Former President George W. Bush opened the Ringling College Library Association’s Town Hall lecture series Tuesday with two sold-out talks before enthusiastic audiences at the 1,731-seat Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota.
Security was heavy. Lecture-goers had to pass through screening machines and pocketbooks were inspected; stage signs admonished no photography, videotaping or note-taking; and media was allowed in the auditorium for the first three minutes only.
Bush displayed self-deprecating wit and expert comic timing throughout his 30-minute speech as he talked about bringing his lifelong friends from Midland, Texas (“Ever been to Midland, Texas?” he asked. “It’s the exact opposite of Sarasota”) to tour the Oval Office, and how his first executive decision was what rug to select. (“I don’t know anything about rug design, and if I did, I wouldn’t want anyone to know it,” he said.) He talked about the art he selected for the Oval Office walls (images of Texas and portraits of past presidents). “I carry my father’s portrait in my heart, but I chose 16, Abraham Lincoln, for the wall.” He said he chose his desk, the Resolute—originally gifted to President Rutherford B. Hayes by England’s Queen Victoria and used by both FDR and John F. Kennedy—as a constant reminder that his own presidency was “part of something much bigger.”
