177 Facts About George W Bush

George Walker Bush was born on July 6,1946 and is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009.

In 1978, George W Bush unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives.

George W Bush later co-owned the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball before he was elected governor of Texas in 1994.

George W Bush helped make Texas the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the nation.

George W Bush became the fourth person to be elected president without a popular vote victory.

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George W Bush pushed for socially conservative efforts such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and faith-based initiatives.

George W Bush ordered the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, to overthrow the Taliban, destroy al-Qaeda, and capture Osama bin Laden.

George W Bush signed the Patriot Act to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists.

George W Bush ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq, claiming that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction; this led to Hussein's eventual overthrow and capture by US forces.

George W Bush was re-elected president in 2004, defeating Democrat John Kerry and winning the popular vote.

George W Bush appointed John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

George W Bush sought major changes to Social Security and immigration laws, but both efforts failed in Congress.

George W Bush was widely criticized for his handling of Hurricane Katrina and the midterm dismissal of US attorneys.

At various points in his presidency, George W Bush was among both the most popular and unpopular presidents in US history.

George W Bush's presidency has been rated as below-average, although public and scholarly favorability of his presidency have improved since he left office.

George Walker Bush was born on July 6,1946, at Grace-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut.

George W Bush was the first child of George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce.

George W Bush was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four siblings: Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy.

George W Bush's paternal grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a US senator from Connecticut.

George W Bush's father was Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981 to 1989 and the 41st US president from 1989 to 1993.

George W Bush has English and some German ancestry, along with more distant Dutch, Welsh, Irish, French, and Scottish roots.

George W Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas until the family moved to Houston after he had completed seventh grade.

George W Bush then spent two years at The Kinkaid School, a college-preparatory school.

George W Bush attended high school at Phillips Academy, a boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts, where he played baseball and was the head cheerleader during his senior year.

George W Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.

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George W Bush became a member of the Skull and Bones society as a senior.

George W Bush was a rugby union player and was on Yale's 1st XV.

George W Bush was engaged to Cathryn Lee Wolfman in 1967, but the engagement did not last.

George W Bush left his family's Episcopal Church to join his wife's United Methodist Church.

On November 25,1981, Laura George W Bush gave birth to fraternal twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.

George W Bush was cited for DUI, fined $150, and received a brief suspension of his Maine driver's license.

George W Bush said his wife has had a stabilizing effect on his life, and he attributes her influence to his 1986 decision to give up alcohol.

George W Bush has been an avid reader throughout his adult life, preferring biographies and histories.

Walt Harrington, a journalist, recalled seeing "books by John Fowles, F Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and Gore Vidal lying about, as well as biographies of Willa Cather and Queen Victoria" in his home when Bush was a Texas oilman.

In May 1968, George W Bush was commissioned into the Texas Air National Guard.

Critics, including former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, have alleged that George W Bush was favorably treated due to his father's political standing as a member of the House of Representatives, citing his selection as a pilot despite his low pilot aptitude test scores and his irregular attendance.

George W Bush had moved to Montgomery, Alabama, to work on the unsuccessful US Senate campaign of Republican Winton M Blount.

In 1972, George W Bush was suspended from flying for failure to take a scheduled physical exam.

George W Bush was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve on November 21,1974.

George W Bush remains the most recent president to have served in the military.

In 1977, George W Bush established Arbusto Energy, a small oil exploration company, although it did not begin operations until the following year.

George W Bush was hurt by decreased oil prices, and it folded into HKN, Inc, with Bush becoming a member of HKN's board of directors.

Questions of possible insider trading involving HKN arose, but a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation concluded that the information George W Bush had at the time of his stock sale was not sufficient to constitute insider trading.

George W Bush actively led the team's projects and regularly attended its games, often choosing to sit in the open stands with fans.

George W Bush was a campaign advisor and liaison to the media, and assisted his father by campaigning across the country.

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In December 1991, George W Bush was one of seven people named by his father to run his father's 1992 presidential re-election campaign as a campaign advisor.

George W Bush declared his candidacy for the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election at the same time his brother Jeb sought the governorship in Florida.

George W Bush's campaign focused on four themes: welfare reform, tort reform, crime reduction, and education improvement.

George W Bush used a budget surplus to push through Texas's largest tax-cut, $2billion.

George W Bush extended government funding for organizations providing education of the dangers of alcohol and drug use and abuse, and helping to reduce domestic violence.

In 1999, George W Bush signed a law that required electric retailers to buy a certain amount of energy from renewable sources, which helped Texas eventually become the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the US.

In 1998, George W Bush won re-election with a record 69 percent of the vote.

George W Bush became the first governor in Texas history to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms.

George W Bush proclaimed June 10,2000, to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day on which he urged all Texans to "answer the call to serve those in need".

George W Bush portrayed himself as a compassionate conservative, implying he was more centrist than other Republicans.

George W Bush campaigned on a platform that included bringing integrity and honor back to the White House, increasing the size of the military, cutting taxes, improving education, and aiding minorities.

George W Bush won the Iowa caucuses and, although heavily favored to win the New Hampshire primary, trailed McCain by 19 percent and lost.

George W Bush continued to campaign across the country and touted his record as Governor of Texas.

The machine recount showed that George W Bush had won the Florida vote by a margin of 537 votes out of six million casts.

George W Bush was the first person to win an American presidential election with fewer popular votes than another candidate since Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

George W Bush appointed Ken Mehlman as campaign manager, and Karl Rove devised a political strategy.

George W Bush called for the implementation of a guest worker program for immigrants, which was criticized by conservatives.

George W Bush campaign advertised across the US against Democratic candidates, including George W Bush's emerging opponent, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.

The George W Bush campaign portrayed Kerry as a staunch liberal who would raise taxes and increase the size of government.

George W Bush took office during a period of economic recession in the wake of the bursting of the dot-com bubble.

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George W Bush's administration increased federal government spending from $1.

George W Bush entered office with the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 10,587, and the average peaked in October 2007 at over 14,000.

When George W Bush left office, the average was at 7,949, one of the lowest levels of his presidency.

The George W Bush administration pushed for significantly increased regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2003, and after two years, the regulations passed the House but died in the Senate.

Many Republican senators, as well as influential members of the George W Bush Administration, feared that the agency created by these regulations would merely be mimicking the private sector's risky practices.

George W Bush, meanwhile, proposed a financial rescue plan to buy back a large portion of the US mortgage market.

George W Bush undertook many educational agendas, such as increasing the funding for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in his first years of office and creating education programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students.

On November 1,2005, George W Bush announced a National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza to prepare the United States for a flu pandemic, which culminated in an implementation plan published by the Homeland Security Council in May 2006.

In 2007, George W Bush opposed and vetoed State Children's Health Insurance Program legislation, which was added by the Democrats onto a war funding bill and passed by Congress.

George W Bush viewed the legislation as a move toward socialized health care, and asserted that the program could benefit families making as much as $83,000 per year who did not need the help.

On May 21,2008, George W Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, aimed to protect Americans against health insurance and employment discrimination based on a person's genetic information.

George W Bush said the law, estimated to cost $400billion over the first ten years, would give the elderly "better choices and more control over their health care".

George W Bush began his second term by outlining a major initiative to "reform" Social Security, which was facing record deficit projections beginning in 2005.

George W Bush made it the centerpiece of his domestic agenda despite opposition from some in the US Congress.

George W Bush embarked on a 60-day national tour, campaigning for his initiative in media events known as "Conversations on Social Security" in an attempt to gain public support.

In May 2001, George W Bush signed an executive order to create an interagency task force to streamline energy projects, and later signed two other executive orders to tackle environmental issues.

In 2002, George W Bush proposed the Clear Skies Act of 2003, which aimed at amending the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution through the use of emissions trading programs.

Later in 2006, George W Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, creating the largest marine reserve to date.

George W Bush has said he believes that global warming is real and has noted that it is a serious problem, but he asserted there is a "debate over whether it's man-made or naturally caused".

George W Bush has said he supports adult stem cell research and has supported federal legislation that finances adult stem cell research.

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On July 19,2006, George W Bush used his veto power for the first time in his presidency to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.

In 2006, George W Bush urged Congress to allow more than twelve million illegal immigrants to work in the United States with the creation of a "temporary guest-worker program".

George W Bush urged Congress to provide additional funds for border security and committed to deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to the Mexico–United States border.

From May to June 2007, George W Bush strongly supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, which was written by a bipartisan group of Senators with the active participation of the George W Bush administration.

George W Bush argued that the lack of legal status denies the protections of US laws to millions of people who face dangers of poverty and exploitation, and penalizes employers despite a demand for immigrant labor.

George W Bush contended that the proposed bill did not amount to amnesty.

George W Bush expressed disappointment upon the defeat of one of his signature domestic initiatives.

On September 19,2010, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that George W Bush offered to accept 100,000 Palestinian refugees as American citizens if a permanent settlement had been reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Leaders attacked Bush for having appointed incompetent leaders to positions of power at FEMA, notably Michael D Brown; federal response resources to respond were limited as a result of being allocated to the Iraq War and Bush himself did not act upon warnings of floods.

George W Bush responded to mounting criticism by claiming to accept full responsibility for the federal government's failures in its handling of the emergency.

The House Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas for advisers Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten to testify regarding this matter, but George W Bush directed Miers and Bolten to not comply with those subpoenas, invoking his right of executive privilege.

George W Bush maintained that all his advisers were protected under a broad executive privilege protection to receive candid advice.

George W Bush was an advocate of China's entry into the World Trade Organization.

George W Bush began his second term with an emphasis on improving strained relations with European nations.

George W Bush appointed long-time adviser Karen Hughes to oversee a global public relations campaign.

In March 2006, George W Bush reversed decades of US policy when he visited India in a trip focused particularly on areas of nuclear energy, counter-terrorism co-operation, and discussions that would eventually lead to the India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement.

George W Bush withdrew US support for several international agreements, including, in 2002, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia.

George W Bush emphasized a careful approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; he denounced Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat for his support of violence, but sponsored dialogues between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

George W Bush supported Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and lauded the democratic elections held in Palestine after Arafat's death.

George W Bush expressed US support for the defense of Taiwan following the stand-off in April 2001 with China over the Hainan Island incident, when an EP-3E Aries II surveillance aircraft collided with a People's Liberation Army Air Force jet, leading to the detention of US personnel.

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From 2003 to 2004, George W Bush authorized US military intervention in Haiti and Liberia to protect US interests.

George W Bush condemned the militia attacks Darfur and denounced the killings in Sudan as genocide.

George W Bush said an international peacekeeping presence was critical in Darfur, but he opposed referring the situation to the International Criminal Court.

On June 10,2007, George W Bush met with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and became the first president to visit Albania.

George W Bush later voiced his support for the independence of Kosovo.

In early 2008, George W Bush vowed full support for admitting Ukraine and Georgia into NATO despite Russia's opposition to the further enlargement of NATO.

George W Bush emphasized the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims.

The Afghan Taliban regime was not forthcoming with Osama bin Laden, so George W Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime.

The George W Bush Administration asserted both a right and the intention to wage preemptive war, or preventive war.

Contentions that the George W Bush Administration manipulated or exaggerated the threat and evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities would eventually become a major point of criticism for the president.

In late 2002 and early 2003, George W Bush urged the United Nations to enforce Iraqi disarmament mandates, precipitating a diplomatic crisis.

The initial success of US operations increased his popularity, but the US and allied forces faced a growing insurgency led by sectarian groups; George W Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech was later criticized as premature.

George W Bush's policies met with criticism, including demands domestically to set a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq.

On January 10,2007, George W Bush announced a surge of 21,500 more troops for Iraq, as well as a job program for Iraqis, more reconstruction proposals, and $1.

On May 1,2007, George W Bush used his second-ever veto to reject a bill setting a deadline for the withdrawal of US troops, saying the debate over the conflict was "understandable" but insisting that a continued US presence there was crucial.

In March 2008, George W Bush praised the Iraqi government's "bold decision" to launch the Battle of Basra against the Mahdi Army, calling it "a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq".

George W Bush said he would carefully weigh recommendations from his commanding General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker about how to proceed after the end of the military buildup in the summer of 2008.

George W Bush praised the Iraqis' legislative achievements, including a pension law, a revised de-Baathification law, a new budget, an amnesty law, and a provincial powers measure that, he said, set the stage for the Iraqi elections.

In March 2010, Center for Public Integrity released a report that President George W Bush's administration had made more than 900 false pretenses in a two-year period about alleged threat of Iraq against the United States, as his rationale to engage war in Iraq.

George W Bush authorized the CIA to use waterboarding and several other "enhanced interrogation techniques" that several critics, including Barack Obama, would label as torture.

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On October 17,2006, George W Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 into law.

George W Bush publicly condemned Kim Jong-il of North Korea and identified North Korea as one of three states in an "axis of evil".

George W Bush condemned North Korea's position, reaffirmed his commitment to "a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula", and said that "transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States", for which North Korea would be held accountable.

In 2003, George W Bush signed the Syria Accountability Act, which expanded sanctions on Syria.

George W Bush announced $15billion for this effort which directly supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for more than 3.

On February 7,2001, while George W Bush was in the residence area of the White House, Robert Pickett, standing outside the perimeter fence, discharged a number of shots from a Taurus.

George W Bush was sentenced to three years at the Federal Medical Center, Rochester followed by three years of probation.

On May 10,2005, while President George W Bush was giving a speech in Freedom Square, Vladimir Arutyunian, a native Georgian who was born to a family of ethnic Armenians, threw a live Soviet-made RGD-5 hand grenade toward the podium.

George W Bush was convicted in January 2006 and given a life sentence.

On July 19,2005, following the announcement of the retirement of Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on July 1, George W Bush nominated federal appellate judge John Roberts to be O'Connor's replacement; however, following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist on September 3, that still-pending nomination was withdrawn on September 5, with George W Bush instead nominating Roberts to be the next Chief Justice of the United States.

On October 3,2005, George W Bush nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers to succeed O'Connor; however, Miers withdrew her nomination on October 27 after encountering significant opposition from both parties, who found her to be ill-prepared and uninformed on the law, leaving no nominee to replace O'Connor.

Finally, on October 31, George W Bush nominated federal appellate judge Samuel Alito, who was confirmed by the Senate to replace O'Connor on January 31,2006.

George W Bush's upbringing in West Texas, his accent, his vacations on his Texas ranch, and his penchant for country metaphors contribute to his folksy, American cowboy image.

George W Bush has been parodied by the media, comedians, and other politicians.

In contrast to his father, who was perceived as having troubles with an overarching unifying theme, George W Bush embraced larger visions and was seen as a man of larger ideas and associated huge risks.

Tony Blair wrote in 2010 that the caricature of George W Bush as being dumb is "ludicrous" and that George W Bush is "very smart".

George W Bush doesn't want anybody to think he's smarter than they are, so puts on a Texas act.

George W Bush began his presidency with approval ratings near 50 percent.

Polls conducted in 2006 showed an average of 37 percent approval ratings for Bush, the lowest for any second-term president at that point in his term since Harry S Truman in March 1951, which contributed to what Bush called the "thumping" of the Republican Party in the 2006 midterm elections.

George W Bush was criticized internationally and targeted by the global anti-war and anti-globalization movements for his administration's foreign policy.

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George W Bush was described as having especially close personal relationships with Tony Blair of the United Kingdom and Vicente Fox of Mexico, although formal relations were sometimes strained.

George W Bush made regular appearances at various events throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth area, including the opening coin toss at the Dallas Cowboys' first game in the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington and an April 2009 Texas Rangers game, where he thanked the people of Dallas for helping him settle in, which was met with a standing ovation.

George W Bush attended every home playoff game during the Rangers' 2010 season and, accompanied by his father, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for Game4 of the 2010 World Series on October 31.

George W Bush has spoken in favor of increased global participation of women in politics and societal matters in foreign countries.

George W Bush released his memoirs, Decision Points, on November 9,2010.

George W Bush presented the book at the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.

George W Bush appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on November 19,2013, along with his wife Laura.

Alongside the 2014 United States–Africa Leaders Summit, Bush, Michelle Obama, the State Department, and the George W Bush Institute hosted a daylong forum on education and health with the spouses of the African leaders attending the summit.

George W Bush added that people had said during his presidency that he should withdraw American troops from Iraq, but he chose the opposite, sending 30,000 more troops to defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq, and that they indeed were defeated.

George W Bush was asked about Iran but declined to answer, stating that any answer he gives would be interpreted as undermining Obama.

Images of George W Bush struggling to put on a rain poncho during the ceremony became an internet meme.

In February 2017, George W Bush released a book of his own portraits of veterans called Portraits of Courage.

Shortly before his death, George W Bush was able to talk with his father on the phone; his father responded with what would be his last words, "I love you too".

In May 2019, the tenth anniversary of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun's death, George W Bush visited South Korea to pay respects to Roh, delivering a short eulogy.

George W Bush did not give any endorsements during the 2020 presidential election, but held a virtual fundraiser for US Senators Susan Collins, Cory Gardner, Martha McSally, and Thom Tillis.

George W Bush did not attend the 2020 Republican National Convention where President Trump was re-nominated.

George W Bush congratulated Trump and his supporters "on a hard-fought campaign".

George W Bush echoed President-elect Biden's message stating that what occurred at the capital was an "insurrection".

George W Bush opposed President Biden's withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, saying that the withdrawal made him "concerned" and that it had the potential to "create a vacuum, and into that vacuum is likely to come people who treat women as second class citizens".

On September 11,2021, the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, George W Bush gave a speech at the Flight 93 National Memorial, praising the heroism of the people on Flight 93 and the spirit of America.

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On May 2,2011, President Obama called George W Bush, who was at a restaurant with his wife, to inform him that Osama bin Laden had been killed.

At the Ground Zero memorial, George W Bush read a letter that President Abraham Lincoln wrote to a widow who had lost five sons during the Civil War.

George W Bush famously passed mints to Mrs Obama during the McCain funeral in September 2018 and gave them to her again during the funeral of his father in December 2018.

George W Bush has painted self-portraits and portraits of world leaders, including Vladimir Putin and Tony Blair.

In February 2017, George W Bush released a book of portraits of veterans, Portraits of Courage.

Critics often point to his handling of the Iraq War, specifically the failure to find weapons of mass destruction after claiming they were in Iraq, as well as George W Bush's handling of tax policy, Hurricane Katrina, climate change and the 2008 financial crisis, as proof that he was unfit to be president.

Ben Ferencz, former chief prosecutor for the United States Army at the Nuremberg Trials, has stated that George W Bush likely committed war crimes in relation to the Iraq War.

Several historians and commentators hold that George W Bush was one of the most consequential presidents in American history.

George W Bush's administration presided over the largest tax cuts since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and his homeland security reforms proved to be the most significant expansion of the federal government since the Great Society.

George W Bush has been widely portrayed in film and television, both during and since his presidency.

George W Bush presidency has been ranked as below-average in surveys of presidential scholars published in the late 2000s and 2010s.

George W Bush had achieved notable gains among seniors, non-college whites, and moderate and conservative Democrats since leaving office, although majorities disapproved of his handling of the economy and the Iraq War.