George W Bush
President Bush was elected in the closest election in modern history. He is the first President in this century to lose the popular vote and win the electoral vote.
The Early Years
George W. Bush was born on July 6, 1946, and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as an F-102 pilot for the Texas Air National Guard. Bush began his career in the oil and gas business in Midland in 1975 and worked in the energy industry until 1986. After working on his father’s 1988 presidential campaign, he assembled a group of partners that purchased the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in 1989, which later built the Rangers' new home, the Ballpark at Arlington.
He served as managing general partner of the Texas Rangers until he was elected Governor of Texas on November 8, 1994, with 53.5% of the vote. In a historic re-election victory, he became the first Texas Governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms on November 3, 1998, winning 68.6% of the vote.
In 1998, Governor Bush won 49% of the Hispanic vote, 27% of the African-American vote, 27% of Democrats, and 65% of women. He won more Texas counties—240 out of 254—than any modern Republican except Richard Nixon in 1972 and was the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win the heavily Hispanic and Democratic border counties of El Paso, Cameron, and Hidalgo.
Accomplishments in Office
President Bush's early accomplishment was the passage of a large tax cut. His Presidency was forever framed by the twin attacks on September 11th at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. President Bush then led a large international coalition that removed the Taliban in Afghanistan who were harboring Al Qaeda. President Bush then went on to lead American military forces in a campaign that ousted Saddam Hussien in Iraq.
President Bush's second term has been more challenging, The administration's response to the destruction of large areas of Louisiana and the flooding of New Orleans was widely criticized. The War of Iraq steadily lost support during Bush's second term, largely making it impossible to accomplish any of his other goals. The Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress in the mid-term election of 2006.
The First Family
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Father: George Bush
Mother:Barbara Bush
Wife: Laura Welch
Daughters: Barbara and Jenna
Cabinet
Secretary of State: Colin Powell Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill John Snow Henry Paulson
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates
Attorney General John Ashcroft Alberto Gonzales Michael Mukasey
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary of Agriculture: Ann Veneman Mike Johanns Ed Schafer
Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans Carlos Gutierrez
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson
Mike Leavitt
Secretary of Education Rod Paige Margaret Spellings
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez
Alphonso Jackson Steve Preston
Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta Mary Peters
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham Samuel Bodman
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi Jim Nicholson James Peake
Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge Michael Chertoff
DID YOU KNOW
Second President to have a Father who was President
First President to have owned a baseball team
Second President from Texas
First President since the 19th century to lose the popular vote