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George Walker Bush
43rd President of United States
Vice President	Dick Cheney
Preceded by	Bill Clinton
Personal details
Nationality	american
Political party	Republican

George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the current President of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he is part of the Bush family, which includes his grandfather (former U.S. Senator Prescott Bush), his father (former President George H. W. Bush), and his two younger brothers (Neil Bush, a Texas businessman, and Jeb Bush, the current governor of Florida). Before entering politics, he was a businessman, involved in the oil industry and professional baseball (he once owned 12% of the Texas Rangers). Administrator note He was elected the 46th Governor of Texas, and won the nomination of the Republican Party in the 2000 presidential election. Bush became President, defeating Vice President Al Gore of the Democratic Party in a particularly close and controversial election. Bush was re-elected in 2004, defeating Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Personal life, service and education

Bush is the son of George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut but grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas, with siblings Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. (A younger sister, Robin, died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of three.) The family enjoyed the summers and most holidays at the Bush Compound in Maine.

Like his father, Bush attended Phillips Academy (September 1961–June 1964) and later Yale University (September 1964–May 1968). At Yale, he joined Delta Kappa Epsilon (of which he was president from October 1965 until graduation) and, like his father George H. W. Bush (1948) and his grandfather Prescott S. Bush (1917), the Skull and Bones secret society. He was a C+ student, scoring 77% (with no As and one D, in astronomy) with a grade point average of 2.35 out of a possible 4.00. Bush has joked that he was known more for his social life than for his grades. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1968.

After graduating from Yale University, Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard on May 27, 1968, during the Vietnam War, with a commitment to serve until May 26, 1974. He was promoted once, to first lieutenant, on the November 1970 recommendation of Texas Air National Guard commander Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian. He served as an F-102 pilot until 1972.

In September 1973, he received permission to end his six-year commitment six months early in order to attend Harvard Business School. He transferred to inactive reserve status shortly before being honorably discharged on October 1, 1973. (PDF) It has been frequently alleged that Bush skipped over a waiting list to receive a National Guard slot, that he did not report for required duty from 1972 to 1973, and that he was suspended from flying after he failed to take a required physical examination and drug test. These issues were publicized during the 2004 Presidential campaign by the group Texans for Truth and other Bush critics. See George W. Bush military service controversy for details.

Bush entered Harvard Business School in 1973. He received a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree in 1975, and is the first U.S. president to hold an MBA.

On September 4, 1976, Bush was pulled over by police near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He was arrested for driving under the influence, admitted his guilt in the incident, was fined $150, and had his driving license suspended for 30 days within the state. , News of the arrest was uncovered by the press five days before the 2000 presidential election. Bush has described his days before his religious conversion in his 40s as his "nomadic" period and "irresponsible youth" and admitted to drinking "too much" in those years. He says that he gave up drinking for good shortly after waking up with a hangover after his 40th birthday celebration: "I quit drinking in 1986 and haven't had a drop since then." He ascribed the change in part to a 1985 meeting with The Reverend Billy Graham. , ,

Bush has said that he did not use illegal drugs at any time since 1974. He has denied the allegation (Hatfield 1999) that family influence was used to expunge the record of an arrest for cocaine possession in 1972, but has declined to discuss whether he used drugs before 1974. In taped recordings of a conversation with an old friend, author Doug Wead, Bush said: “I wouldn’t answer the marijuana question. You know why? Because I don’t want some little kid doing what I tried.” When Wead reminded Bush that the latter had publicly denied using cocaine, Bush replied, "I haven't denied anything." , See also George W. Bush substance abuse controversy.

Bush married Laura Welch in 1977. They have twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna Bush, born in 1981. In 1986, at the age of 40, he left the Episcopal Church and joined his wife's denomination, the United Methodist Church, and has often been referred to as a "born-again" Christian.

Bush is 5 feet, 11 inches (180 cm) tall. His most common nickname is "Dubya", from the colloquial pronunciation of his middle initial.

Business and early political career

In 1978, Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives but lost to a State Senator, Democrat Kent Hance. Ronald Reagan, then the former Governor of California and unsuccessful 1976 Presidential candidate, endorsed Bush's opponent in the Republican primary.

Bush began his career in the oil industry in 1979, when he established Arbusto Energy, an oil and gas exploration company he formed with leftover funds from his education trust fund and money from other investors. The 1979 energy crisis hurt Arbusto and, after a name change to Bush Exploration Co., Bush sold the company in 1984 to Spectrum 7, another Texas oil and gas exploration firm. Under the terms of the sale, Spectrum 7 made Bush its chief executive officer. Spectrum 7 lost revenue and was merged into Harken Energy Corporation in 1986, with Bush becoming a director of Harken.

After working on his father's successful 1988 presidential campaign, he was told by a friend, William DeWitt, Jr., that another family friend, Eddie Chiles, wanted to sell the Texas Rangers, his Arlington-based Major League Baseball franchise. In April 1989, Bush assembled a group of investors from his father's close friends; the group bought 86% of the Rangers for $75 million. (Bush later appointed one of these partners, Tom Schieffer, to the post of Ambassador to Australia.) Bush received a two percent share by investing $606,302, of which $500,000 was a bank loan. Bush paid off the loan by selling $848,000 worth of stock in Harken Energy in 1990. As Harken Energy reported significant financial losses within a year of this sale (as did much of the energy industry due to the recession of the early 1990s), the fact that Bush was advised by his own counsel not to sell his shares later fueled allegations of insider trading. See George W. Bush insider trading allegations for more information. The federal Securities and Exchange Commission concluded on March 27, 1992 by Assistant Director of the SEC Herb Janick that Bush had a "preexisting plan" to sell the Harken stock and that Bush had a "relatively limited role in Harken management" and that they did not believe insider trading took place. (, , , )

Bush served as managing general partner of the Rangers for five years. He was active in the team's media relations and in securing the construction of a new stadium, which opened in 1994 as The Ballpark in Arlington. Bush's prominent role with the Rangers gave him valuable goodwill and name recognition throughout Texas. ()

In 1994, Bush took a leave of absence from the Rangers to run for Governor of Texas against the popular incumbent, Democrat Ann Richards. On November 8, 1994, he defeated Richards, 53% to 46%. As Governor, Bush forged a legislative alliance with powerful Texas Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, a longtime Democrat. Bush went on to become, in 1998, the first Texas governor to be elected for two consecutive four-year terms. (Until 1975, Texas governors served two-year terms.) During Bush's terms as Governor, he undertook significant legislative changes in the areas of criminal justice, tort law, and school financing. Bush took a hard line on capital punishment, and received much criticism from advocates wanting to abolish the death penalty. Bush's transformative agenda, in combination with his political and family pedigree, catapulted him onto the national political radar. As the campaign to succeed Bill Clinton as president began in earnest, Bush emerged as a key figure.

As governor, one of his accomplishments was the Texas Futile Care Law.

Presidential campaigns

In Bush's 2000 presidential election campaign, he declared himself to be a "compassionate conservative". He campaigned on, among other issues, allowing religious charities to participate in federally funded programs, cutting taxes, promoting the use of education vouchers, supporting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a balanced federal budget, and restructuring the armed forces. In foreign policy, he stated that he was against using the U.S. armed forces in nation building attempts abroad.

After winning the Republican nomination, Bush faced Democratic candidate Vice President Al Gore. Bush took 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266, including the electoral votes of 30 of the 50 states. Neither candidate received a majority of the popular vote -- Bush took 47.9 percent; Gore, 48.4 percent -- but Gore received a plurality of about 540,000 more of the 105 million votes cast. Most of the votes that neither Bush nor Gore won went to Green Party candidate Ralph Nader (2,695,696 votes/2.7%), Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, (449,895/0.4%), and Libertarian Party candidate Harry Browne (386,024 votes/0.4%).

It was the first presidential election since Benjamin Harrison was elected President in 1888 in which the winning candidate received fewer popular votes than his opponent. It was the first since Rutherford Hayes was elected in 1876 in which the winner of the electoral vote was in dispute and affected by a Supreme Court decision. The Florida vote, which favored Bush by a slim margin in the initial count, was hotly contested after concerns were raised about flaws and irregularities in the voting and tabulation processes. A series of contentious court cases ensued regarding the legality of county-specific and statewide recounts. After machine and manual recounts in four counties, and with Bush still prevailing, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide manual recount of all counties. The Bush campaign appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which, in its mid-December decision in Bush v. Gore, overturned the decision and halted all recounts. Gore then conceded the election.

In the final official count, Bush won Florida by 537 votes, giving him the state's 25 electoral votes and the presidency. See U.S. presidential election, 2000 and The 2000 Florida Ballot Project. Bush was inaugurated President on January 20, 2001.

In the 2004 election Bush won a second term, carrying 31 of 50 states for a total of 286 Electoral College votes. Bush also won a majority of the popular vote: 50.73% to Kerry's 48.27%. Bush's popular vote total, at 62 million, is the largest ever, with Kerry's total of 59 million being the second largest. Bush was the first presidential candidate since his father, George H.W. Bush in 1988 to receive a majority of the popular vote. As in the 2000 election, there were charges raised alleging voting irregularities, especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In 2004 they did not lead to recounts that were expected to affect the result. After a congressional electoral contest -- the second in American history -- failed, a lawsuit challenging the result in Ohio was withdrawn, because the congressional certification of the electoral votes had rendered the case moot.

Bush was inaugurated for his second term on January 20, 2005. The oath was administered by Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Bush's inaugural speech centered mainly on a theme of spreading freedom and democracy around the world. Bush stated in his second inauguration on January 20, 2005:

"From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?"

Presidency

• Main article: George W. Bush's first term as President of the United States
• Main article: George W. Bush's second term as President of the United States

Foreign policy and security

During his first presidential visit to Europe in June 2001, Bush came under harsh criticism from European leaders for his rejection of the Kyoto Protocol. In 1997, while representatives of the United States and other countries were still negotiating the Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. Senate had, by a vote of 95-0, opposed any global warming treaty that did not require binding commitments from developing nations. Although the Kyoto Protocol was symbolically signed by Peter Burleigh, the acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, in 1998, the Clinton administration never presented it to the Senate for ratification. In 2002, Bush came out strongly against the treaty as harmful to economic growth in the United States, stating: "My approach recognizes that economic growth is the solution, not the problem." The administration also disputed the scientific basis for the treaty. In November 2004, Russia ratified the treaty, giving it the required minimum of nations to put it into force without ratification by the United States.

In July of 2002, Bush cut off all funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Bush claimed that the UNFPA supported forced abortions and sterilizations in China.

During his campaign, Bush's foreign policy platform included support of a stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especially Mexico, and a reduction in involvement in "nation-building" and other small-scale military engagements. However, after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the administration focused much more on foreign policy in the Middle East. Nearly a month after the attacks, on October 7, 2001, the United States and its allies commenced aerial bombing and launched a war against Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, which the Bush Administration charged with harboring Osama bin Laden. This action had strong international support, and the Taliban government folded quickly after the invasion. Subsequent nation-building efforts in concert with the United Nations under Afghan president Hamid Karzai have had mixed results; bin Laden was not apprehended or killed, and (as of 2005) is still at large. A sizeable contingent of troops and advisors remains into 2005. See U.S. invasion of Afghanistan for details. Democratic elections were held on October 9, 2004. There were allegations of flawed registration and validation, and 15 of the 18 presidential candidates threatened to withdraw, but international observers called the elections "fairly democratic" at the "overall majority" of polling centers.

On December 14, 2001, Bush withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which had been a bedrock of U.S.-Soviet nuclear stability during the Cold War, arguing it was no longer relevant. Bush has since then focused resources on a ballistic missile defense system. The proposed system has been the subject of much scientific criticism. Field tests have been mixed, with both some successes and failures. It is scheduled to start deployment in 2005. A ballistic missile defense system will not stop cruise missiles, or missiles transported by boat or land vehicle. Hence, many critics of the system believe it is an expensive mistake, built for the least likely attack, a nuclear tipped ballistic missile. Bush has also increased spending on military research and development and the modernization of weapons systems, but cancelled programs such as the Crusader self-propelled artillery system. The administration also began initial research into bunker-busting nuclear missiles.

Iraq

Since the 1998 enactment of the Iraq Liberation Act, stated U.S. policy had been to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. After the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration argued that the Iraq situation had now become urgent. The stated premise was that Saddam's regime had tried to acquire nuclear material and had not properly accounted for biological and chemical material it was known to possess, potential weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in violation of U.N. sanctions. There is debate between supporters and opponents of the war about whether the U.S. had any evidence that Iraq possessed WMD and whether they had any evidence of ties between Iraq and Al-Qaeda. , However, on September 30, 2004, the U.S. Iraq Survey Group Final Report concluded that, "ISG has not found evidence that Saddam Husayn (sic) possessed WMD stocks in 2003, but the available evidence from its investigation—including detainee interviews and document exploitation—leaves open the possibility that some weapons existed in Iraq although not of a militarily significant capability." See Iraq and weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda for full coverage.

Bush contended that Saddam might deliver WMD to terrorists such as Al-Qaeda. Beginning in 2002 and escalating in spring 2003, Bush pressed the UN to act on its disarmament mandates to Iraq, precipitating a diplomatic crisis. He began by pushing for UN weapons inspections in Iraq, which the UN instituted under UN Security Council Resolution 1441. Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei led UN weapons inspectors in Iraq. There were occasional lapses in cooperation and limits on inspections set by the Iraqi government, leading to intense debate over the efficacy of inspections. Four days before the commencement of full-scale hostilities, the United States advised U.N. weapons inspectors to leave Iraq, and they departed the country. After Saddam's capture, interrogators asked him, "If you had no weapons of mass destruction then why not let the U.N. inspectors into your facilities?" Saddam replied, "We didn’t want them to go into the presidential areas and intrude on our privacy."

Within the Bush administration, Secretary of State Colin Powell urged that the United States not go to war without clear UN approval. The administration examined the possibility of seeking an additional Security Council resolution to authorize the use of military force (pursuant to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter), but abandoned the idea in the face of opposition from the majority of Security Council members and the public threat of a veto from France (cf. The UN Security Council and the Iraq war). Instead, the United States assembled a group of about forty nations, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Poland, which Bush called the "coalition of the willing".

The coalition invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, citing many Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq (1441, 1205, 1137, 1134, 1115, 1060, 949, 778, 715), the current and past lack of Iraqi cooperation with those resolutions, Saddam's intermittent refusal to co-operate with UN weapons inspectors, Saddam's alleged attempt to assassinate former president George Bush in Kuwait, and Saddam's violation of the 1991 cease fire agreement. The coalition argued that these resolutions authorized the use of force. Other world leaders, such as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, disagreed and called the war illegal. The primary stated goal of the war was to stop Iraq from deploying and developing WMD by removing Saddam from power. See 2003 invasion of Iraq for full coverage.

The coalition was highly successful against the conventional Iraqi armed forces, and soon defeated the recognized Iraqi military. After the declared end of major combat operations on May 1, 2003, however, an insurgency caused substantially more problems than U.S. leaders had originally anticipated. The American public's support for Bush's handling of the Iraq War declined as an armed insurgency against coalition forces became more organized. A bipartisan intelligence review found no credible evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD, although the report did conclude that Hussein's government was actively attempting to acquire technology that would allow Iraq to produce WMD's as soon as U.N. sanctions were lifted. The report also concluded that Saddam's missiles had a range greater than that allowed by the UN sanctions. The report found "no collaborative relationship" between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. Bush has defended his decision, arguing that "The world is safer today." Other disputed issues have included questions about the biased selection and/or distortion of pre-war intelligence reports, democratization of the Middle East, relationship to the War on Terror, effect on the United States' relationship with European powers and on the role and function of the United Nations, debate over nation building, and the impact on nearby countries such as Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey.

The decision-making process of the Bush administration was the subject of a classified British document from July 22, 2002, known as the "Downing Street memo", which became public in May 2005. In it, the British Head of the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir Richard Dearlove, reported on his visit to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2002:

There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

Critics charged that the "Downing Street memo" was a "smoking gun" showing that Bush was already committed to attacking Iraq at a time when he was publicly saying that he had not yet made up his mind on the issue. However, Bush disputed this aspect of the Downing Street memo, re-asserting that he had not made up his mind to go to war at the time in question. Some political pundits said the phrase "fixed around the policy" was ambiguous, disputing that, rather than meaning the administration was cherry picking the evidence, it instead simply meant "preparing" the intelligence for presentation.

From June until October, 2002, there were long, protracted negotiations with members of the Security Council. The U.S. finally received a unanimous vote for U.N. Resolution 1441. Then, there were further negotiations to secure a second resolution culminating in Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N. in February 2003. The information in the "Downing Street memo" does seem to fit the timeline for information gathering operations within the Bush Administration.

Military spending

Of the $2.4 trillion budgeted for 2005, about $401 billion is planned to be spent on defense. Adjusted for inflation, this sum is the highest military budget since the late 1990s, but is roughly comparable to the average during the Cold War.

Political ideology

Bush's political ideology is generally referred to as conservative or compassionate conservative, the latter being a term he has used to describe himself; conservatives have criticized Bush for his willingness to incur large budget deficits. In his 2005 inaugural address he outlined his new foreign policy set forth in the National Security Strategy of the United States of America (pdf). Supporters of Bush see this policy as a necessary rejection of "balance of power" politics and a redefinition of America's role in the international forum. Critics of Bush see it as a withdrawal of America from the international forum.

Bush's foreign policy is heavily influenced by the neo-conservative think tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC), as evidenced by the presence of PNAC founders Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld at the highest positions in his administration, and the fact that PNAC's Clinton-era position that "American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council" that the President should the overthrow of Saddam Hussein without support of the United Nations, was subsequently implemented, over the objections of non-PNAC members of the National Security Council, in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Management style

Bush is famous for placing a high value on loyalty, and the result has been an administration with peerless message discipline. However, critics contend that Bush is willing to overlook mistakes made by subordinates, as long as they are loyal, and that Bush has surrounded himself with yes men.

Domestic policy

Faith-based initiatives

In early 2001, Bush worked with Republicans in Congress to pass legislation changing the way the federal government regulated, taxed and funded charities and non-profit initiatives run by religious organizations. Although prior to the legislation it was possible for these organizations to receive federal assistance, the new legislation removed reporting requirements that required the organizations to separate their charitable functions from their religious functions. Bush also created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Several organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized Bush's faith-based initiative program, arguing that it involves government entanglement with religion and favoritism to religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Diversity and civil rights

Bush is opposed to the legal recognition of same-sex marriages, but supports the establishment of civil unions ("I don't think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement" - ABC News October 26, 2004), and has endorsed the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would define marriage as being the union of one man and one woman. Bush reiterated his disagreement with the Republican Party platform that opposed civil unions, and said that the issue of civil unions should be left up to individual states. In his February 2, 2005 State of the Union address he repeated his support for the constitutional amendment. While not the first president in history to do so, it should be noted that Bush is the first Republican president to appoint an openly gay man to serve in his administration .

Some claim Bush has opposed most forms of affirmative action, but expressed appreciation for the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the selection of college applicants for purposes of diversity. Bush has met with the National Urban League as President, but has not yet met with the NAACP as a group since he became president, though he did address the NAACP at its 2000 convention in Baltimore as a presidential candidate, and he met with outgoing NAACP President Kweisi Mfume on December 21, 2004. Colin Powell became the first African-American man to serve as Secretary of State during Bush's first term in office. In 2005 he was succeeded by Condoleezza Rice, who became the first African-American woman to hold the post.

Economy

During his first term Bush sought and obtained Congressional approval for three major tax cuts, which increased the standard income tax deduction for married couples, eliminated the estate tax, and reduced marginal tax rates, and are scheduled to expire a decade after passage. Bush has asked Congress to make the tax cuts permanent. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, by 2003 these tax cuts had reduced total federal revenue, as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), to the lowest level since 1959.

The effect of the tax cuts and simultaneous increases in spending was to create record budget deficits. The annual deficit reached record current-dollar levels of $374 billion in 2003 and $413 billion in 2004, though as a percentage of GDP these deficits are lower than the post-World War II record set under the Reagan administration in the 1980s. ,

In an open letter to Bush in 2004, more than 100 professors of business and economics at U.S. business schools ascribed this "fiscal reversal" to Bush's "policy of slashing taxes - primarily for those at the upper reaches of the income distribution". Bush's supporters have countered that, primarily because of the doubling of the value of the child tax credit, "7.8 million low and middle-income families had their entire income tax liabilities erased by the cuts."

According to the "baseline" forecast of federal revenue and spending by the Congressional Budget Office (in its January 2005 Baseline Budget Projections, ), the trend of growing deficits under Bush's first term will become shrinking deficits in his second term. In this projection the deficit will fall to $368 billion in 2005, $261 billion in 2007, and $207 billion in 2009, with a small surplus by 2012. The CBO noted, however, that this projection "omits a significant amount of spending that will occur this year--and possibly for some time to come--for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and for other activities related to the global War on Terrorism." The projection also assumes that the Bush tax cuts "will expire as scheduled on December 31, 2010." If, as Bush has urged, the tax cuts were to be extended, then "the budget outlook for 2015 would change from a surplus of $141 billion to a deficit of $282 billion."

Private employment has decreased significantly under Bush according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. After private employment (seasonally adjusted) peaked at 111,680,000 in December 2000, it dropped to 108,250,000 in mid-2003, the largest percentage drop since 1981-1983. The employment level remained below the pre-Bush level until June 2005 when it reached 111,783,000 (preliminary). Considering population growth, that still represents a 4.6% decrease in employment.

Unemployment levels have steadily dropped since 2003, falling to less than 5.0% in June of 2005. According to the Bureau of Labor Services, the economy had added 1.088 million jobs so far in 2005. The economy has added jobs for 25 consecutive months.

Social Security

Bush has called for major changes in Social Security, identifying the issue as a priority early on in his second term. From January through April of 2005, he toured the country, stopping in over 50 cities across the union, pressing his argument that there is a "crisis", a view disputed by critics. Initially, Bush emphasized his proposal for partial privatization, which would allow individual workers to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts. One criticism of this approach was that it would actually worsen the imbalance between revenues and expenses that Bush was pointing to as a looming problem. The main idea behind this privatization of social security is to allow workers to actually own the money they place into retirement. With the existing social security system, a person who passes on loses all benefits they paid for, and the benefits are non-transferable, even to family. Many Democrats and some Republicans have opposed changes that they view as turning Social Security into a welfare program that would be politically vulnerable. See Social Security debate (United States).

Health

Bush signed the Medicare Act of 2003, which added prescription drug coverage to Medicare, subsidized pharmaceutical corporations, and prohibited the Federal government from negotiating discounts with drug companies. President Bush said the law, estimated to cost $400 billion over the first 10 years, would give the elderly "better choices and more control over their health care." Seniors can buy a Medicare-approved discount card for $30 or less to help offset the increasing costs of prescription drugs. The legislation also adds prescription drug coverage to the federal health insurance program for the elderly, starting in 2006. The bill encourages insurance companies to offer private plans to millions of older Americans who now receive health care benefits under terms fixed by the government, an idea against which several Democrats have lashed out.

Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003, having declared his aim to "promote a culture of life." The federal law prohibits Intact dilation and extraction procedures in which the fetus's head or trunk is partially outside of the mother's body when aborted. Several liberal and conservative critics feel that the law is merely a political gesture as a fetus could technically be killed inside of the womb and removed thereafter.

Education

In January of 2002, Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act, with Senator Ted Kennedy as chief sponsor, which targets supporting early learning, measures student performance, gives options over failing schools, and ensures more resources for schools. Critics (including Senator Kerry and the National Education Association) say schools were not given the resources to help meet new standards, although the House Committee on Education and the Workforce said in June, 2003 that in three years under the Bush administration the Education Department's overall funding would have increased by $13.2 billion . Some state governments are refusing to implement provisions of the act as long as they are not adequately funded. In January of 2005, USA Today reported that the United States Department of Education had paid $240,000 to conservative political commentator Armstrong Williams "to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same." Williams did not disclose the payments.

The House Education and Workforce Committee stated, "As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President Bush on January 8, 2002, the federal government today is spending more money on elementary and secondary (K-12) education than at any other time in the history of the United States."

Science

Some scientists are upset over increased immigrant restrictions brought on for national security reasons that have had the unintended consequences of decreasing immigration by foreign scientists.

On December 19, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law H. R. 4664, far-reaching legislation to put the National Science Foundation (NSF) on a track to double its budget over five years and to create new mathematics and science education initiatives at both the pre-college and undergraduate level.

Bush opposes, and has limited the funding of, embryonic stem cell research. Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research was first approved under Clinton on 19 January 1999 , but no money was to be spent until guidelines were published. The guidelines were released under Clinton on 23 August 2000. They allowed use of unused frozen embryos. On August 9 2001, before any funding was granted under these guidelines, Bush announced modifications to the guidelines to allow use of only existing stem cell lines. While Bush claimed that more than 60 embryonic stem cell lines already existed from privately-funded research, scientists in 2003 said there were only 11 usable lines, and in 2005 that all lines approved for Federal funding are contaminated and unusable. Adult stem cell funding has not been restricted. Some scientists have repeatedly criticized the Bush administration for reducing funding for scientific research and setting restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. In February 2004, over 5,000 scientists (including 48 Nobel Prize winners) from the Union of Concerned Scientists signed a statement "opposing the Bush administration's use of scientific advice". They stated that "the Bush administration has ignored unbiased scientific advice in the policy-making that is so important for our collective welfare."

On January 14, 2004, Bush announced the largest financial increase to NASA, Vision for Space Exploration, calling for a return to the Moon by 2020, the completion of the International Space Station by 2010 and eventually sending astronauts to Mars. . Although the plan was met with a largely tepid reception (), the budget eventually passed with a few minor changes after the November elections. In January 2005 the White House released a new Space Transportation Policy fact sheet which outlined the administration's space policy in broad terms and tied the development of space transport capabilities to national security requirements.

In August 2005, Bush took a controversial stance on the teaching of evolution in schools. This stance, that alternatives to evolution should be taught alongside evolution in science classes, was perceived by many in science as a misguided attack on science based on Bush's religious beliefs. The proposed alternative, intelligent design, stems from the belief that the complexity that exists in living creatures and the universe in general cannot have occurred by chance but by the design of some intelligent force; although not specified by proponents, this is generally understood to refer specifically to the Christian God, rather than the Raelian alien intelligences, for instance. Opponents of this belief point to the self-organizing complexity of biological processes, ranging from the scale of the ribosome to that of the state, as well as that of artifical processes such as cellular automata and fractals to undermine the "complexity requires intelligence" argument. More generally, they regard this as an intrusion of faith-based thought processes into the scientific area, which they feel must be reserved for evidentiary processes.

Environment

Bush's environmental record has been attacked by most environmentalists, who charge that his policies cater to industry demands to weaken environmental protections. He signed the Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002, authorizing the federal government to begin cleaning up pollution and contaminated sediment in the Great Lakes, as well as the Brownfields Legislation in 2002, accelerating the cleanup of abandoned industrial or brownfield sites. In December 2003, Bush signed legislation implementing key provisions of his Healthy Forests Initiative; environmental groups have charged that the plan is simply a giveaway to timber companies. Bush has pushed for tapping into oil reserves in the fragile Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, thought by many to be the last untouched wilderness left in the US. The majority of said oil is sent to foreign countries, such as Japan, where larger profits can be made by domestic oil companies. Another subject of controversy is Bush's Clear Skies Initiative; opponents say that the initiative will in fact allow utilities to pollute more than they do currently. Bush has opposed the Kyoto Protocol saying it would harm the U.S. economy. Environmental groups note that many Bush Administration officials, in addition to Bush and Cheney, have ties to the energy industry, automotive industry, and other groups that have fought against environmental protections. However, Bush claims his reason for not supporting the Kyoto Protocol is that it is unfairly strict on the U.S. while being unduly lenient with developing countries, especially China and India. Bush stated, "The world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases is China. Yet, China was entirely exempted from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol." He has also questioned the science behind the global warming phenomenon, insisting that more research be done to determine its validity. (See America's Kyoto protocol position.)

Immigration

Bush proposed an immigration bill that would have greatly expanded the use of guest worker visas. His proposal would match employers with foreign workers for a period up to 6 years; however workers would not be eligible for residency or citizenship.

Trade

Bush's imposition of a tariff on imported steel and on Canadian soft lumber was controversial in light of his advocacy of free market policies in other areas, and attracted criticism both from his fellow conservatives and from nations affected. The steel tariff was later rescinded under pressure from the World Trade Organization.

President Bush has refused to crack down on theft of Intellectual Property by companies in China as provided in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights( 12:40-16:30).

Major appointees

Cabinet

Bush's cabinet included the largest number of minorities of any U.S. federal cabinet to date, including the first Asian-American female cabinet secretary (Chao). This gives it the distinction of being both the most racially diverse, and, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the wealthiest cabinet ever.

There is one non-Republican present in Bush's cabinet: Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, the first Asian-American cabinet secretary, who had previously served as Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton, is a Democrat.

His cabinet included figures prominent in past administrations, notably Colin Powell, who had served as United States National Security Advisor under Ronald Reagan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George H. W. Bush and Clinton, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who had served in the same position under Gerald Ford.
Also, Vice President Richard Cheney served as Secretary of Defense under George H. W. Bush.

Other advisors and officials

• United States Director of National Intelligence - John Negroponte (2005—)
• CIA Director - George Tenet (2001–2004), John E. McLaughlin (interim director, 2004), Porter J. Goss (2004—)
• FBI Director - Robert Mueller
• National Security Advisor - Condoleezza Rice (2001–2005), Stephen Hadley (2005—)
• EPA Administrator - Christine Todd Whitman (2001–2003), Michael O. Leavitt (2003–2005), Stephen L. Johnson (2005—)
• UN Ambassador - John Negroponte (2001–2004), John Danforth (2004); John R. Bolton (Recess appointment, 2005—)
• FCC Chairman - Michael Powell (2001-2005), Kevin Martin (2005—)
• OMB Director - Mitch Daniels (2001–2003), Joshua B. Bolten (2003—)
• White House Chief of Staff - Andrew Card
• Deputy White House Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor - Karl Rove
• White House counsel - Alberto R. Gonzales (2001–2005), Harriet Miers (2005—)
• Advisor - Karen Hughes (2001–2002) Appointed in 2005 to rank of Ambassador.
• White House Press Secretary - Ari Fleischer (2001–2003), Scott McClellan (2003—)
• Personal aide - Blake Gottesman (2002—)

Among these appointees, Negroponte, Abrams, and Poindexter, along with Otto Reich (Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere for the Secretary of State) were criticized for their roles in the Iran-Contra Affair and for allegedly covering up human rights abuses in Central and South America.

Major legislation signed

2001

• June 7: Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
• September 18: Authorization for Use of Military Force
• September 28: United States-Jordan Free Trade Area Implementation Act
• October 26: USA PATRIOT Act
• November 28: Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act

2002

• January 8: No Child Left Behind Act
• March 9: Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002
• March 27: Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
• May 13: Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002
• July 30: Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
• October 16: Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq
• November 25: Homeland Security Act of 2002

2003

• March 11: Do-Not-Call Implementation Act
• April 30: PROTECT Act of 2003 (Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act) (see also Age of consent)
• May 27: United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003
• May 28: Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003
• September 3: United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
• September 3: United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
• November 5: Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003
• December 8: Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
• December 16: Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM)

2004

• April 1: Unborn Victims of Violence Act (Laci and Conner's Law)

2005

• February 18: Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
• April 20: Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005
• August 2: Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
• August 8: Energy Policy Act of 2005
• August 10: Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005 (SAFETEA)

Public perception and assessments

Bush has been the subject of both high praise and stringent criticism. His supporters have focused on matters such as the economy, homeland security, and his leadership after the September 11 attacks. His detractors have disagreed on those very subjects and have also criticized the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, the controversial 2000 election, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The magazine TIME named Bush as its Person of the Year for 2000 and for 2004. This award is traditionally given to the person considered by the editors to be the most important newsmaker of the year.

Domestic

In the time of national crisis following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bush enjoyed approval ratings of greater than 85%. They gradually dropped to lower levels, but stayed above 50% for two and half years .

During the 2002 midterm congressional elections, Bush had the highest approval rating of any president during a midterm election since Dwight Eisenhower. In an unusual deviation from the historical trend of midterm elections, the Republican Party retook control of the Senate and added to their majority in the House of Representatives; typically, the President's party loses Congressional seats in the midterm elections, and 2002 marked only the third midterm election since the Civil War that the party in control of the White House gained seats in both houses of Congress (others were 1902 and 1934).

In 2003, Bush's approval ratings slowly fell, except for a spike upward at the time of the invasion of Iraq. By late 2003, when presidential opponents typically begin their campaigns in earnest, his approval numbers were in the low to middle 50s. Most polls tied the decline to growing concern over the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and a slow recovery from the 2001 recession. Polls of May 2004 showed anywhere from a 53 percent approval rating to a 46 percent approval rating. A Zogby poll showed Bush's approval rating a 46% for the month of March, 2005, the lowest Bush had ever received. As of July 2005, Bush's approval rating remains at a Presidential low according to a Gallup poll.

Bush's many mistakes while publicly speaking have spawned a new term in America, bushism. This is the term used for a word, phrase, or other grammatical configuration unique to the style of President George W. Bush.

Outside the United States

Bush has been an unpopular figure in many places outside the United States as a result of his perceived unilateralism, and his perceived insenstivity on key global issues. His popularity fell significantly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which many saw as unilateralism. Polls of Europeans highlighted a "transatlantic split over the war in Iraq". A survey in 2004 found a negative view of him held by a majority of people in Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Spain, and Canada. However, the reliability of the polls are in doubt as the margin for error, demographics sampled and other statistical requirements were not met. Also, in 2005, British Prime Minster Tony Blair was re-elected despite his strong support of Bush and supposed unpopularity of his support, a fact which his opposition parties used to garner votes. Nethertheless, at the same time, George Galloway was elected on an explicitely anti-Bush platform, and in Tony Blair's own seat, a large vote was recorded by Reg Keys, who maintained an anti-Iraq Invasion platform. Although polls are frequently relied on to indicate attitudes and beliefs when done under carefully controlled conditions, critics point to the erroneous prediction of a 2004 election victory of John Kerry based partially on using exit-polling, to demonstrate the difficulty in properly sampling the population, and the potential unreliability of polls even under the most stringent care and conditions.

In Muslim countries Bush's unfavorability ratings are particularly high, often over 90%. Among the non-U.S. nations polled in a worldwide study, Bush's popularity was highest in Israel, where 62% reported favorable views. Before the 2004 election, Kerry was preferred to Bush, sometimes by a wide margin, in 30 out of 35 countries polled. After the election, majorities in most countries said that they expected Bush's second term to have a negative impact on peace and security. As in the previous polling, the statistical reliability of such polls is in serious doubt.

See also

• Books about George W. Bush
• 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Bush Doctrine
• Bush family
• Bushism
• Christian Right
• Compassionate conservatism
• Fahrenheit 9/11
• George W. Bush's first term as President of the United States
• George W. Bush's second term as President of the United States
• History of the United States (1988-present)
• List of national leaders
• List of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2005
• Plame affair
• Michael Scheuer
• Neoconservatism (United States)
• War on Terrorism
• White House Communications Agency

Media

Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end

References

• About.com's article: Bush's Faith-Based Initiative Launched
• Faith Based and Community Initiatives official website
• Graphs of approval ratings,
• Time-analysis of Bush's popularity.
• Collection of Bushisms
• Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are now species of slime-mold beetles—but strictly in homage Cornell University article
• Template:Nndb name

Further reading and information

• Ken Auletta (January 19, 2004). "Fortress Bush: How the White House Keeps the Press Under Control", The New Yorker, LXXIX, 53
• James Bovard, The Bush Betrayal, (2004) ISBN 140396727X
• Robert Bryce, Cronies: Oil, The Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate, (2004) ISBN 1586481886
• George W. Bush, A Charge to Keep, (1999) ISBN 0688174418
• George W. Bush, We Will Prevail, (2003) ISBN 0826415520
• John W. Dean, Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, (2004) ISBN 031600023X
• Justin A. Frank, Bush On The Couch, (2004), Regan Books. ISBN 0060736704
• Ben Fritz, Bryan Keefer & Brendan Nyhan, All the President's Spin: George W. Bush, the Media, and the Truth, (2004) ISBN 0743262514
• David Frum, The Right Man, (2003) ISBN 0375509038 ISBN 0812966953
• H. Gillman, The Votes That Counted: How the Court Decided the 2000 Presidential Election, (2001) ISBN 0226294080
• James Hatfield, Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President, (1999) ISBN 1887128840
• Molly Ivins and L. Dubose, Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush, (2000) ISBN 0375503994
• Ronald Kessler, A Matter Of Character: Inside The White House Of George W. Bush, (2004) ISBN 1595230009
• Stephen Mansfield, The Faith of George W. Bush, (2003) ISBN 1585423092
• Richard Miniter, Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush Is Winning the War on Terror (2004) ISBN 0895260522
• B. Minutaglio, First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty, (1999) ISBN 0609808672
• E. Mitchell, W: Revenge of the Bush Dynasty, (2000) ISBN 0786866306
• Michael Moore, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) documentary motion picture
• John Podhoretz, Bush Country : How Dubya Became a Great President While Driving Liberals Insane, (2004) ISBN 0312324723
• Michel Ruppert Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, (2004) ISBN 0865715408
• Bill Sammon, Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism from Inside the Bush White House, (2002) ISBN 0895261499
• Bill Sammon, Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, John Kerry, and the Bush Haters, (2004) ISBN 0060723831
• Webster Griffin Tarpley and Anton Chaitkin, George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography (
• Craig Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties, (2004) ISBN 074325337X
• Ian Williams, Deserter: George Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past, (2004) ISBN 1560256273
• Bob Woodward, Bush at War, (2002) ISBN 0743244613
• Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack, (2004) ISBN 074325547X

External links

Official

• Official White House biography
• RNC biography

Speeches

• Audio recordings of Bush's speeches

Transcripts

• 2000 GOP Convention Nomination Speech (August 3, 2000)
• First Inaugural Address
• Second Inaugural Address
• Remarks by the President After Two Planes Crash Into World Trade Center (September 11, 2001)
• Remarks by the President Upon Arrival at Barksdale Air Force Base (September 11, 2001)
• Presidential Address to the Nation (September 11, 2001)
• Declaration of War on Terrorism
• Issues Military Order No. 1, Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism November 13, 2001
• 2002 State of the Union Address
• 2003 State of the Union Address
• Presidential Address to the Nation Announcing Operation Iraqi Freedom
• President Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended
• Presidential Address to the Nation on America's Actions in the War on Terrorism
• Address to the UN General Assembly
• Presidential Address to the Nation on the Capture of Saddam Hussein
• 2004 State of the Union Address
• "Meet the Press with Tim Russert" interview with President George W. Bush (The Oval Office, February 7, 2004)
• Bush Interview by RTÉ News (Irish TV) – June 25, 2004 – Real player video feeds
• Bush Interview by RTÉ News (Irish TV) – June 25, 2004 – transcript
• 2004 GOP Convention Nomination Acceptance Speech (September 2, 2004)
• Second Inaugural Address
• 2005 State of the Union Address

Notes

Template:Anb The White House (2005). Biography of President George W. Bush. Retrieved June 21, 2005. "Owner, oil and gas business" "Partner, Texas Rangers Baseball Team"

• 1946 births
• People from Connecticut
• People from Texas
• Children of U.S. Presidents
• Bush family
• George W. Bush
• Bonesmen
• Aviators
• Christian people
• Methodists
• Baseball executives
• Politicians
• Texas politicians
• Governors of Texas
• U.S. Republican Party presidential nominees
• Presidents of the U.S.
• Current national leaders
• CIA leak scandal
• Intelligent design advocates
• LGBT rights opposition