Appears to be no rush to name things after Bush

WASHINGTON — The first President Bush has an aircraft carrier, an airport in Houston, a turnpike north of Dallas and the George Bush Center for Intelligence (the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.).

Lincoln has a tunnel. Washington has a bridge and a state. Hoover has a dam. Madison has a Square Garden.

And Ronald Reagan has nearly 100 things honoring him, including a ballistic-missile test site, a New Hampshire mountain and a bust at an Alabama McDonald's.

So far, the current President Bush has an elementary school, a Waco-area road and highways in Ghana and Georgia, the country, not the state.

Time will tell what else will bear the name of a president who, according to a recent CNN/Opinion Research poll, is less popular now than Richard Nixon was when he resigned. Know of much named for Nixon?

The most recent effort to name something for Bush was not meant as a tribute. Bush foes in California wanted to change the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. Sixty-nine percent of voters gave it a thumbs down Nov. 4, killing the idea.

Efforts to put his name on the airport and a road in New Haven, Conn. — Bush's birthplace — died in the state's Legislature.

Legacy goal

The reigning champion of getting things named for a president said Bush is a tough sell. Grover Norquist heads the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, whose goal is to get something named for Reagan in each state, every county and every formerly communist country.

So far, there are 95 dedications to Reagan, including things in 26 states and nine foreign countries.

"The most likely things for Bush will be done in Texas, just as there are more things named for Jimmy Carter in Georgia than in other states and more things named after Truman in Missouri," Norquist said. "States are proud of their presidents."

Correct, said Allison Castle, spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

"Much like Texas has done for former President George H.W. Bush, Governor Perry believes Texas will find similar ways to honor President George W. Bush," she said, offering no specifics.

No insult

Jay Greene, who studies such things, said Bush should not be insulted if there is not a wave of schools named for him. Last year, Greene, a University of Arkansas education professor, did a study concluding it is "increasingly rare for public schools to be named after presidents" or anybody.

Instead, he said, school officials pick "names that sound like day spas or herbal teas."

School officials in Stockton, Calif., opted against that sort of thing when George W. Bush Elementary School opened.

In October 2006, Bush went to the school to acknowledge the honor.

"When I pulled in the parking lot and I saw George W. Bush Elementary, I couldn't think of a higher tribute to a person and I thank you all and the citizens of this community for this honor and tribute," Bush said at the time. "Frankly, I was a little emotional when I pulled in."

He will have a chance at a seagoing honor. The Navy has 20 warships named for presidents. In 2006, President Bush presided at the christening ceremony for the aircraft carrier named for his dad.

"I know you join me in saying to our father: President Bush, your ship has come in," the younger Bush said, adding later of the ship, "She is unrelenting. She is unshakable. She is unyielding. She is unstoppable. As a matter of fact, probably should have been named the Barbara Bush."