# Bush paints 9/11, and leaves out the wars

> Twenty-five years on, the president who launched the War on Terror marks the anniversary with 16 canvases about courage.
- Title: Bush paints 9/11, and leaves out the wars · Mother Jones
- Summary: Twenty-five years on, the president who launched the War on Terror marks the anniversary with 16 canvases about courage. A museum exhibit can shape how a…
- Keywords: 9/11, george w. bush, war on terror, memory, politics, Bush, paints, leaves, wars, Mother Jones
- Source: Mother Jones — https://motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/george-bush-paintings-911-september-11-anniversary-exhibition
- Author: Alex Nguyen
- Published: 2026-09-11T15:13:37+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: 9/11, george w. bush, war on terror, memory, politics
## The anniversary lineup
George W. Bush, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg and JD Vance all turned up for the 25th anniversary memorial of the September 11 attacks.
## Bush marks it with paint
On Friday, Bush released a new collection of his own paintings for the anniversary of the attacks that killed thousands while he was in office.
## Sixteen works in Dallas
The exhibit, "Remembering 9/11," hangs at the Bush Museum in Dallas for the whole month of September.
## The classroom moment
One canvas shows Andy Card leaning in to whisper news of the attack while Bush sat with elementary school students in Sarasota, Florida.
## How the museum frames it
The Bush Presidential Center pitches the series as a reflection on what emerged from a defining moment, with no mention of what came next.

> the courage, sacrifice, and resilience that emerged from one of the most defining moments in American history
## What the canvases skip
The response Bush launched brought America's longest foreign occupation, at least 4.5 million deaths, and the Department of Homeland Security.
## Key takeaway

A museum exhibit can shape how a presidency is remembered by choosing which parts of it to paint.