush’s work to pass global AIDS relief legislation and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The timeline provides detailed information for each resource, such as this photo of President Bush
addressing emergency workers at Ground Zero.

The new timeline joins those of twelve 20th century presidents, Hoover through Clinton, on the Presidential Timeline. Each features a trove of historical resources, including audio and video clips, photographs, and documents, from the collections of the presidential libraries. The LTC partnered with the libraries to develop the Web site, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation.

“Adding the George Bush timeline was a big job for us,” says Ken Tothero, coordinator of the LTC’s External and Special Projects and manager of the project. “Our programmer, David Kim, had to ‘reverse engineer’ and reprogram the entire structure of the site.”

As with all the presidents’ timelines, new digital objects will continually be added to the Bush timeline. Exhibits, which provide an in-depth look at a particular issue or event, are also planned. Another new feature coming soon to the Presidential Timeline is an interactive program that will allow users to create timelines on any topic they choose.

For additional information about the Presidential Timeline, contact Ken Tothero.

—Laurie Caldwell, LTC Communications Coordinator

Related Sites:

• Presidential Timeline
• George W. Bush Presidential Center