George W. Bush | |
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43rd President of the United States | |
In office January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009 |
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Vice President | Dick Cheney |
Preceded by | Bill Clinton |
Succeeded by | Barack Obama |
46th Governor of Texas | |
In office January 17, 1995 – December 21, 2000 |
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Lieutenant |
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Preceded by | Ann Richards |
Succeeded by | Rick Perry |
Personal details | |
Born |
George Walker Bush July 6, 1946 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Laura Welch (m. 1977) |
Relations | See Bush family |
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Residence | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
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Years of service | 1968–74 |
Rank | First lieutenant |
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Awards |
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. The eldest son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in oil businesses. He married Laura Welch in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. He was elected president in 2000 after a close and controversial election against Al Gore, becoming the fourth president to be elected while receiving fewer popular votes nationwide than an opponent. He is the second president to have been the son of a former president, the first having been John Quincy Adams. He is also the brother of Jeb Bush, a former Governor of Florida and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 presidential election.
Eight months into Bush's first term as president, the September 11 terrorist attacks occurred. Bush responded with what became known as the Bush Doctrine: launching a "War on Terror", an international military campaign which included the war in Afghanistan, in 2001, and the Iraq War, in 2003. He also promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, social security reform, and amending the Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. He signed into law broad tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors, and funding for the AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR. His tenure saw national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance, and torture.