George W. Bush

George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">president of the United States</a> from 2001 to 2009. A member of the <a href="/facts/Bush_family/6twz4zhu">Bush family</a> and the <a href="/facts/Republican_Party_(United_States)/XXM1EVPr">Republican Party</a>, he is the eldest son of the 41st president, <a href="/facts/George_H._W._Bush/Xk5UxRqp">George H. W. Bush</a>, and was the 46th <a href="/facts/Governor_of_Texas/bdVK7c7h">governor of Texas</a> from 1995 to 2000.
Bush flew warplanes in the <a href="/facts/Texas_Air_National_Guard/juLXN6Wk">Texas Air National Guard</a> in his twenties. After graduating from <a href="/facts/Harvard_Business_School/QjAtYfwj">Harvard Business School</a> in 1975, he worked in the oil industry. He later co-owned the <a href="/facts/Major_League_Baseball/4WW9yef3">Major League Baseball</a> team <a href="/facts/Texas_Rangers_(baseball)/u6juobRV">Texas Rangers</a> before being elected governor of Texas <a href="/facts/1994_Texas_gubernatorial_election/2z2oEn00">in 1994</a>. <a href="/facts/Governorship_of_George_W._Bush/tK6cmJw9">As governor</a>, Bush successfully sponsored legislation for tort reform, increased education funding, set higher standards for schools, and reformed the criminal justice system. He also helped make Texas the <a href="/facts/Wind_power_in_Texas/VdXTNt8I">leading producer of wind-generated electricity</a> in the United States. In the <a href="/facts/2000_United_States_presidential_election/VvudLd5N">2000 presidential election</a>, he won over Democratic incumbent vice president <a href="/facts/Al_Gore/d7zSAghl">Al Gore</a>, while <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_in_which_the_winner_lost_the_popular_vote/3YuefBmN">losing the popular vote</a> after a narrow and contested <a href="/facts/United_States_Electoral_College/Uyko6bfl">Electoral College</a> win, which involved <a href="/facts/Bush_v._Gore/0wkEnF3u">a Supreme Court decision</a> to stop <a href="/facts/2000_United_States_presidential_election_recount_in_Florida/PwWlH3Nn">a recount in Florida</a>.
In his first term, Bush signed <a href="/facts/Bush_tax_cuts/BAutzVhL">a major tax-cut program</a> and an education-reform bill, the <a href="/facts/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act/G4Iz7QT7">No Child Left Behind Act</a>. He pushed for socially conservative efforts such as the <a href="/facts/Partial-Birth_Abortion_Ban_Act/IzcTHrtS">Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act</a> and <a href="/facts/Faith-based_initiatives/HfA9N3xw">faith-based initiatives</a>. He also initiated the <a href="/facts/President%2527s_Emergency_Plan_for_AIDS_Relief/fRXV1Fao">President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief</a>, in 2003, to address <a href="/facts/HIV%2fAIDS_in_the_United_States/n1ygpF0N">the AIDS epidemic</a>. The <a href="/facts/Terrorist_attacks_on_September_11%2c_2001/PfWQcQNx">terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001</a> decisively reshaped his administration, resulting in the start of the <a href="/facts/War_on_terror/CTGl4eto">war on terror</a> and the creation of the <a href="/facts/Department_of_Homeland_Security/jwz5gLfa">Department of Homeland Security</a>. Bush ordered the <a href="/facts/United_States_invasion_of_Afghanistan/1QRqNSDS">invasion of Afghanistan</a> in an effort to overthrow the <a href="/facts/Taliban/VJC0WJlq">Taliban</a>, destroy <a href="/facts/Al-Qaeda/CIQSk3D7">al-Qaeda</a>, and capture <a href="/facts/Osama_bin_Laden/BPGsesb9">Osama bin Laden</a>. He signed the <a href="/facts/Patriot_Act/EuM6gPJ6">Patriot Act</a> to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists. He also ordered the <a href="/facts/2003_invasion_of_Iraq/V9zysaV1">2003 invasion of Iraq</a> to overthrow <a href="/facts/Saddam_Hussein/nHnSodgy">Saddam Hussein</a>'s regime on the false belief that it <a href="/facts/Iraq_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction/IDcU3uxD">possessed weapons of mass destruction</a> (WMDs) and had <a href="/facts/Saddam%25E2%2580%2593al-Qaeda_conspiracy_theory/NmbnNosP">ties with al-Qaeda</a>. Bush later signed the <a href="/facts/Medicare_Modernization_Act/n3d7yUb0">Medicare Modernization Act</a>, which created <a href="/facts/Medicare_Part_D/gCU6MMVW">Medicare Part D</a>. In 2004, Bush <a href="/facts/2004_United_States_presidential_election/rlEGvrHT">was re-elected president</a> in a close race, beating Democratic opponent <a href="/facts/John_Kerry/K1HWRIMo">John Kerry</a> and winning the popular vote.
During his second term, Bush made various <a href="/facts/Free_trade_agreement/uuwrnR3v">free trade agreements</a>, appointed <a href="/facts/John_Roberts/tj2Xtm23">John Roberts</a> and <a href="/facts/Samuel_Alito/KUoJuVLf">Samuel Alito</a> to the Supreme Court, and sought major changes to <a href="/facts/Social_Security_(United_States)/aXUHgqLx">Social Security</a> and immigration laws, but both efforts failed in Congress. Bush was widely criticized for <a href="/facts/Criticism_of_the_government_response_to_Hurricane_Katrina/qCedV2vU">his administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina</a> and revelations of <a href="/facts/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse/BbGId4u2">torture against detainees at Abu Ghraib</a>. Amid his unpopularity, the Democrats regained control of Congress in the <a href="/facts/2006_United_States_elections/7NbvPyv9">2006 elections</a>. Meanwhile, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars continued; in January 2007, Bush launched <a href="/facts/Iraq_War_troop_surge_of_2007/P8e8CJ7R">a surge of troops in Iraq</a>. By December, the U.S. entered the <a href="/facts/Great_Recession/9LoVUhLf">Great Recession</a>, prompting the Bush administration and Congress to push through economic programs intended to preserve the country's financial system, including the <a href="/facts/Troubled_Asset_Relief_Program/oGtszDyw">Troubled Asset Relief Program</a>.

After his second term, Bush returned to Texas, where he has maintained a low public profile. At various points in his presidency, he was among both the most popular and the most unpopular presidents in U.S. history. He received the highest recorded approval ratings in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and one of the lowest ratings during the <a href="/facts/2008_financial_crisis/qw8n1pSN">2008 financial crisis</a>. Bush left office as one of the most unpopular U.S. presidents, but <a href="/facts/Public_image_of_George_W._Bush/w84Bnpex">public opinion of him</a> has improved since then. <a href="/facts/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States/SzRz5GwT">Scholars and historians rank</a> Bush in the lower half of presidents.

George W. Bush open-in-new

George W. Bush