George Walker Bush is an American businessman and politician who served as the country’s 43rd president. From 2001 through 2009, he served as president for two terms in a row. George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States, is his father. His family’s political ties don’t end there; his grandpa, Prescott Bush, was a United States senator from Connecticut. George W. Bush graduated from ‘Yale University’ with a B.A. in history and then went on to ‘Harvard Business School’ for his M.B.A. after finishing his education in Massachusetts. He joined the ‘Texas Air National Guard’ in 1968 and served for six years until being honorably discharged. George W. Bush married Laura Lane Welch and moved to Midland, Texas, where he launched a succession of tiny, independent oil exploration enterprises. Before becoming the governor of Texas, he assisted his father, George H. W. Bush, in both of his presidential campaigns. He was the Republican presidential candidate in 2000, and he defeated Democrat contender Al Gore to win the election. He was re-elected four years later, defeating Democrat John Kerry.
Childhood and Adolescence
George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce had George W. Bush on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Dorothy, and Robin were his five younger siblings. Robin, his younger sister, died of leukemia when she was three years old.
Prescott Bush, his grandfather, was a US senator from Connecticut. Bush’s father, George W. Bush Sr., served as Vice President of the United States for two terms in the 1980s before becoming the 41st President of the United States in 1989.
He went to ‘Kinkaid School’ in Houston and ‘Phillips Academy’ in Massachusetts for his education. He earned a B.A. in history from ‘Yale University’ in 1968 and enlisted in the ‘Texas Air National Guard,’ from which he was honorably discharged in 1974.
He began attending ‘Harvard Business School’ in 1973 while on guard duty and graduated with a master’s of business administration degree in 1975.
Career of George W. Bush
George W. Bush returned to Midland after finishing his MBA and went into the oil business. He founded ‘Arbusto Energy’ in 1979 and sold the company in 1986.
In 1988, he relocated to Washington, D.C., to assist his father in his successful presidential campaign. Bush Sr. requested that his eldest son oversee his 1992 presidential re-election campaign, but their luck ran out this time, and Bush Sr. lost.
George W. Bush ran for governor of Texas in 1994 and defeated incumbent governor and Democrat candidate Ann Richards to win the election. His electoral campaign centered on welfare reform, crime reduction, and educational development.
As governor, he increased teacher pay, enacted policies to decrease domestic violence, and provided funding to organizations that taught the public about the (side) effects of drug use.
In 1998, he was re-elected with a large majority and became the first governor in Texas history to serve two four-year terms in a row. Texas became the biggest generator of wind-generated electricity in the United States in 1999, thanks to the passage of a new law.
In 1999, he launched his campaign for President of the United States and was nominated by the Republican Party, with Dick Cheney as his running partner. Al Gore, the current vice president, was the Democratic Party’s nominee.
The presidential election of 2000 was tight and contentious. After a month of ambiguity, the Supreme Court stepped in and declared Bush the winner based on electoral votes.
The passage of the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ in 2001 was his first administrative triumph. The Act was enacted to close the achievement gap between rich and poor students, as well as to improve the quality of education provided.
On September 11, 2001, ‘Al Qaeda’ terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed them in New York and Washington, DC, killing over 3,000 people. Osama Bin Laden, the leader of ‘Al Qaeda,’ was blamed for the attacks, and George W. Bush proclaimed a war on terror. The Taliban regime, which was in power in Afghanistan at the time, was training ‘Al Qaeda’ terrorists when US forces entered the country in October 2001. Osama bin Laden, the architect behind the 9/11 attacks, was also provided safe haven by the administration.
He established the ‘Homeland Security Department’ and passed the ‘Patriot Act’ to ensure that America never suffers another terrorist assault.
George W. Bush ordered US forces to invade Iraq in March 2003, believing Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president, was preparing weapons of mass devastation. Saddam Hussein was overthrown, and Iraq held free democratic elections in 2005.
He defeated Democrat John Kerry by 286 electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election.
His second tenure began on the worst possible note as Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast of the United States, killing over 1,800 people and causing billions in property damage. From the ‘Democratic Party’ and civilians alike, he drew harsh criticism for his sluggish response to the calamity.
In 2008, during his final year in office, the United States was beset by a major credit crisis that sent the stock market plunging and resulted in huge layoffs. In response to the crisis, the Bush administration passed the contentious $700 billion ‘Emergency Economic Stabilization Act,’ which bailed out the housing and banking industries.
In 2009, he resigned from the government and moved to Dallas, Texas, with his wife. Barack Obama was elected to succeed him.
On November 11, 2014, Bush released ’41: A Portrait of My Father,’ a biography of his father.
In February 2017, Bush published ‘Portraits of Courage,’ a book of his own portraits of soldiers. In September 2017, he teamed up with former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama to support the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in the Gulf Coast and Texas through the ‘One America Appeal.’
Major Projects of George W. Bush
The September 11th attacks rocked America before George W. Bush’s first year as president at the White House was up. Bush told the American people that justice would be served to those who had died. To deconstruct the ‘Taliban’ and capture/kill Osama Bin Laden, he started a savage attack known as the ‘War on Terror.’ In 2001, the US military attacked Afghanistan as a result of this.
He ordered US military forces to attack Iraq in 2003, believing that Saddam Hussein, the then-ruler of Iraq, was developing weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was toppled by US forces, and Iraq conducted free democratic elections for the first time in 50 years in 2005.
Achievements & Awards
In 2000 and 2004, ‘Time’ magazine named George W. Bush “Person of the Year.”
Latvian President Vaira Ve-Freiberga bestowed the ‘Order of the Three Stars’ on him in 2005. Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves bestowed the ‘Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana’ on him in 2012.
Personal History and Legacy
In 1977, George W. Bush married Laura Welch, a librarian and schoolteacher. Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Welch Bush, Laura’s fraternal twin daughters, were born four years later.
Bush took up painting as a hobby after reading Winston Churchill’s essay “Painting as a Pastime.”