A president boosts Holocaust Museum’s record $4.2 million LBJ dinner
President George W. Bush helped the Holocaust Museum Houston raise a record-shattering $4.2 million.
It’s an impressive figure, especially after HMH’s chief executive officer Dr. Kelly Zuniga announced that the 2018 Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award Dinner’s initial fundraising goal was $1.2 million.
With the Smith family — Sue and Lester Smith, Limor and Stuart Smith, and Shelly and Brian Hendry — serving as dinner co-chairs, the evening was always destined to be a slam dunk.
Last year, Sue and Lester Smith wrote a $1 million check to the nonprofit institution; weeks later, the couple upped their own ante by announcing a $14 million matching grant toward the museum’s expansion.
This go-around, more than 1,200 HMH supporters rose to the occasion. Following a kosher meal and Divisi Strings performance, Lester Smith, who describes himself as a man who “says the wrong thing at the right time,” introduced the honoree and 43rd president of the United States by reading a passage from his book, “You Gotta Dance Like No One’s Watching,” and recounting how he met the 41st president of the United States, George H.W. Bush.
The tale began with a chance encounter in the men’s room during a Texans home game. Long story short, Lester tried to make “midstream small talk” and “41” couldn’t escape fast enough.
Later, George W. Bush got comfortable onstage with Fred
Zeidman, HMH chairman emeritus; the pair sank into brown leather armchairs against a projected image of the Oval Office and talked openly for 45 minutes.
First things first. “Tell us about your mom, Barbara Bush,” Zeidman said.
“All is well with her soul,” Bush replied. “I asked her, ‘Are you scared?’ And she said, ‘No, I’m ready to go.’ ”
They touched on a variety of topics, from Bush’s greatest fears (“cyber attacks”) to his weekend plans (headed to the family ranch) and his affectionate nickname for tablemate and old friend Mayor Sylvester Turner (“Sly”).
The former president shared his advice for the country’s current leaders (“human dignity should be at the center of all foreign policy”) and revealed which former leader he finds most intriguing (Abraham Lincoln).
He spoke of not watching television. “I paint ... and I write books ... which came as a surprise to some people in New York who thought I couldn’t read.”
And he shared poignant anecdotes. “I’m sober. I embraced sobriety, after some gentle nudging from my wife, and that’s the only way I could become president. That was in 1986.”
“In contrast to Lincoln,” Bush said, “who led during the Civil War while Americans were fighting each other, and then Lincoln had to come home to miserable partner ... Laura (Bush) is known for a lot of things, health and literacy, but I think her greatest contribution was being a still and steady soul.”
Each dinnergoer received two books, Bush’s “Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief ’s Tribute to America’s Warriors” and Lester Smith’s. Those who ignored the “no photography” sign also landed snapshots with the good-natured former president.