Crawford, Texas, during the Bush presidency, 2000-03, by George Walker

From MemoryArchive

Who: George Walker 
When: 2000-2003
Where: Crawford, During Bush Presidency- Crawford,  is where Bush goes on vacation

As the party primaries for the 2000 election came to a close, and it became increasingly evident that there was roughly a one in two chance that Governor Bush of Texas would become the the President of the United States, things began to happen in the sleepy little town of Crawford, Texas.

Crawford, Texas

Bush, who had bought land just outside of Crawford, relayed his opinion that Crawford would be an excellent place to take a vacation should he be elected president. This caused a large amount of public works projects to be started, seemingly overnight.

The first and perhaps most important was the transportation infrastructure of Crawford and the surrounding areas. Crawford, is a small town in Central Texas which became small when state planners decided to bypass the town, and build a major highway (Highway 6) ten miles to the north of it, instead of through it. Crawford, was slowly dying, and if not that, at least stagnating. With the thought that Bush would be vacationing there, however,

Dirt roads leading away from Crawford, suddenly were paved.
Roads were widened leading into Crawford, .
The roads in Crawford, were improved and repaired.

It was evident that if Bush wanted to vacation in Crawford, , the people, city, and county leaders wanted it to look good.

In addition to road improvements, aesthetic improvements also begin to take place. One of the most noticeable was the cleanup of an ad hoc junkyard on the east side of town, which had been collecting spare parts from all sorts of machinery for years. In addition to this,

Derelict buildings were improved, or torn down.
Businesses expanded or improved their buildings.
The town was given a "make over," in many ways, including new paint.

Not only was Crawford, improving its infrastructure and making itself more appealing, but new businesses begin to be built. Currently, there are several businesses which have capitalized on the fact that Bushresides in Crawford, on his vacations, including one which is arguably the most prominent building in the town.

After Bush was elected, more interesting people began to arrive, some of which appeared to be a bit out of place. At the Subway 8 miles away, which is one of the closest fast food joints, I saw government types numerous times. I could tell, because they had clear earpieces in their ears, and wore vests in the 100 degree heat, because they were trying to hide their sidearms.

Once, I was followed down an unimproved road by a blacked out Suburban with government plates.

Basically, after Bush became elected President, you didn't have to look incredibly hard to see security personnel that weren't there before.

The last thing I have to add is that military flights over my house increased dramatically after Bush was elected, and included various fighter aircraft, and on several occasions, the presidential helicopter "caravan" flying in its characteristic three helicopter formation.