George W. Bush

George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a U.S. state in the New England region. Its capital is Hartford and its largest city is Bridgeport (2010 census). It entered the Union on January 9, 1788, as the 5th state, and had a population of 3,605,944 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, the first son of George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. BushGeorge H. W. Bush (1924–2018) was an American politician who served as a Navy pilot in World War II and worked in the oil business before holding posts including U.S. representative, ambassador to the United Nations and director of the Central Intelligence Agency; he was vice president from 1981 to 1989 and the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993.Open the full entry and Barbara (Pierce) Bush.⁠[1]

The family moved to Odessa, Texas, in 1948 and to Midland in 1950, which became his hometown; he attended Sam Houston Elementary in Midland and, after the family moved to Houston in 1959, the Kinkaid School.⁠[2]

Bush attended Phillips Academy in Andover, MassachusettsMassachusettsMassachusetts (officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States; its capital and largest city is Boston. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on February 6, 1788, the sixth state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 7,029,917.Open the full entry, from 1961 to 1964 and received a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Its predecessor, the Collegiate School, received a charter in 1701. Trustees chose New Haven in 1716; the institution became Yale College in 1718 and Yale University in 1887. Yale provides undergraduate, graduate and professional education and has 14 undergraduate residential colleges. As of October 2026, its president was Maurie McInnis, who took office in July 2024. In 2026, Yale expanded aid for incoming undergraduates and celebrated its 325th anniversary.Open the full entry in 1968.⁠[1]

At Phillips Academy he struggled academically at first, then gradually improved and developed a lasting interest in American history. At Yale he joined Delta Kappa Epsilon, was initiated into Skull and Bones and played varsity rugby.⁠[2]

After graduating from Yale in 1968 Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard and trained as a pilot at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.⁠[2]

He flew F-102 fighters and served in Texas and AlabamaAlabamaAlabama is a U.S. state in the Southeast on the Gulf of Mexico, with its capital at Montgomery. It was admitted to the Union on December 14, 1819, as the 22nd state, and the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted 5,024,279 residents.Open the full entry until his discharge in November 1974.⁠[3][1]

Bush earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1975 and then returned to Midland to work in the energy business.⁠[3]

He worked as a landman in Midland and founded Arbusto Energy in 1977.⁠[2]

In 1978 Bush entered the Republican primary to succeed the retiring congressman George Mahon; he won the primary but lost the general election for Texas’s 19th District to Kent Hance.⁠[2][1]

In 1988 Bush moved his family to Washington, D.C., to serve as an adviser and media liaison for his father’s presidential campaign, working with Lee Atwater; his father defeated Michael Dukakis.⁠[1][2]

In 1989 Bush led a group of investors that bought the Texas Rangers baseball team, and he served as its managing general partner for five years.⁠[1]

His father’s defeat for reelection in 1992 led him to consider running for governor of Texas.⁠[2]

Bush challenged the incumbent Democratic governor, Ann Richards, campaigning on education, juvenile justice, welfare and tort reform, and on November 8, 1994, was elected the 46th governor of Texas; he was sworn in in 1995.⁠[2][3][4]

As governor he worked with Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock and Speaker Pete Laney; tort reform set a $750,000 cap on punitive damages. His main achievement was an overhaul of education that added school choice and competition, reading initiatives and skills requirements, and he also passed tax cuts and faith-based social service initiatives.⁠[2]

On November 3, 1998, Bush was reelected with nearly 69 percent of the vote, becoming the first Texas governor elected to consecutive four-year terms. He branded his approach “compassionate conservatism.” The same night his brother Jeb Bush was elected governor of FloridaFloridaFlorida is a U.S. state occupying mainly the Florida peninsula, with its capital at Tallahassee; its most populous city is Jacksonville. It entered the Union on March 3, 1845, as the 27th state, and had a population of 21,538,187 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry.⁠[1][3][2]

Bush announced his presidential candidacy in June 1999. He won the IowaIowaIowa is a state in the Midwestern United States; its capital and largest city is Des Moines. It was admitted to the Union on December 28, 1846, as the 29th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 3,190,369.Open the full entry caucuses, lost New HampshireNew HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by Quebec, Canada, to the north, Vermont across the Connecticut River to the west, Massachusetts to the south, and Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; its capital is Concord. One of the original 13 colonies, it became the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on June 21, 1788, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 1,377,529.Open the full entry to Senator John McCain of Arizona, then won South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina (officially the State of South Carolina) is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Ocean bordering Georgia and North Carolina; its capital is Columbia and its most populous city is Charleston. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on May 23, 1788, the eighth state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 5,118,425.Open the full entry with 53 percent and carried nine of thirteen states on Super Tuesday to secure the Republican nomination.⁠[1][5]

He chose Dick Cheney, his father’s former secretary of defense, as his running mate; Cheney had at first declined and led the search committee before agreeing to serve. The Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia.⁠[5]

In the election of November 7, 2000, Bush faced the Democratic nominee, Vice President Al Gore. Gore won about 500,000 more popular votes; Florida was decided by a few hundred votes, and the Florida Supreme Court ruled 4–3 in favor of Gore’s request for a selective recount.⁠[1][5]

On December 12, 2000, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 7–2 in Bush v. Gore that Florida’s inconsistent recount process violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and 5–4 that no fair recount could be completed in time, so the results stood. Bush won 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266.⁠[5]

He and his father became the second father and son to serve as president, after John AdamsJohn AdamsJohn Adams (1735–1826) was the first vice president (1789–1797) and the second president (1797–1801) of the United States. Earlier he served in the Continental Congress, was a signer of the Treaty of Paris and became the first American minister to Great Britain.Open the full entry and John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams (1767–1848) was an American diplomat and politician who served as secretary of state from 1817 to 1825 and as the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829, and afterwards sat in the House of Representatives until his death.Open the full entry, and like John Quincy Adams he won the presidency without winning the popular vote.⁠[6]

Bush was inaugurated as the 43rd president on January 20, 2001. He created the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as part of his “compassionate conservative” approach.⁠[1][6]

He proposed $1.6 trillion in tax cuts; Senate Democrats forced a compromise of $1.35 trillion, with the cuts set to expire in 2011. The package lowered income tax rates and doubled the child tax credit.⁠[7][1]

In August 2001, in a prime-time address, he announced that federal funds could support embryonic stem cell research only on existing cell lines; he vetoed bills to overturn the limit in 2006 and 2007.⁠[7]

On September 11, 2001, al Qaeda hijackers used airliners in coordinated attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center towers in New York City, and another hijacked plane crashed in PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaPennsylvania (officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) is a Middle Atlantic state of the United States; its capital is Harrisburg, and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are its two great metropolitan areas. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on December 12, 1787, the second state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 13,002,700.Open the full entry; nearly 3,000 people were killed.⁠[6]

Bush was in Sarasota, Florida, when the attacks occurred. He called them an act of war, formed a war cabinet that day and declared September 14 a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance. On September 18 he signed the Authorization for Use of Military Force passed by Congress, and in November he signed legislation creating the Transportation Security Administration.⁠[8]

In an address to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001, he declared that the war on terror would target every terrorist group of global reach and that nations supporting terrorism would be regarded as hostile regimes.⁠[6]

U.S. air strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001. Allied forces took Mazar-i-Sharif in early November and Kandahar on December 7, and Operation Anaconda in early 2002 drove out remaining fighters. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was captured by spring 2003, while Osama bin Laden had fled to Pakistan.⁠[8]

The Taliban was quickly removed from power; the mission later expanded to building civil society and an elected government, and it became the longest war in U.S. history. In the fall of 2006 Bush ordered an increase in U.S. troops there from about 20,000 to more than 30,000 over two years.⁠[6][8]

On November 13, 2001, Bush signed a military order establishing military tribunals for non-U.S. citizens linked to al Qaeda or to terrorism against the United States. Detainees at Guantanamo Bay were classified as unlawful enemy combatants rather than prisoners of war and held without habeas corpus rights. In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) the Supreme Court ruled that Bush had exceeded his authority by establishing military tribunals without congressional approval; the Military Commissions Act of 2006 followed, and the Court later struck down its suspension of habeas corpus.⁠[8]

The administration approved “enhanced interrogation” techniques and created the Terrorist Surveillance Program; the Miller Center’s essay notes that many critics considered the interrogation methods to be torture. Congress established the Department of Homeland Security and passed the Patriot Act.⁠[6][8]

He also created the National Counterterrorism Center and the Homeland Security Council, established the position of Director of National Intelligence and launched the USA Freedom Corps.⁠[1]

The No Child Left Behind Act passed Congress with bipartisan support, and Bush signed it on January 8, 2002. It set federal achievement standards, aimed for all children to have basic reading and math skills by 2013–2014 and tied funding to test results; it drew criticism for its reliance on testing, and Congress replaced it in 2015.⁠[7][6]

His education agenda also included a record-high increase in Pell Grants.⁠[1]

In his January 2002 State of the Union address Bush named North Korea, Iran and Iraq an “Axis of Evil.” The National Security Strategy released in September 2002 is regarded as the official statement of the Bush Doctrine, resting on preventive war, unilateral action and the spread of democracy.⁠[8]

Neoconservatives strongly supported the doctrine; the Miller Center’s essay notes that some opponents called it overly bellicose and unjust, others thought its democracy goals naive, and British and French allies responded without enthusiasm.⁠[8]

In a speech on August 26, 2002, Vice President Dick Cheney argued that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Congress passed a resolution authorizing force if Iraq did not comply. The United Nations approved new arms inspections in November 2002, and inspectors began work at the end of that month.⁠[6][8]

The 2003 tax cut passed narrowly after Vice President Cheney broke a tie in the Senate; it cut capital gains taxes and allowed up to $60,000 a year in tax-free savings. The 2001 and 2003 cuts together were estimated to reduce federal revenue by about $4 trillion over ten years.⁠[7]

In 2003 Bush proposed the $15 billion President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which Congress passed. The number of Africans receiving AIDS medication rose from 50,000 to 3 million by 2008, the 2008 renewal doubled the U.S. commitment, and by January 2009 PEPFAR had paid for treatment of 2.1 million people and testing and counseling for more than 57 million.⁠[8]

On March 17, 2003, Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq. U.S. and British forces began a bombing campaign on March 19, and ground troops invaded soon after. The Iraqi regime fell quickly, but sectarian violence and civil war followed.⁠[8][6]

No weapons of mass destruction were found, and mounting casualties made the war unpopular.⁠[6]

On December 8, 2003, Bush signed the Medicare Modernization Act, which added a prescription drug benefit for seniors delivered through private plans, the largest expansion of Medicare benefits since 1965, and created health savings accounts. Spending exceeded projections.⁠[7][6]

On November 2, 2004, Bush won reelection over the Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, receiving 50.73 percent of the popular vote and 286 electoral votes to Kerry’s 251. Because Ohio’s provisional ballots were still uncounted on election night, Bush delayed declaring victory, and Kerry conceded the next morning.⁠[5][3]

He began his second term on January 20, 2005.⁠[1]

Bush pushed partial privatization of Social Security, which would have let younger workers divert payroll taxes into private accounts, but he lacked a plan to fund current beneficiaries, and the administration dropped the proposal in 2005.⁠[7]

Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, and about 80 percent of New Orleans flooded. FEMA had been placed on its highest alert beforehand, but the Miller Center notes that the response was widely criticized. Bush later sent more than 7,000 troops without law enforcement powers, and Congress secured $126 billion for rebuilding.⁠[7]

After Chief Justice William Rehnquist died in September 2005, Bush nominated John G. Roberts Jr., who was confirmed by a wide margin. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor had announced her retirement in the summer of 2005; Bush’s nominee Harriet Miers withdrew after conservative opposition, and he then nominated Samuel Alito, who was confirmed after a contentious hearing.⁠[7]

Republicans lost control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections. In January 2007 Bush announced a troop surge in Iraq, with General David Petraeus overseeing an increase of about 20,000 troops. He vetoed a war-funding bill containing a withdrawal deadline and on May 25, 2007, signed a full-funding bill with no withdrawal date.⁠[6][8]

By the end of 2008 U.S. military and Iraqi civilian deaths had each fallen by more than 60 percent. More than 4,200 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq during Bush’s presidency. A new U.S. embassy in Baghdad was established in January 2009.⁠[8][1]

The Federal Reserve System cut interest rates seven times, and in February 2008 Bush signed a $168 billion stimulus package. Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in September 2008, and the Dow fell from a record 14,164 in October 2007 to 8,577 in October 2008.⁠[7]

In October 2008 he signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, creating the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and worked with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on the crisis. During his presidency Ben Bernanke succeeded Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Fed.⁠[7]

The 2001 budget was the last surplus for the foreseeable future; tax cuts, wartime spending in Afghanistan and Iraq and the financial crisis drove deficits sharply higher.⁠[7]

Bush returned to Texas as a private citizen on January 20, 2009. After the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 he and former President Bill ClintonBill ClintonBill Clinton (born 1946) is an American politician and lawyer, a Democrat who served as attorney general and governor of Arkansas and as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001.Open the full entry led a major fundraising effort, and his memoir, Decision Points, was published in November 2010.⁠[1]

On April 25, 2013, Bush and Mrs. Bush dedicated the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, with five living presidents and first ladies in attendance. The Center houses the George W. Bush Presidential Library, which is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.⁠[1]

The Center also houses the George W. Bush Institute, a nonpartisan public policy and leadership center.⁠[4]

Bush painted portraits of thirty world leaders for the temporary exhibit “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy,” and paintings from Portraits of Courage were exhibited at the library. Through the George W. Bush Institute he continues to focus on education, global health, human freedom and support for the military.⁠[1]

Bush met Laura Welch, also from Midland, at a barbecue in July 1977, and they married on November 5, 1977; Laura Bush is a former teacher and librarian. Their twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, were born in November 1981.⁠[2][1]

His siblings include Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy.⁠[2]

Bush’s books include Decision Points (2010), 41: A Portrait of My Father (2014), Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors (2017) and Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants (2021).⁠[4]

The Miller Center’s essay judges that Bush’s presidency began with conservative goals such as tax cuts but came to be defined by the war on terror; the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost thousands of American lives and billions of dollars and hurt his popularity, and Republicans lost the White House in 2008.⁠[6]

The George W. Bush Presidential Library biography also lists second-term initiatives including the President’s Malaria Initiative, more than $3.3 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the designation of nearly 195,000 square miles of the central Pacific as national monuments.⁠[1]

George W. Bush Presidential Library: Official website: https://www.georgewbushlibrary.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

George W. Bush Presidential Center: Official website: https://www.bushcenter.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[10]