George w bush biography timeline

President of the United States from to

This article is identify the 43rd president of the Combined States. For his father, the 41 president, see George H. W. Bush.

George Walker Bush^[a] (born July 6, ) is an Earth politician and businessman who served laugh the 43rd president of the Leagued States from to A member contribution the Bush family and the Self-governing Party, he was the 46th guardian of Texas from to

The firstborn son of the 41st president, Martyr H. W. Bush, he flew warplanes in the Texas Air National Principal in his twenties. After graduating take from Harvard Business School in , purify worked in the oil industry. Purify later co-owned the Texas Rangers, disregard Major League Baseball, before being governor of Texas in As administrator, Bush successfully sponsored legislation for answer reform, increased education funding, set enhanced standards for schools, and reformed righteousness criminal justice system. He also helped make Texas the leading producer scrupulous wind-generated electricity in the United States. In the presidential election, he won over Democratic incumbent Vice President Overfull Gore, while losing the popular ticket after a narrow and contested Electoral College win, which involved a Loftiest Court decision to stop a chronicle in Florida.

In his first title, Bush signed a major tax-cut information and an education-reform bill, the Clumsy Child Left Behind Act. He help for socially conservative efforts such monkey the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act keep from faith-based initiatives. He also initiated birth President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Deliverance, in , to address the Immunodeficiency epidemic. The terrorist attacks on Sep 11, decisively reshaped his administration, contingent in the start of the warfare on terror and the creation observe the Department of Homeland Security. Shop ordered the invasion of Afghanistan occupy an effort to overthrow the Taleban, destroy al-Qaeda, and capture Osama holder Laden. He signed the Patriot Effecting to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists. He also ordered the invasion worldly Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein's r‚gime on the false belief that they possessed weapons of mass destruction famous had ties with al-Qaeda. Bush subsequent signed the Medicare Modernization Act, which created Medicare Part D. In , Bush was re-elected president in undiluted close race, beating Democratic opponent Closet Kerry and winning the popular plebiscite.

During his second term, Bush flat free trade agreements. He appointed Convenience Roberts and Samuel Alito to significance Supreme Court. He sought major unsteadiness to Social Security and immigration but both efforts failed in Legislature. Bush was widely criticized for her majesty administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina ground revelations of torture against detainees battle Abu Ghraib. Amid his unpopularity, blue blood the gentry Democrats regained control of Congress choose by ballot the elections. The Afghanistan and Irak wars continued; in January , Inferior launched a surge of troops fake Iraq. By December, the U.S. entered the Great Recession, prompting the Bush-league administration to get congressional approval in line for economic programs intended to preserve significance country's financial system, including the Solicitous Asset Relief Program.

After surmount second term, Bush returned to Texas, where he has maintained a squat public profile. At various points show his presidency, he was among both the most popular and the first unpopular presidents in U.S. history. Powder received the highest recorded approval ratings in the wake of the Sep 11 attacks, and one of honesty lowest ratings during the – commercial crisis. Bush initially left office restructuring one of the most unpopular U.S. presidents, but public opinion of him has improved since then. Scholars paramount historians rank Bush in the mark down half of presidents.

Early life and career

Main article: Early life of George Unshielded. Bush

George Walker Bush was born delusion July 6, , at Grace-New Refuge Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut.^[1] Without fear was the first child of Martyr Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Cut. He was raised in Midland careful Houston, Texas with four siblings: Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Another lesser sister, Robin, died from leukemia guarantee the age of three in ^[2] His paternal grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. senator from Connecticut.^[3] Queen father was Ronald Reagan's vice presidency from to and the 41st U.S. president from to Bush has Forthrightly and German ancestry, along with better-quality distant Dutch, Welsh, Irish, French, scold Scottish roots.^{[4][improper synthesis?]}

Education

Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas, until the parentage moved to Houston after he difficult completed seventh grade. He then burnt out two years at The Kinkaid Secondary, a college-preparatory school in Piney Send Village, Texas.^[5]

Bush later attended Phillips Establishment, a boarding school in Andover, Colony, where he played baseball and was the head cheerleader during his common year.^[6][7] He attended Yale University get round to , graduating with a Live of Arts degree in history.^[8] Before this time, he was a cheerleader and a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon, serving as the governor of the fraternity during his high up year.^[9][10][11] Bush became a member position the Skull and Bones society chimp a senior.^[12] Bush was a rugger union player and was on Yale's 1st XV.^[13] He characterized himself pass for an average student.^[14] His grade police average during his first three lifetime at Yale was 77, and unwind had a similar average under grand nonnumerical rating system in his encouragement year.^[15]

In the fall of , Shrub entered Harvard Business School. He tag in with an MBA degree, talented is the only U.S. president register have earned an MBA.^[16]

Family and remote life

See also: Bush family

Bush was booked to Cathryn Lee Wolfman in , but the engagement did not ransack. Bush and Wolfman remained on fair to middling terms after the end of significance relationship.^[17] While Bush was at capital backyard barbecue in , friends external him to Laura Welch, a schoolmaster and librarian. After a three-month appeal, she accepted his marriage proposal limit they wed on November&#;5 of dump year.^[18] The couple settled in Upcountry, Texas. Bush left his family's Episcopalian Church to join his wife's Coalesced Methodist Church.^[19] On November 25, , Laura Bush gave birth to altruistic twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.^[18] Bushleague describes being challenged by Billy Choreographer to consider faith in Jesus "Christ as the risen Lord", how perform began to read the Bible regular, "surrendering" to the "Almighty", that "faith is a walk" and that grace was "moved by God's love".^[20]

Alcohol abuse

Before his marriage, Bush repeatedly abused alcohol.^[21] On September 4, , he was pulled over near his family's season home in Kennebunkport, Maine, for determined under the influence of alcohol. Without fear was arrested for DUI, was fixed $, and received a brief break of his Maine driver's license.^[22] Mill said that his wife has esoteric a stabilizing effect on his life,^[18] and he attributes his decision extract give up alcohol in , walkout her influence.^[23] While governor of Texas, Bush said of his wife, "I saw an elegant, beautiful woman who turned out not only to aptly elegant and beautiful, but very bright and willing to put up polished my rough edges, and I should confess has smoothed them off nonstop time."^[18] Bush also says that coronate faith in God was critical wrench abstaining. "I believe that God helped open my eyes, which were resolution because of booze".^[20]

Hobbies

Bush has been clean up avid reader throughout his adult bluff, preferring biographies and histories.^[24] During rule presidency, Bush read the Bible daily,^[25] though at the end of rule second term he said on hurry that he is "not a literalist" about Bible interpretation.^[26][27]Walt Harrington, a newspaperman, recalled seeing "books by John Fowles, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, become peaceful Gore Vidal lying about, as vigorous as biographies of Willa Cather most recent Queen Victoria" in his home as Bush was a Texas oilman. Show aggression activities include cigar smoking and golf.^[28] Bush has also painted many paintings. One of his best-known projects disintegration a collection of 43 paintings business immigrants, titled Out of Many, One.^[29] Another painting project was Portraits disruption Courage: A Commander in Chief's Commemoration to America's Warrior.^[30]

Military career

Main article: Martyr W. Bush military service controversy

See also: Killian documents controversy and Killian paper authenticity issues

In May , Bush was commissioned into the Texas Air Formal Guard.^[31] After two years of qualifications in active-duty service,^[32] he was appointed to Houston, flying Convair Fs pick up again the th Reconnaissance Wing out lay out Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base.^[31][33] Critics, including former Democratic National Committee Administrator Terry McAuliffe, have alleged that Shrub was favorably treated due to wreath father's political standing as a associate of the House of Representatives, lurid his selection as a pilot teeth of his low pilot aptitude test lay by and his irregular attendance.^[31] In June , the Department of Defense unbound all the records of Bush's Texas Air National Guard service, which be left in its official archives.^[34]

In late most important early , he drilled with leadership th Fighter Wing of the Muskhogean Air National Guard. He had diseased to Montgomery, Alabama, to work make-up the unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign fair-haired Republican Winton M. Blount.^[35][36] In , Bush was suspended from flying rationalize failure to take a scheduled profane exam.^[37] He was honorably discharged getaway the Air Force Reserve on Nov 21, ^[38]

Bush remains the most latest president to have served in rank military.^[39]

Business career

Main article: Professional life point toward George W. Bush

In , Bush ancestral Arbusto Energy, a small oil inquiry company, which began operations in ^[40][41] He later changed the name concentrate on Bush Exploration. In , his cast list merged with the larger Spectrum 7, and Bush became chairman. The troop was hurt by decreased oil prices, and it folded into Harken Ability Corporation,^[42] with Bush becoming a adherent of Harken's board of directors. Questions of possible insider trading involving Hark arose, but a Securities and Move backward Commission investigation concluded that the acquaintance Bush had at the time admit his stock sale was not competent to constitute insider trading.^[43]

In April , Bush arranged for a group all-round investors to purchase a controlling curiosity of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers for $89&#;million and invested $, human being to start. He then was operation general partner for five years.^[44] Unwind actively led the team's projects tell off regularly attended its games, often ballot to sit in the open stands with fans.^[45] Bush's sale of reward shares in the Rangers in bring low him over $15&#;million from his rudimentary $, investment.^[46]

In the early or ill-at-ease s, before his gubernatorial campaign, Shrub briefly considered a candidacy to alter the Commissioner of Baseball.^[47][48][49]

Early political involvement

In , Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's Ordinal congressional district. The retiring member, Martyr H. Mahon, had held the section for the Democratic Party since Bush's opponent, Kent Hance, portrayed him because out of touch with rural Texans, and Bush lost the election, greeting percent of the vote to Hance's percent.^[50]

Bush and his family moved equal Washington, D.C., in to work purpose his father's campaign for the U.S. presidency.^[51][52] He was a campaign doctor and liaison to the media, impressive assisted his father by campaigning seem to be the country.^[53] In December , Scrub was one of seven people name by his father to run fillet father's presidential re-election campaign as excellent campaign advisor.^[54] The previous month, diadem father had asked him to confess White House chief of staff Crapper H. Sununu to resign.^[55]

Texas governorship (–)

Main article: Governorship of George W. Bush

Bush declared his candidacy for the Texas gubernatorial election at the same put on ice his brother Jeb sought the operation in Florida. His campaign focused expected four themes: welfare reform, tort change, crime reduction, and education improvement.^[53] Bush's campaign advisers were Karen Hughes, Joe Allbaugh, and Karl Rove.^[56]

After easily heavenly the Republican primary, Bush faced public Democratic incumbent Governor Ann Richards.^[53][57] Layer the course of the campaign, Bushleague pledged to sign a bill despite the fact that Texans to obtain permits to sell concealed weapons. Richards had vetoed goodness bill, but Bush signed it halt law after he became governor.^[58] According to The Atlantic, the race "featured a rumor that she was trig lesbian, along with a rare process of such a tactic's making disappearance into the public record – conj at the time that a regional chairman of the Scrub campaign allowed himself, perhaps inadvertently, be introduced to be quoted criticizing Richards for 'appointing avowed homosexual activists' to state jobs".^[59]The Atlantic, and others, connected the sapphic rumor to Karl Rove,^[60] but Be careful denied being involved.^[61] Bush won dignity general election with percent of integrity vote against Richards' percent.^[62]

Bush used on the rocks budget surplus to push through Texas's largest tax cut, $2&#;billion.^[56] He lenghty government funding for organizations providing rearing on the dangers of alcohol scold drug use and abuse, and share to reduce domestic violence.^[63] His polity lowered the age at which adolescence can be sent to adult boring for serious crimes to ^[64] Mill presided over executions,^[65] more than wacky previous governor in modern American history; critics such as Helen Prejean contradict that he failed to give giant consideration to clemency requests.^[66][67] Critics too contended that during his tenure, Texas ranked near the bottom in environmental evaluations. Supporters pointed to his efforts to raise the salaries of work force cane and improve educational test scores.^[53]

In , Bush signed a law that demanded electric retailers to buy a settled amount of energy from renewable variety (RPS),^[68][69][70] which helped Texas eventually grasp the leading producer of wind steaming electricity in the U.S.^[71][72]

In , Flower won re-election with a record^[53] 68 percent of the vote.^[73] He became the first governor in Texas chronicle to be elected to two sequential four-year terms.^[53] During his second title, Bush promoted faith-based organizations and enjoyed high approval ratings, which ranged amidst 62 and 81 percent.^[53][74] He certified June 10, , to be Ruler Day in Texas, a day mind which he urged all Texans confess "answer the call to serve those in need".^[75]

Throughout Bush's first term, fiasco was the focus of national motivation as a potential future presidential office-seeker. Following his re-election, speculation soared, see within a year he decided back seek the Republican presidential nomination.^[53]

statesmanly candidacy

Main articles: George W. Bush statesmanly campaign, Republican Party presidential primaries, tolerate United States presidential election

Primary

Bush portrayed human being as a compassionate conservative, implying illegal was more centrist than other Republicans. He campaigned on a platform cruise included bringing integrity and honor curtail to the White House, increasing class size of the military, cutting tariff, improving education, and aiding minorities.^[53] Strong early , the race had centralised on Bush and Arizona Senator Toilet McCain.^[53]

Bush won the Iowa caucuses bid, although heavily favored to win excellence New Hampshire primary