Feature: Tale of father-son presidencies

The historic Treaty of Paris and a famous bullhorn from Ground Zero are featured in a new Texas exhibit exploring the unique lives of two fathers and their first-born sons who became U.S. presidents.

"Fathers and Sons: Two Families/Four Presidents" will give visitors to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum a glimpse of John Adams and John Quincy Adams and George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the only fathers and sons to serve as U.S. presidents.

Museum Curator Patricia Burchfield hopes the most ambitious exhibit so far at the presidential library, which opened in 1997, will both intrigue and inspire visitors so they learn more about the four unique presidents. She did not set out to compare the men.

"I wanted to present some artifacts and documents that illustrated their careers and their presidencies and let people draw their own conclusions," she said. "It's really only a little glimpse of their lives and their careers. It encourages people to do more reading about them."

More than nine months of work has gone into the exhibit, which opens to the public Tuesday at the Bush library on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. Former President Bush, who lives in nearby Houston, is expected to attend a formal opening Monday night.

In a statement, Bush said he and wife Barbara believe the exhibit will be a great way for the many school children who tour the museum to learn about American history.

"We have so many school children visiting our museum and this is a great way by which they can learn about the presidency and certain eras of our country's history," he said.

Adams, the nation's second president, served from 1797 to 1801, and his son, John Quincy, was in office from 1825 to 1829. Nearly 160 years passed before the second father-son team assumed the nation's highest office, former President Bush in 1989 and his son in 2000.

The Bush museum worked with historians and other institutions across the country in gathering the scores of documents, artwork, and other artifacts to weave together the roles of the Adams and Bush families in shaping the nation's history.

Among the artifacts are special items rarely seen in public anymore, said Burchfield.

"The Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, has not been on public display for a long time," she said. "It's on loan from the National Archives."

The treaty, with the signatures of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, is but one of the rare documents and artifacts in the collection. The displays include pages of the Monroe Doctrine, letters exchanged between the Bushes, and the bullhorn President Bush used to address rescue workers at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"That's a really wonderful piece," Burchfield said. "It was a magical, incredible moment."

Another fascinating document from Sept. 11 is the "reading copy" that President Bush used when he went on television the night of the attacks to address a shocked nation.

"It was such a fast speech that he actually did his edits on the reading copy," she said. "That's what he read from and it's going to be here."

"Fathers and Sons" also includes several prominent works of art, including portraits of John and Abigail Adams by Gilbert Stuart, on loan from the National Gallery of Art. "The Peacemakers," on loan from the White House, and the J.S. Copley portrait of John Quincy Adams, along with portraits of the Bushes by artist Ron Sherr.

Texas A&M President Ray Bowen said the exhibit "reinforces the dedication to country and public service of two uniquely American families."

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The exhibit runs through July 31, 2002. Museum hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Museum admission is $5 for adults, $4 for students, $3.50 for adults ages 62 and above and groups of 20 or more with reservations. Children under 16, Texas A&M and Blinn College students are admitted free.