Welcome to the main page of the Textual Archives at the George Bush Presidential Library. Below, you will find several links that will direct you to information to answer your questions about the availability of textual materials, researching textual materials, and requesting access to textual materials through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Although the bulk of our 40,000,000 pages of holdings document the Vice Presidency and Presidency of George Bush (1981-1993), a limited amount of material documenting Mr. Bush's life prior to 1981 is available for research. You will find this material under Finding Aids: Donated Historical Materials.
If you do not see what you are looking for on our website, please call the Textual Archives at (979) 691-4041, send a facsimile to (979) 691-4030, or email us at Library.Bush@nara.gov.
If you wish to write, please address your correspondence to:
The George Bush Presidential Library and MuseumConfirmed appointments are required to conduct on-site research in the Textual Archives. Please call (979) 691-4041 or email library.bush@nara.gov to schedule your appointment at least 24 hours in advance. Researchers should submit lists of records they wish to view, and we will make every effort to have the items ready upon arrival. Research room hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays, the week of Thanksgiving, and the week of Christmas. Please note that, though the research room is open until 4:00 p.m., we will not pull records after 2:30 p.m.
Before conducting on-site research at the George Bush Presidential Library, researchers must submit a researcher application and complete a National Archives researcher orientation either online or in-person. The researcher application (in fillable PDF format) and the link to complete the researcher orientation are available below. The online orientation will generate a certificate of completion once successfully concluded. Researchers may choose to bring the completed researcher application and certificate with them their first day, send them to us via email prior to arrival, or complete both upon arrival. However, please do not sign the documents until you arrive at our facility for the review of your paperwork and issuance of a blue Bush Library Research Card. Finally, please remember to bring a valid English language photo ID.
The Finding Aids are guides to researching processed (and available) records at the George Bush Presidential Library. Most of the records made available for research after 1998 are located under the Completed and Pending Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests heading. Other groups of records currently available for research include:
If you have questions about the organization of the finding aids or cannot locate information on a specific topic, please call or email us.
President Bush met with and called hundreds of foreign leaders during his four year presidency. Follow the link to a list of recently declassified transcripts of these meetings and calls. Additional telcons and memcons will be added to the list as they are declassified. Please contact the George Bush Library Archives for information on telcons and memcons that are not listed, telcons and memcons the area are partially declassified or where release was denied in full.
The National Security Council held seventy-six meetings between February 10, 1989 and December 3, 1992. This document lists these meetings by date and includes a brief subject line for each meeting. When requesting access to these files through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request or a Mandatory Review (MR) request, please provide the date and subject of the meeting(s). If the requested file is already available for research, we will notify you and list the information on the finding aid portion of the website.
The NSC Deputies Committee comprised of selected NSC members met 433 times between February 8, 1989 and January 6, 1993. This document lists these meetings by date and includes a brief subject line for each meeting. Some subjects remain classified and are noted with redactions. When requesting access to these files through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request or a Mandatory Review (MR) request, please provide the date and subject of the meeting(s). If the subject is not available, only the date is required. If the requested file is already available for research, we will notify you and list the information on the finding aid portion of the website.
National Security Directives - List with Supporting Documents
The Bush Administration issued seventy-nine National Security Directives between 1989 and 1993. Unlike National Security Reviews, National Security Directives address specific issues concerning national security and U.S. foreign policy. NSD's declassified in whole or in part are available here. NSD's that are not available may be requested through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or by filing a Mandatory Review request with the George Bush Presidential Library. Please call or email for further information.
National Security Reviews - List with Supporting Documents
The Bush Administration conducted thirty National Security Reviews between 1989 and 1993. These reviews address general issues concerning national security and U.S. foreign policy. NSR's declassified in whole or in part are available here. NSR's that are not available may be requested through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or by filing a Mandatory Review request with the George Bush Presidential Library. Please call or email for further information.
The National Security Strategy Report, often referred to simply as the National Security Strategy (NSS), is a document periodically prepared by the executive branch for Congress. The document is a requirement of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, and broadly describes an administration’s major national security concerns and goals, as well as broad plans for dealing with those concerns. President George H. W. Bush’s administration submitted and published National Security Strategies in 1990, 1991, and 1993.
Please select 1989, 1990, 1991 or 1992 to view the list of meetings. The meetings are arranged by date and include the name and title of the visiting official, the country or organization they represented, the meeting location and the occasion of the visit. Please note that the documents print on legal size paper.
The Public Papers are the collected papers and speeches of President George Bush from the period 20 January 1989 to 19 January 1993. These are also available in eight bound volumes (about 9,000 pages) at many libraries worldwide.
Here you will find an eclectic collection of frequently requested documents that Bush Library archivists have digitized an made available to the general public. Generally, these documents are not available anywhere else.
The Selected China Documents consist of several hundred pages of records documenting a number of issues in U.S.-China relations. These documents represent a very small sample of the total number of documents available for research at the George Bush Presidential Library. If you do not find exactly what you are looking for, please call or email us for further information on the availability of certain documents.
The selected Gulf War documents consist of several hundred pages of White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) records documenting a number of issues during the Persian Gulf Conflict. These documents represent a very small sample of the total number of documents available for research at the George Bush Presidential Library. If you do not find exactly what you are looking for, please call or email us for further information on the availability of certain documents.
The George Bush Library Guide to Holdings provides a summary of the materials held in the textual archives. While some material from each office and/or staff member may be available for research, we strongly urge prospective researchers to contact the Bush Library by telephone or email to discuss their research topic and the availability of specific documents before they arrive to conduct research. We also recommend that researchers review the list of completed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to determine whether information on a particular topic is available for research. You may access the list by clicking here or by clicking on the "Finding Aids" link and then selecting the link under "Processed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests."
A FAQ that will answer many of your questions about preparing for and conducting research in the Textual Archives at the George Bush Presidential Library.
