One of the highlights of a visit to the George W. Bush Presidential Museum is going into the replica Oval Office and walking across the iconic carpet bearing the Presidential Seal to sit behind an identical version of the Resolute Desk.
Most Americans know the seal because it hangs on the president’s blue podium when he speaks. In the Oval Office, it’s on the carpet and sculpted on the ceiling. The seal shows an eagle with olive branches in its right talon and a bundle of arrows in its left. The bird faces the olive branches on the current seal, but Museum docents like to point out that this wasn’t always the case: The eagle carved on the Resolute Desk faces the arrows.
President Harry S. Truman ordered a return to an earlier version of the seal that oriented the eagle’s gaze toward the olive branches in 1945 to demonstrate the country’s embrace of peace after World War II. A few years later, Truman established the postwar national defense infrastructure by signing the National Security Act of 1947. It converted the Department of War first into the National Military Establishment and then, in 1949, to the Department of Defense.
Like the eagle, Americans should keep our faces turned firmly toward defense and peace, deterrence and alliances, reducing the need for the use of force and war. It’s an important message to send our friends and foes as well as a way to show our commitment to the service members and veterans who have fought so hard for our country.
At the George W. Bush Institute, we actively work to advance free societies around the world, including defending democratic actors from authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China. To do this, we must double down on the global order created in the decades since World War II, when America used its military might to complement a strategy of deterrence and a framework of alliances like NATO and the hub and spokes model of our East Asia security system.
Our assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of that country is central to the cause of protecting democracies against illegal, authoritarian landgrabs. Our leadership in NATO marks the most successful defensive military alliance in history. And our backing for Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries helps preserve the peace in Asia.
At the same time, we must ensure opportunity here at home, especially for our service members, veterans, and military families, who face many challenges as they transition out of uniformed service to our nation. Congress and the administration should prioritize caring for those who put their lives on the line.
More than 150,000 military service members return to civilian life each year, and many require some coaching to explore education and career opportunities that will lead to meaningful work. Many also require assistance accessing care for physical and mental health needs incurred during their service.
The Bush Institute works to empower veterans to understand and access available resources as they transition into their civilian lives. And our Veteran Wellness Alliance connects veterans, service members, their families, caretakers, and survivors to high-quality care for their invisible wounds.
“Veterans are civic assets who should be empowered to lead in their communities,” according to the 2025 Veterans Civic Health Index , a report from We the Veterans and Military Families and the National Conference on Citizenship.
But we need Congress and the administration to do more as well. It’s time for Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs to rework many of the strategies, policies, programs, and resources that will help our veterans thrive as civilians – to “unleash the power of a generation of leaders” as President George W. Bush said in 2014.
In the meantime, there’s no sign that the Presidential Seal will change again anytime soon. Despite pop culture assertions – think The West Wing, the film National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and a Dan Brown novel – the eagle’s gaze doesn’t flip on the seal when America goes to war.
We should keep our gazes fixed on peace and well-being as well.
