Texas Governor George W. Bush:

An Inventory of Executive Office Records at the Texas State Archives, 1976, 1982-1984, 1987, 1989-2000 (bulk 1995-2000)

Agency History

The governor of Texas is the chief executive officer of the state, elected by the citizens every four years. The duties and responsibilities of the governor include serving as commander-in-chief of the state's military forces; convening special sessions of the legislature for specific purposes; delivering to the legislature at the beginning of each regular session a report on the condition of the state, an accounting of all public money under the governor's control, a recommended biennial budget, an estimate of the amounts of money required to be raised by taxation, and any recommendations he deems necessary; signing or vetoing bills passed by the legislature; and executing the laws of the state. The governor can grant reprieves and commutations of punishment and pardons, upon the recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and revoke conditional pardons. He appoints numerous state officials (with the consent of the Senate), fills vacancies in state and district offices (except vacancies in the legislature), calls special elections to fill vacancies in the legislature, fills vacancies in the United States Senate until an election can be held, and serves as ex officio member of several state boards.

The office of governor was first established by the Constitution of 1845 and superseded the office of president of the Republic of Texas. The position now exists under authority of Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution of 1876 and Texas Government Code, Chapter 401. To be elected governor, a person must be at least thirty years old, a United States citizen, and a resident of Texas for at least five years preceding the election. In 1972, the term of office was extended from two to four years, effective in 1975. Since 1856 the governor has had the use of the Governor's Mansion.

In 1999 there were 198 full time equivalent employees in the Office of the Governor. Thirteen divisions outside of the Executive Office assist the governor in carrying out his functions: Administration, Appointments, Budget & Planning, Communications, General Counsel, Legislative, Policy, Scheduling, Criminal Justice Division, Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, Office of Film, Music, Television and Multimedia Industries, Women's Commission, and Texas Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness.

Within the Executive Office, Ofelia Vanden Bosch served as Governor George W. Bush's administrative assistant, handling his in office schedule. Israel Hernandez traveled with the Governor and maintained the speech file. Logan Walters was responsible for the gift log.

George W. Bush Biographical Sketch

George W. Bush served as governor of Texas from January 17, 1995 to December 21, 2000, resigning as governor in the middle of his second term to become president of the United States.

He challenged the incumbent governor, Democrat Ann Richards, running on promises to improve public education and to reform the juvenile justice system, welfare, and the state's tort laws -- the system under which an injured person may sue for damages. During the 74th Legislature in 1995, he worked with the Democrats who controlled both houses of the Texas legislature and managed to get bills passed that dealt with the four issues he had emphasized in his campaign. Bush was seen as pro-business and a consensus-builder.

Bush advocated and signed the two largest tax cuts to date in Texas history, totaling over $3 billion. To pay for the cuts, he sought (unsuccessfully) federal approval of a plan to privatize Texas' social services. Education reform was a priority throughout his terms, with legislation emphasizing local control of schools, higher standards, and a revised curriculum. Controversy has followed, with charter schools mired in financial scandals and protests against one test determining a child's promotion. After winning reelection in 1998, Bush began his bid for the presidency and was not as involved in the 76th Legislature in 1999.

George W. Bush was born July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He graduated from Andover Academy, and received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a master's from Harvard Business School. He served as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard. In 1978, Bush was defeated in a run for the U.S. Congress in West Texas. He was involved in energy exploration from the 1970s into the 1980s. From 1989 until his election as governor, Bush worked with the Texas Rangers baseball organization, leading a group of partners in purchasing the team, and then serving as managing general partner. He married Laura Welch in 1977; they have two daughters.

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Scope and Contents of the Records

Executive Office records of Texas Governor George W. Bush (1995-2000) include printouts of and attachments to the electronic gift log; schedules and calendars including a transition office calendar; Transition Office correspondence; copies of out-of-state letters notifying the acting governor when Bush would be absent from and returning to the state to resume his gubernatorial duties; autograph and photo requests; photo op requests and attachments; Press Christmas party photographs; and visitors' registers. The material dates from 1976, 1982-1984, 1987, 1989-2000 (bulk 1995-2000).

The gift logs series consist mainly of printouts from the gift log database with some attachments maintained by the Governor's Executive Office staff and administered by intern and personal aide, Logan Walters. Records date from 1976, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989-2000, the bulk dating 1995-2000. Attachments are correspondence, cards, memoranda, notes, clippings, and a few photographs, primarily from constituents, corporations, legislators, foreign officials, personal friends, and others, that accompanied the gifts to the Governor; and copies of the Governor's thank you letters, a few handwritten, acknowledging receipt of these gifts.

The schedules and calendars series provides a comprehensive agenda of Governor George W. Bush's out of office activities and travel, dating 1995-2000. Records also include edited schedules, January 1995-May 1999; a Transition Office calendar, dated January 1-16, 1995; handwritten office calendars (1995-2000); and Lotus printouts of office schedules, dating April 1998-December 1998 and January-July, 2000 (scattered dates).

Transition Office correspondence to and from Governor-elect George W. Bush consists mainly of congratulatory letters; appointment requests and recommendations; constituents' concerns on various issues; requests for and copies from Governor-elect Bush of recognition letters for Eagle Scouts, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.; reference requests; and meeting and conference invitations, dating 1983, 1993-1995.

Out-of-state letters are copies of correspondence notifying the Lieutenant Governor, or other acting governors, of the approximate date and time Governor George W. Bush would be absent from the state and when he would be returning to resume his duties as governor, 1999-2000. Also included are copies of the Governor's out-of-state time sheets, June 1999-July 2000, and a few Executive Office fax cover sheets, undated. Additional out-of-state letters can be found in the file "Lieutenant Governor Bullock" in Executive Assistant's Office files, Subject files.

Autograph and photo request correspondence and logs, 1995-2000 (bulk 1998-1999), include cards, memoranda, notes, clippings, and a few photographs from the Executive Office of Texas Governor George W. Bush. The three autograph logs that are also present are dated April-November 1995.

Photo op request forms with some attachments concern requests from individuals or groups to be photographed with Texas Governor George W. Bush, 1996-1999 (bulk 1998-1999).

Photographs are from the Texas Governor's Office Press Christmas parties held at the Governor's Mansion, 1995-1998. Most are images of Governor's Office staff or members of the press, both local and statewide, and their families posing with Governor George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. Unidentified photograph numbers are not included in the folder listing. Bette Redman Reichman, Public Eye Photography, Austin, Texas, holds the copyright on all of the photographs in this series.

Bound volumes of visitors' registers, 1995-2000, record such information as the day's date, visitor's name and address, and arrival and departure times of visitors who signed in while visiting the office of Texas Governor George W. Bush. There are no registers present for the dates April 2, 1997 through February 5, 1998 or February 18 through July 18, 1999.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Because of the possibility that portions of these records fall under Public Information Act exceptions including, but not limited to, communications of citizens with a member of the legislature, or the lieutenant governor (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.101 (information confidential under specific statues, Texas Government Code, Section 306.004)); common law privacy (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.101); agency memoranda (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.111); student records (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.114); home address, home telephone number, personal cellular phone number, personal pager number, personal family information of government employees or officials (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.117); motor vehicle records (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.130); confidentiality of access device numbers (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.136); and email addresses (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.137), an archivist must review these records before they can be accessed for research. The records may be requested for research under the provisions of the Public Information Act (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Chapter 552). The researcher may request an interview with an archivist or submit a request by mail, fax, or email including enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the archivist to accurately identify and locate the information requested. If our review reveals information that may be excepted by the Public Information Act, we are obligated to seek an open records decision from the Attorney General on whether the records can be released. The Public Information Act allows the Archives ten working days after receiving a request to make this determination. The Attorney General has 45 working days to render a decision. Alternately, the Archives can inform you of the nature of the potentially excepted information and if you agree, that information can be redacted or removed and you can access the remainder of the records.

Records series described in this finding aid have access restrictions specific to each of them. The terms of access are found following the series' descriptions.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).

Researchers are required to wear gloves provided by the Archives when reviewing photographic materials.

Technical Requirements

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Executive Office records, Records of Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession number: 2002/151

In December 2000, Governor George W. Bush designated the George Bush Presidential Library as the repository for the records from his tenure as Governor of Texas, under authority of Texas Government Code, Section 441.201. Shortly after he left office, the records were shipped to the Bush Library in College Station, Texas. Texas Attorney General John Cornyn ruled the records are state records subject to the Texas Public Information Act and the management of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission even after transfer to a federal facility (Opinion No. JC-0498, May 3, 2002). In July 2002 the records were transferred from the Bush Library to the Texas State Archives in Austin for preparation for research use. In June 2003, a memorandum of understanding signed by representatives of the National Archives and Records Administration, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and George W. Bush replaced a January 2002 interim memorandum of understanding. The records will be returned to the Bush Library after the project has been completed.

Processing Information

Sherry Severson, July 2004

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Detailed Description of the Records

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