(July 6) -- A pistol seized when Saddam Hussein was captured in his spider hole in Iraq became a prized possession of former President George W. Bush -- and it will likely have a home in his presidential library when it opens in 2013.
The rare 9 mm Glock 18C was found by Delta Force soldiers on the floor of the Iraqi leader's hiding place at a farm near Tikrit on Dec. 13, 2003. The soldiers at first kept the gun, but then decided to give to the president as a gift when they met with him in the Oval Office in early 2004, The New York Times reported.
Skip over this content
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=655263&pid=655262&uts=1247072193
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
Presidential Mementos
George W. Bush kept a special memento of his presidency: a gun found with Saddam Hussein when the former Iraqi leader was dragged out of a spider hole near Tikrit in 2003. Bush is expected to give the 9 mm Glock 18C, right, to his presidential library, which is due to open in 2013.
AP / George W. Bush Presidential Library
AP / George W. Bush Presidential Library
The gun, mounted and encased in glass, was kept in the Oval Office or in Bush's private study for the rest of his time in office. He enjoyed showing it off to visitors, especially military officials, the paper said.
"For President Bush, this pistol represents his greatest moment of triumph, like the FBI keeping Dillinger's gun," historian Douglas Brinkley told the Times. "He wants people generations from now to see the gun and say, 'He got the bad guy.'"
Bush's associates and White House visitors said he had told them of his intention to display the gun in his library on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
