George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who was the 43r

d President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and 46th Governor of Texas fr
om 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 Harva
rd Business School in 1975, he worked in oil businesses. He married Laura Welch
in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereaft
er. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richa
rds in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. He was elected president in 2000 a
fter a close and controversial election against Al Gore, becoming the fourth pre
sident to be elected while receiving fewer popular votes nationwide than an oppo
nent.[6] He is the second president to have been the son of a former president,
the first having been John Quincy Adams.[7] He is also the brother of Jeb Bush,
a former Governor of Florida and candidate for the Republican presidential nomin
ation in the 2016 presidential election.
Eight months into Bush's first term as president, the September 11 terrorist att
acks occurred. Bush responded with what became known as the Bush Doctrine: launc
hing a "War on Terror", an international military campaign which included the wa
r 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.[8] He signed into law broad tax cut
s, 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.
Bush successfully ran for re-election against Democratic Senator John Kerry in 2
004, in another relatively close election. After his re-election, Bush received
increasingly heated criticism from across the political spectrum[9][10][11] for
his handling of the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina,[12][13][14] and other challenge
s. Amid this criticism, the Democratic Party regained control of Congress in the
2006 elections. In December 2007, the United States entered its longest post-Wo
rld War II recession, often referred to as the "Great Recession", prompting the
Bush administration to obtain congressional passage of multiple economic program
s intended to preserve the country's financial system. Nationally, Bush was both
one of the most popular and unpopular presidents in history, having received th
e highest recorded presidential approval ratings in the wake of the September 11
attacks, as well as one of the lowest approval ratings during the 2008 financia
l crisis.[15] He was met with public protests during visits to the United Kingdo
m.[16]
Bush left office in 2009, returning to Texas where he purchased a home in suburb
an Dallas. He is currently a public speaker, and has written a memoir, Decision
Points.[17] His presidential library was opened in 2013. His presidency has been
ranked among the worst in surveys of presidential scholars published in the lat
e 2000s and 2010s
George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946, at Grace-New Haven Hospital (now Ya
le New Haven Hospital) in New Haven, Connecticut,[21] as the first child of George
Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce. He was raised in Midland and Houston, T
exas, with four siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Another younger sister,
Robin, died from leukemia at the age of three in 1953.[22] His grandfather, Pre
scott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut.[23] His father, George H.W. Bus
h, was Ronald Reagan's Vice President from 1981 to 1989 and the 41st U.S. Presid
ent from 1989 to 1993. Bush has English and some German ancestry, along with mor
e distant Dutch, Welsh, Irish, French, and Scottish roots.[24]
Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas, until the family moved to Housto
n after he had completed seventh grade. He then went to The Kinkaid School, a pr
ep school in Houston for two years.[25]

Bush attended high school at the Phillips Academy, a boarding school (then all-m
ale) in Andover, Massachusetts, where he played baseball, and during his senior
year, was the head cheerleader.[26][27] He attended Yale University from 1964 to
1968, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.[28] During this tim
e, he was a cheerleader and a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon, serving as the
president of the fraternity during his senior year.[29][30][31] Bush became a me
mber of the Skull and Bones society as a senior.[32] Bush was a rugby union play
er and was on Yale's 1st XV.[33] He characterized himself as an average student.
[34] His GPA during his first three years at Yale was 77, and he had a similar a
verage under a nonnumeric rating system in his final year.[35]
Beginning in the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where
he earned an M.B.A. degree. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.
A.[36]
Texas Air National Guard
Main article: George W. Bush military service controversy
See also: Killian documents controversy and Killian documents authenticity issue
s
Lt. George W. Bush while in the Texas Air National Guard
In May 1968, Bush was commissioned into the Texas Air National Guard.[37] After
two years of active-duty service while training,[38] he was assigned to Houston,
flying Convair F-102s with the 147th Reconnaissance Wing out of the Ellington F
ield Joint Reserve Base.[37][39] Critics, including former Democratic National C
ommittee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, have alleged that Bush was favorably treated
due to his father's political standing as a member of the House of Representativ
es, citing his selection as a pilot despite his low pilot aptitude test scores a
nd his irregular attendance.[37] In June 2005, the United States Department of D
efense released all the records of Bush's Texas Air National Guard service, whic
h remain in its official archives.[40]
In late 1972 and early 1973, he drilled with the 187th Fighter Wing of the Alaba
ma Air National Guard, having moved to Montgomery, Alabama, to work on the unsuc
cessful U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Winton M. Blount.[41][42] In 1972, Bu
sh was suspended from flying for failure to take a scheduled physical exam.[43]
He was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve on November 21, 1974.