Dear John,

As we kick off 2025, I am once again reminded of the unique role the Bush Center plays and how we can mobilize all of our platforms to achieve maximum impact.

While the nation swore in a new president and Congress in January, we were hard at work releasing a series of constructive policy recommendations for federal and state leaders. They tackle issues including housing, trade policy, immigration, educational reform, and veteran transition. Globally, we cover the dangerous alliance between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea (CRINK), Russia’s war against Ukraine, opportunities in Africa and the Western Hemisphere, and economic statecraft.

The recommendations are guided by President and Mrs. Bush’s timeless values of freedom, opportunity, accountability, and compassion and are featured in more detail in the winter issue of The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute.

Our policy work begins at home with ensuring opportunity for all – making sure that the economy, markets, and the educational system work for everyone. But America must also remain a force for good in the world, supporting Ukraine’s response to Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion almost three years ago and remaining engaged in Africa, where the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) continues to save millions of lives and serve as a powerful force in deterring authoritarian influence on the continent.

The Bush Center believes that securing democratic values, encouraging civic participation, and strengthening American institutions are the calling of every citizen. Civility, including civil debate and disagreement, is a cornerstone of a thriving democracy. The American capacity for self-renewal and regeneration is one of the wonders of history, but self-renewal does not happen by itself. It requires concentrated effort and leadership, as well as civic engagement.

Over two days in April, our Forum on Leadership and Community Conversation will delve deeper into these issues and celebrate courageous leaders who are making a significant impact on the lives of others. The event will feature sports analyst, former NFL player, author and activist Emmanuel Acho, along with many others.

Separately, our Engage at the Bush Center events presented by NexPoint, will continue to mix fun and policy work throughout the year.

The spring lineup begins today with “The Six Triple Eight: Quiet Heroism in WWII”. It’s the incredible story of the 6888th Central Postal Delivery Battalion, World War II’s only Black Women’s Army Corps unit, recently highlighted in a Netflix film. Other programs include “Navigating Turbulence: Senatorial Insights on Geopolitics & Foreign Policy” with U.S. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma on March 18; “Sunday in the Park with Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush”, where they will read their new picture book, I Loved You First, in the Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park, with additional support from the family of Susan S. Fischer on March 30; and the Laura Bush Book Club with Amor Towles, author of the bestselling books A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway, on May 8.

Our Presidential Leadership Scholars and Stand-To Veteran Leadership programs bring together a diverse group of America’s rising leaders and help them hone the skills they need to address today’s – and tomorrow’s – most pressing challenges. They include people like 2021 Veteran Leadership Scholar Dennis Miller, who helped publicize the story of the 6888th – his grandmother’s unit during WWII.

I’m looking forward to the Bush Museum’s exciting new special exhibit opening in the fall and continuing some of the great new programs the museum launched in 2024, such as tours of the Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park with support from the family of Susan S. Fischer, and the Situation Room experience. If you haven’t yet visited the Freedom Matters special exhibit, it’s been held over until May 31 by popular demand.

You have likely heard that this will be a year of transition at the Bush Center as I prepare to pass the baton to my successor as President and CEO. Until that time, I am committed to making 2025 a phenomenal year of impact, and I hope you will continue to support our work well into the future. I’m happy to report that we’re firing on all cylinders and doing phenomenally well operationally.

The Bush Center continues to be blessed by a broad base of annual support, for which we thank you. Our leaders of all stripes should remember that public service is a noble calling and that, as President Bush has said, our duty as Americans is to be citizens, not spectators. The Bush Center will keep doing its part, thanks to all of you.

All the best,



Ken Hersh
President and CEO, George W. Bush Presidential Center