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George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
- George Walker Bush, July 6, 1946 (age 77), New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
- Barack Obama
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- Early life
George W. Bush was the eldest of six children of George H.W. Bush, who served as the 41st president of the United States (1989–93), and Barbara Bush. His paternal grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. senator from Connecticut (1952–63).
Where was George W. Bush educated?
From 1961 to 1964 George W. Bush attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, the boarding school from which his father, George H.W. Bush, had graduated. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University, his father’s and grandfather’s alma mater, in 1968 and an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1975.
What did George W. Bush accomplish?
A U.S. president, George W. Bush initiated what he called the “war on terrorism,” portrayed as an American-led global counterterrorism campaign launched in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Included were the Afghanistan (2001–14) and Iraq (2003–11) wars. Also, his administration sponsored reforms of Medicare and the U.S. education system.
George W. Bush (born July 6, 1946, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.) 43rd president of the United States (2001–09), who led his country’s response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and initiated the Iraq War in 2003. Narrowly winning the electoral college vote in 2000 over Vice Pres. Al Gore in one of the closest and most-controversial elections in American history, George W. Bush became the first person since Benjamin Harrison in 1888 to be elected president despite having lost the nationwide popular vote. Before his election as president, Bush was a businessman and served as governor of Texas (1995–2000).
Bush was the eldest of six children of George H.W. Bush, who served as the 41st president of the United States (1989–93), and Barbara Bush. His paternal grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. senator from Connecticut (1952–63). The younger Bush grew up largely in Midland and Houston, Texas. From 1961 to 1964 he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, the boarding school from which his father had graduated. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University, his father’s and grandfather’s alma mater, in 1968. Bush was president of his fraternity and, like his father, a member of Yale’s secretive Skull and Bones society; unlike his father, he was only an average student and did not excel in athletics.
In May 1968, two weeks before his graduation from Yale and the expiration of his student draft deferment, Bush applied as a pilot trainee in the Texas Air National Guard, whose members were less likely than regular soldiers to fight in the Vietnam War. Commissioned a second lieutenant in July 1968, he became a certified fighter pilot in June 1970. In the fall of 1970, he applied for admission to the University of Texas law school but was rejected. Although Bush apparently missed at least eight months of duty between May 1972 and May 1973, he was granted an early discharge so that he could start Harvard Business School in the fall of 1973. His spotty military record resurfaced as a campaign issue in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
After receiving an M.B.A. from Harvard in 1975, Bush returned to Midland, where he began working for a Bush family friend, an oil and gas attorney, and later started his own oil and gas firm. He married Laura Welch, a teacher and librarian, in Midland in 1977. After an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1978, Bush devoted himself to building his business. With help from his uncle, who was then raising funds for Bush’s father’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Bush was able to attract numerous prominent investors. The company struggled through the early 1980s until the eventual collapse of oil prices in 1986, when it was purchased by the Harken Energy Corporation. Bush received Harken stock, a job as a consultant to the company, and a seat on the company’s board of directors.
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In the same year, shortly after his 40th birthday, Bush gave up drinking alcohol. “I realized,” he later explained, “that alcohol was beginning to crowd out my energies and could crowd, eventually, my affections for other people.” His decision was partly the result of a self-described spiritual awakening and a strengthening of his Christian faith that had begun the previous year, after a conversation with the Rev. Billy Graham, a Bush family friend.
- George W. Bush: Education, Family and Early Political Career. Bush, the oldest of six children of George H.W. Bush (1924-2018) and Barbara Bush (1925-2018), was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven Connecticut, when his father, a former World War II naval aviator, was a student at Yale University.
- George W. Bush: 2000 Presidential Election. How the U.S. Supreme Court Decided the Presidential Election of 2000. In the 2000 election, Bush and running mate Dick Cheney (1941-), a former congressman and U.S. defense secretary under George H.W.
- George W. Bush: First Presidential Term: 2001-2005. Bush’s first term in the White House was dominated by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against America, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed, and their aftermath.
- George W. Bush: Second Presidential Term: 2005-2009. Bush enjoyed strong public approval ratings throughout much of his first term; however, during his second term his popularity plummeted.
Learn about the life and achievements of George W. Bush, who served as President from 2001 to 2009. He led the war on terror, expanded freedom and opportunity, and founded the Bush Center in Dallas.
George W. Bush, America’s 43rd President (2001-2009), was transformed into a wartime President in the aftermath of the airborne terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, facing the “greatest...
Apr 2, 2014 · Learn about the life and career of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. From his early years in business and politics to his response to the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War, discover his paintings, family, and achievements.
George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas , took office following his narrow Electoral College victory over Democratic incumbent vice president Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election , in which he lost ...
