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George W. Bush

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George Walker Bush

George W. Bush

Order: 43rd President
Term of Office: January 20, 2001–Present
Predecessor: Bill Clinton
Successor: incumbent
Date of Birth: Saturday, July 6, 1946
Place of Birth: New Haven, Connecticut
First Lady: Laura Bush
Profession: Businessman
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Dick Cheney

George Walker Bush (born July 6 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, taking office January 20 2001 after a close election. Re-elected in 2004, his second four-year term is set to end January 20 2009.

Before entering politics, Bush was a businessman. He was one of the co-owners of the Texas Rangers baseball team from 1989 to 1998. He also served as Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.

Several of his family members are politically prominent. He is the son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush, the brother of current Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and the grandson of former U.S. Senator Prescott Bush.

Personal life, service, and education

George W. Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut to parents George and Barbara Bush, and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He has four younger siblings: Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. A younger sister, Robin, died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of three.

File:Bush daughers.gif
George W. Bush and Laura Bush with their daughters Jenna and Barbara, 1990
George W. Bush in his national guardsman uniform.

As was his father, Bush was educated at Phillips Academy (Andover), (September 1961–June 1964) and Yale University (September 1964–May 1968). While at Yale he joined Delta Kappa Epsilon (where he was president from October 1965 until graduation), and the Skull and Bones society. He played baseball during his freshman year and rugby during his freshman and senior years. He received a bachelor's degree in history in 1968.

After graduating from Yale, 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 served as an F-102 pilot until 1972 and was twice promoted during his service, first to second lieutenant and then to first lieutenant. In November 1970, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, the commander of the Texas Air National Guard, recommended that Bush be promoted to first lieutenant.

In September 1973 he received permission to end his six-year commitment six months early in order to attend Harvard University. He transferred to inactive reserve status shortly before being honorably discharged on October 1, 1973.

It has been charged that he skipped over a waiting list to receive a coveted National Guard slot, that he did not report for required duty, and that he was suspended from flying after he missed a required physical examination. These issues were publicized during the 2004 campaign by Texans for Truth and other Bush critics. See George W. Bush military service controversy for details.

Bush entered Harvard Business School in 1973. He was awarded a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1975, making him the first U.S. president to hold an MBA degree.

On Labor Day weekend, September 4, 1976, Bush was pulled over by police near his family's Kennebunkport summer home in Maine. He was arrested and fined $150 and temporary suspension of driving privileges in the state for driving under the influence of alcohol [1]. News of the arrest was released five days before the 2000 presidential election by the Kennebunkport police department.

Bush married Laura Welch in 1977. They have twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna Bush, born in 1981. In 1986, at age 40, he became a born-again Christian, leaving the Episcopal Church and joining his wife's denomination, the United Methodist Church.

Bush has described his days before his religious conversion as his "nomadic" period and "irresponsible youth". Bush admitted to drinking "too much" in those years. He gave up drinking for good shortly after his 40th birthday celebration. A number of reasons were cited for the change including a 1985 meeting with Rev. Billy Graham. CNN reported during the 2000 campaign that Bush said "I quit drinking in 1986 and haven't had a drop since then". [2] [3] [4] It has been argued that Bush "seems to possess the traits characteristic of addictive persons who still have the thought patterns that accompany substance abuse" [5], a mindset colloquially referred to as that of the "dry drunk". [6] [7] [8]

Bush has been accused of using cocaine on many accounts. For example, J.H. Hatfield, author of Fortunate Son, believes Bush was arrested for cocaine use in 1973, but had the arrest expunged because of his father's influence. Also, it has been alleged that Bush's refusal to take an physical during his national guard service is drug-related.

In 1999, while beginning his campaign for the 2000 presidential race, Bush told the press that, as a condition of Federal employment, he had signed that he had not taken drugs within the past seven years. Asked if he would have met his father's qualifications for White House employment (which included no drug use in the past 25 years) he answered affirmatively, while refusing to answer regarding cocaine use before 1974.

Bush is sometimes referred to as Dubya (which is a Southern dialect variant of "Double U"), a play on his middle initial "W". His Secret Service codename is Trailblazer or Tumbler.

Business and early political career

In 1978, Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives but lost to State Sen. Kent Hance, a Democrat.

File:Texasgovbush.jpg
George W. Bush's portrait as Governor of Texas (1995–2000).

Bush began his career in the oil industry in 1979 when he established Arbusto Energy, an oil and gas exploration company he formed in 1977 with leftover funds from his education trust fund and money from other investors. Some of this funding came from the bin Laden family, which in 1994 publicly distanced itself from its kinsman Osama bin Laden. 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, Bush became CEO of Spectrum 7. The oil crisis of 1985–1986 bankrupted Spectrum 7. Spectrum 7 was subsequently saved by a buyout from Harken Energy Corp. 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 then-owner Eddie Chiles, another of the Bushes' many friends, wanted to sell the Texas Rangers, an Arlington-based Major League Baseball franchise. In April 1989, Bush assembled a group of investors from his father's close friends, who bought 86% of the Rangers for $75 million. (Bush later appointed one of these partners, Tom Schieffer, to the post of Ambassador to Australia.) Critics expressed concern about the propriety of the purchase, charging use of political influence and favoritism involving a family friend. [9] Bush received a two percent share by investing $606,302, with $500,000 of it a loan from a bank. Bush paid off the loan by selling $848,000 worth of stock in Harken Energy Corp. in 1990, sparking allegations of insider trading.

In the book House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger on page 123, Harken Energy at the time of Bush's sale "was expected to run out of money in just three days". In a last-ditch attempt to save the company, Harken was advised by the endowment fund of Harvard University to spin-off two of its lower-performing divisions. "According to a Harken memo, if the plan did not go through, the company had 'no other source of immediate financing.'" Bush had already taken out a $500,000 loan and sought Harken's general counsel for advice. The reply was explicit: "The act of trading, particularly if close in time to the receipt of the inside information, is strong evidence that the insider's investment decision was based on the inside information... the insider should be advised not to sell". This memo was turned over by Bush's attorney the day after the SEC ruled that it would not charge Bush with insider trading. On June 22, Bush sold his 212,140 shares of stock anyway for a net profit of $848,560. The very next quarter, Harken announced losses of $23 million, which continued to the end of the year when the stock "plummeted from $4 to $1.25".

The subsequent SEC investigation ended in 1992 with a memo stating "it appears that Bush did not engage in illegal insider trading," but noted that the memo "must in no way be construed as indicating that the party has been exonerated or that no action may ultimately result". [10] Critics allege that this decision was strongly influenced by the makeup of the SEC at the time, which heavily favored Bush. The chairman at the time was Richard Breeden, a good friend of the Bush family's who had been nominated to the SEC by President George H. W. Bush and a lawyer in James Baker's firm, Baker Botts. The SEC's general counsel at the time was James Doty, who had represented George W. Bush when he sought to buy into the Texas Rangers (although Doty recused himself from the investigation.) Bush's own lawyer was Robert Jordan, who had been "partners with both Doty and Breeden at Baker Botts and who later became George W. Bush's ambassador to Saudi Arabia". Finally, Bruce Hiler, the associate director of the SEC's enforcement division, who wrote a letter to Bush's attorney saying the investigation was being terminated, now represents former Enron president Jeff Skilling in matters before the government. [11]

As President, Bush has refused to authorize the SEC to release its full report on the Harken investigation. When the Rangers franchise was sold for $250 million in 1998, at a total profit of $170 million, Bush personally received $14.9 million for his $600,000 investment. [12]

He served as managing general partner of the Rangers until he was elected Governor of Texas on November 8, 1994 over incumbent Democrat Ann Richards. He went on to become, in 1998, the first Texas governor to be elected for two consecutive four-year terms. His tenure in office featured a positive reputation for bipartisan leadership. Among issues attracting national and international attention during his terms was Texas' use of the death penalty. He signed the death warrants of 152 criminals, including that of Karla Faye Tucker. This is more than any previous Texas Governor. Critics charged that the death penalty was being badly administered and was too likely to result in execution of an innocent person, but Bush expressed his confidence all these defendants were guilty. [13] He granted only one stay of execution his entire term of office, to Henry Lee Lucas, the serial killer.

In 1996, Bush was summoned to jury duty in a Travis County, Texas drunk driving case. His counsel, Alberto R. Gonzales, successfully argued that, as governor, Bush might one day be called to pardon the defendant, and that this should excuse him from sitting on the jury. When Bush's 1976 drunk driving conviction was made public during the 2000 presidential campaign, Ken Oden, a Democrat, the prosecutor of the 1996 case, re-examined the case and revealed that Bush's juror questionnaire left blank the question whether he had ever been accused in a criminal case. The prosecutor said, "With all the new information that has come forward, it's logical to see that there may have been motives at work that none of us knew about." He concluded that Bush "used his position as governor" to avoid disclosing the information, because the conviction was neither included on the written form nor mentioned by Gonzales. The prosecutor added, "I feel I was directly deceived." A Bush campaign spokesman responded that the form had been "filled out by a staff member who left a variety of questions blank, including the Social Security number, because he didn't know the answers to them". [14]

Presidential campaigns

File:GoreBush.jpg
Al Gore greets President-Elect Bush at the White House in late December of 2000.
George W. Bush speaks at a campaign rally in 2004.

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 compete on an equal basis for participation in federally funded programs, reducing taxes, promoting the use of education vouchers, supporting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a balanced federal budget, and restructuring of the armed forces. In foreign policy, he stated that he was against using the U.S. armed forces in "nation building" attempts abroad.

Bush became President on January 20, 2001 as the winner of one of the closest general elections in U.S. history, and the first one to turn on a Supreme Court decision. Bush defeated Democratic Vice President Al Gore in 30 of 50 states for a narrow victory by five electoral votes (Bush-271, Gore-266). Gore won a plurality of the nationwide popular vote by approximately 540,000 votes out of 105 million, a margin of barely one-half of one percent. It was the first presidential election since the 1888 election in which a candidate lost the popular vote while winning the Electoral College vote.

The Florida vote, which favored Bush by a tiny margin in the initial count, was heavily contested after concerns were raised about flaws and irregularities in the voting process, and became the subject of a series of contentious court cases. After the Supreme Court's mid-December decision in Bush v. Gore to end the recounts, Gore conceded the election. In the final official count, Bush took Florida's 25 electoral votes, and thereby won the presidency, by 537 votes. See U.S. presidential election, 2000. The election results are still disputed by many, though no longer contested in any legal venue.

In the 2004 election, Bush won a second term with a margin of 3.5 million popular votes over John Kerry. Bush was the first presidential candidate since his father in 1988 to win a majority of the popular vote, but his margin over Kerry of about 3 percent was the smallest victory margin for a sitting President since Woodrow Wilson in 1916. As in the 2000 election, there were charges raised about inaccurate counting of votes and other irregularities, although in 2004 they did not lead to recounts that could affect the result. George W. Bush is now the only President to survive a bid for reelection after losing the popular vote in his first election. The other three, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison, were each defeated in their bid for a second term.

Related articles: 2004 U.S. Election controversies and irregularities and its subsidiary articles on 2004 election (voting machines), 2004 election (exit polls), and 2004 election (voter suppression)

Years as President

Presidency

Foreign policy and security

Main article: [[:Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration]]
George W. Bush flanked by wife Laura Bush, Marta Sahagún Fox, and Mexican President Vicente Fox.

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, which is aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions that may contribute to global warming. The treaty, however, had already been rejected by the United States Senate on the grounds that it would exempt polluting nations classified as "developing," such as China. In November 2004, Russia ratified the treaty, giving it the required minimum of nations to put it into force.

President Bush's imposition of a tariff on imported steel and on Canadian soft lumber was controversial in light of his pursuit of other free market policies, 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.

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.

Shortly after the attacks, a war was launched against Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, which harbored Osama bin Laden. This action had fairly strong international support, and the Taliban government folded quickly after the invasion. However, subsequent nation-building efforts in concert with the United Nations under Hamid Karzai have proved troublesome, and bin Laden was never apprehended nor believed to have been killed. A large contingent of troops and advisors remains through 2004. See U.S. invasion of Afghanistan for details. Democratic elections were held on October 9, 2004, although marred by flawed registration and validation and threatened withdrawal of 15 of 18 presidential candidates. International observers called the elections "fairly democratic" at the "overall majority" of polling centers. The election was won by Hamid Karzai with 55.4% of the votes. [15]

On December 14, 2001, Bush scrapped 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. Instead, Bush 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.

File:05-My-pet-goat.jpg
Bush reading The Pet Goat on the morning of September 11, 2001. He came under scrutiny in 2004 when it was revealed that he sat in the classroom for seven minutes after finding out that the nation was under attack.

Since 1998, when the United States Congress passed the Iraq Liberation Act, stated U.S. policy had been to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. After the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration argued that the Iraq situation had now become urgent. The premise was that Hussein's regime had tried to acquire nuclear material and had not accounted biological, and chemical material known to have existed in the past weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in violation of U.N. sanctions. Bush contended that Hussein might deliver such 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 he received with passage of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441, which allowed inspectors lead by Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei to investigate Bush's allegations. Increasing pressure from the United States in the spring of 2003 forced the UN weapons inspectors to leave the country, unable to verify the existence of any WMD in Iraq. The Bush administration examined the possibility of seeking a Security Council resolution to authorize the use of military force, but abandoned the idea when it became clear that the majority of the members (including most of the permanent members with vetoing power) would vote against such a resolution; the matter was never taken to a vote (cf. The UN Security Council and the Iraq war). The United States managed to gather a group of countries to support a war, a total of about forty. Bush has called it the "coalition of the willing" and, while most of the participating countries are small, there were some notable exceptions such as the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, and Poland. Spain has since pulled out of the war; Poland has announced that it will withdraw troops in 2005.

The United States invaded Iraq in March, citing the old resolution and the lack of Iraq cooperation. The original stated goal of the war was to stop Iraq from deploying and developing WMD and to remove Hussein from power. The war proved extremely divisive, without any clear resolution and some of the U.S.'s long-term allies such as France and Germany strongly opposed to it. In many countries there have also been civilian opposition and antiwar protests, on a scale not seen since the Vietnam War. The war was called illegal by the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan.

While the Iraqi armed forces fell apart within a few days the problems in Iraq have since escalated. The insurgency continued after the declared end of major combat operations on May 1, 2003. More than 1000 U.S. troops have been killed and over 9000 wounded in action. [16] The failure to uncover the alleged WMD led to renewed allegations that intelligence estimates were spun or distorted to support the war. These claims have been corroborated by investigations and reports by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Nevertheless, Bush states that he still believes it was the right decision, because a demonstrably brutal tyrant has been overthrown and can no longer threaten the world. See 2003 invasion of Iraq for full coverage.

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.

Bush's foreign policy is influenced by the neo-conservative think tank Project for the New American Century, many of whose members have prominent positions in the Bush administration. Many argue that the administration is far more inspired by the Heritage Foundation, and to a lesser degree the Cato Institute, although these organizations lack representation in the administration.

Domestic policy

Main article: [[:Domestic policy of the George W. Bush administration]]
George W. Bush raises his arm to greet an audience of firefighters on November 4, 2003, as California Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Gray Davis listen.

President Bush has endorsed an amendment to the United States Constitution that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, which would ban same-sex marriage, but leaves open the possibility of civil unions. Bush has tended to be opposed to forms of affirmative action, but expressed appreciation for the Supreme Court's ruling upholding selecting 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 President, though he did address the NAACP at their 2000 convention in Baltimore as a presidential candidate. Should President Bush not meet with the NAACP before he leaves office, he will become the first sitting President to have not met with the NAACP since Herbert Hoover.

During his first term, Bush sought and obtained Congressional approval for three major tax cuts. These temporary cuts, scheduled to expire a decade after passage, increased the standard income tax deduction for married couples, eliminated the estate tax, and reduced marginal tax rates. By 2004, these tax cuts reduced federal tax revenues, as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, to the lowest level since 1959. [17] The effect was to create record budget deficits. In the last year of the Clinton administration, the federal budget showed an annual surplus of more than $230 billion. [18] Under Bush, however, the government returned to deficit spending. The annual deficit reached a record level of $374 billion in 2003 ([19]) and then a further record of $413 billion in 2004 ([20]). 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". [21] The cuts were enacted as temporary ones, but Bush has expressed the hope that they will be made permanent.

Bush advocates the partial privatization of Social Security wherein an individual would be free to invest a portion of his Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts. This initiative has not yet been considered by Congress.

Bush signed the Medicare Act of 2003, which added prescription drug coverage to Medicare, subsidized large employers to discourage them from eliminating private prescription coverage to retired workers, and prohibited the Federal government from negotiating discounts with drug companies.

Of the US$2.4 trillion budgeted for 2005, about US$401 billion [22] are planned to be spent on defense. This level is generally comparable to the defense spending during the cold war. [23]

In January of 2003, Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act, 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 despite a 50% increase in federal education spending. Some state governments are refusing to implement provisions of the act as long as they are not adequately funded.[24]

Scientists have repeatedly criticized the Bush administration for reducing funding for scientific research, setting restrictions on federal funding of stem cell research, ignoring scientific consensus on global warming, and hampering cooperation with foreign scientists by enforcing deterring immigration and visa restrictions. 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 felt that "the Bush administration has ignored unbiased scientific advice in the policy-making that is so important for our collective welfare." [25] [26][27]

On January 14, 2004, Bush announced a "space vision", calling for a return to the Moon by 2020, the completion of the International Space Station by 2010 and eventually sending astronauts to Mars. However, the plan faces funding problems, and Bush has not mentioned the initiative since his speech, perhaps owing to its largely tepid reception. [28].

Bush's environmental record has been attacked by environmentalists, who charge that his policies cater to industry demands to weaken environmental protections. He did sign the Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002 authorizing the federal government to begin cleaning up pollution and contaminated sediment in the Great Lakes. He signed the Brownfields Legislation in 2002, accelerating the cleanup of abandoned industrial sites, or brownfields, to better protect public health, create jobs, and revitalize communities. In December 2003, President 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. Another subject of controversy is Bush's Clear Skies plan; opponents say that the initiative will in fact allow utilities to pollute more than they do currently. During his first presidential bid, Bush stated he supported the Kyoto protocol global warming treaty, but once in office he reversed that position, 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 environmental protections.

Cabinet

CABINET OFFICE NAME TERM
President George W. Bush 2001—
Vice President Dick Cheney 2001—
State Colin L. Powell 2001–2004
Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld 2001—
Treasury Paul H. O'Neill 2001–2003
John W. Snow 2003—
Justice John D. Ashcroft 2001–2004
Interior Gale A. Norton 2001—
Commerce Donald L. Evans 2001–2004
Labor Elaine L. Chao 2001—
Agriculture Ann M. Veneman 2001–2004
HHS Tommy Thompson 2001–2004
Education Rod Paige 2001–2004
HUD Mel Martinez 2001–2003
Alphonso R. Jackson 2004—
Transportation Norman Y. Mineta 2001—
Energy Spencer Abraham 2001–2004
Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi 2001—
Homeland Security Tom Ridge 2003–2004

Bush's cabinet included the largest number of minorities of any U.S. federal cabinet to date, including the first two Asian-American federal cabinet secretaries (Chao and Mineta). It is also, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the wealthiest cabinet ever.

Only one non-Republican was present in Bush's cabinet during his first term. 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 Republican 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 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who had served in the same position under Gerald Ford.

Within a few weeks after the 2004 election, several Cabinet members announced their resignations: Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, and Secretary of Health of Human Services Tommy Thompson. Bush has announced his nominations of Condoleezza Rice to replace Powell, Alberto R. Gonzales to replace Ashcroft, Margaret Spellings to replace Paige, Carlos Gutierrez to replace Evans, Mike Johanns to replace Veneman, and Bernard Kerik to replace Ridge, although Kerik has declined the position.

Other advisors and officials

Among the more criticized appointments have been John Negroponte, Elliott Abrams, Otto Reich, and John Poindexter for their roles in the Iran-Contra Affair and for allegedly covering up human rights abuses in Central and South America.

Some of Bush's other appointments have been noted as reflecting a preference for family members of favored officials. These include: Michael K. Powell (son of Secretary of State Powell) as FCC Chairman (although his initial appointment to the FCC came during the Clinton administration), 28-year-old J. Strom Thurmond Jr. (Senator Strom Thurmond's son) as South Carolina's U.S. Attorney, Eugene Scalia (Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's son) as Solicitor for the Labor Department, Janet Rehnquist (U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist's daughter) as Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (later fired for firearms charges and inappropriate job terminations), and Elizabeth Cheney (Vice President Cheney's daughter) to the newly created position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near-East Affairs.

Legislation

Partial list:

Public perception and assessments

Domestic

In the time of national crisis following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bush briefly enjoyed approval ratings of greater than 85 percent. Bush maintained these extraordinary ratings (the highest approval ratings of any president since such regular polls began in 1938) for some months following the attack, though they gradually dropped to lower levels.

During the 2002 midterm congressional elections, Bush had the highest approval rating of any president during a mid-term election since Dwight Eisenhower, and subsequently the Republican Party retook control of the Senate and added to their majority in the House of Representatives. These results marked an unusual deviation from the historic trend of the President's party losing congressional seats in the midterm elections, and was just the third time since the Civil War that the party in control of the White House gained seats in both houses of Congress in a midterm election (others were 1902 and 1934). One explanation for this historic event is that Bush's wartime popularity carried over to other Republicans in races for legislative office. Another is that the singularly close election of Bush in 2000 complicates expectations based on general historic trends.

In 2003, Bush's approval ratings continued their slow descent from the 2001 highs, with 13 major polls agreeing on a remarkably stable and consistent 1.7% per month decline for his entire presidency with the exceptions of only three significant increases: immediately after 9/11, during the Iraq War, and the capture of Saddam Hussein. By late 2003, his approval numbers were in the low to middle 50s. Nevertheless, his numbers were still solid for the third year of a Presidency, when the President's opponents typically begin their campaigns in earnest. Most polls tied the decline to growing concern over the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and the economy's slow recovery from the 2001 recession. Late during the Democratic primary, most major polls showed Bush losing to the various Democratic challengers by a narrow margin. Polls of May 2004 showed anywhere from a 53 percent approval rating [30] to a 46 percent approval rating. [31] Composite time-series graphs of Bush's approval ratings from January 2001 to May 2004 are available at [32] [33], an analysis of G. W. Bush's popularity over time is available at [34].

George W. Bush has been the subject of both high praise and stringent criticism, and has been called by some the "love him or hate him" president. The former have focused on matters such as the economy, homeland security, and especially his leadership after the September 11 attacks; the latter on matters such as the economy, the controversial 2000 election, and the occupation of Iraq.

Outside the United States

President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac during the G-8 sessions, July 21, 2001.

Bush's popularity outside the United States is generally lower. In many parts of the world he is very unpopular, with many reporting a dislike of his personality and foreign policy. The 2003 Invasion of Iraq particularly provoked charges of unilateralism. Recent polls indicate erosion of support among Europeans for Bush, for example a drop from 36% to 16% favorability over the last year in Germany.[35] A broader Associated Press/Ipsos survey of industrialized nations found that a majority of people in France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Spain—in addition to Canada and the UK, where Anglo-American cooperation traditionally reigns—have an unfavorable view of Bush and his policy on foreign affairs, although significant minorities continue to report favorable views. [36] In Muslim countries Bush's unfavorability ratings are particularly high, often over 90%. [37] Among the non-U.S. nations polled in a worldwide study, Bush's popularity was highest in Israel, where 62% reported favorable views. [38]

A July and August 2004 survey by the University of Maryland and GlobeScan, Inc. of 34,330 people in 35 nations found that, in 30 out of 35 countries polled, a majority or plurality would have preferred to see Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry win in the 2004 election. Kerry was strongly preferred by traditional European allies like Norway (74% for Kerry to 7% for Bush), Germany (74% to 10%), France (64% to 5%), the Netherlands (63% to 6%), Italy (58% to 14%), Spain (45% to 7%), and the United Kingdom (47% to 16%). Also other allies such as Japan (43% to 23%), Mexico (38% to 18%), Turkey (40% to 25%) and South Africa (43% to 29%). The only countries where President Bush was preferred by a majority were the Philippines, Nigeria, and Poland. India and Thailand were divided. [39] An October [40]poll by a range of major international newspapers show that in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Spain and South Korea a majority of voters share a rejection of the Iraq invasion, contempt for the Bush administration and a growing hostility to the U.S.; however, while they all oppose the Bush government's politics, they do not express a dislike of American people. Another poll found that Israel was the only country surveyed in which a majority favored President Bush over Senator Kerry.


Further reading

  • George W. Bush, A Charge to Keep, (1999) ISBN 0688174418
  • George W. Bush, We Will Prevail, (2003) ISBN 0826415520
  • Ronald Kessler, A Matter Of Character: Inside The White House Of George W. Bush, (2004) ISBN 1595230009
  • David Frum, The Right Man, (2003) ISBN 0375509038 ISBN 0812966953
  • Bob Woodward, Bush At War, (2002) ISBN 0743244613
  • Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack, (2004) ISBN 074325547X
  • Bill Sammon, Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism from Inside the Bush White House, (2002) ISBN 0895261499
  • Stephen Mansfield, The Faith of George W. Bush, (2003) ISBN 1585423092
  • M. Ivins and L. Dubose, Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush, (2000) ISBN 0375503994
  • H. Gillman, The Votes That Counted: How the Court Decided the 2000 Presidential Election, (2001) ISBN 0226294080
  • J. H. Hatfield, Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President, (1999) ISBN 1887128840
  • Ben Fritz, Bryan Keefer & Brendan Nyhan, All the President's Spin: George W. Bush, the Media, and the Truth, (2004) ISBN 0743262514
  • Craig Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties, (2004) ISBN 074325337X
  • Bill Sammon, Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, John Kerry, and the Bush Haters, (2004) ISBN 0060723831
  • Richard Miniter, Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush Is Winning the War on Terror (2004) ISBN 0895260522
  • Robert Bryce, Cronies: Oil, The Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate, (2004) ISBN 1586481886
  • Ian Williams, Deserter: George Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past, (2004) ISBN 1560256273
  • E. Mitchell, W: Revenge of the Bush Dynasty, (2000) ISBN 0786866306
  • B. Minutaglio, First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty, (1999) ISBN 0609808672
  • K. Auletta (January 19, 2004). Fortress Bush: How the White House Keeps the Press Under Control, The New Yorker, LXXIX, 53.

See also

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Preceded by President of the United States
2001— 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Governor of Texas
1995–2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Republican Presidential Nominee
2000 (won), 2004 (won) 		Succeeded by
 
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