Former President George W. Bush paid an unannounced visit to the 9/11 museum Sunday evening, and spent an hour somberly looking at the exhibits.
“He was clearly moved by the museum and its contents,’’ said a law-enforcement source.
Bush arrived at 6 p.m. with his security detail while the museum was still open to the public.
Some people recognized him, but were respectful of his privacy and did not try to approach him.
He did shake hands with some Port Authority police officers at the museum.
The source said he appeared especially moved by an exhibit called “The Final Column,’’ a beam from one tower that was removed from the debris and saved for exhibit at the end of the nine-month recovery effort.
“He views what happened on 9/11 as the defining moment of his presidency,’’ the source said, adding that it was obvious to everyone there that his visit was not a photo op.
“You could clearly see that this was something he had wanted to do for a long time,’’ the source said.
It was Bush’s first visit to the museum.
After 9/11, Bush was presented with the badge of PA Officer George Howard — who died in the attacks — by the cop’s bereaved mother.
“President Bush carried it in his pocket in the days and months that followed 9/11,” said Eric Draper, the official White House photographer at the time, according to published accounts.