George W. Bush

George W. Bush was born in Connecticut in 1946 and raised in Texas, the son of future president George H. W. Bush. After business ventures and co-ownership of the Texas Rangers baseball team, he served as governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. He won the presidency in the disputed 2000 election, decided by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore after the Florida recount battle.

Bush’s early domestic agenda included tax cuts and the No Child Left Behind Act, a major federal education law emphasizing testing and accountability. His presidency changed fundamentally on September 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda attacked New York and Washington. Bush launched the War on Terror, invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime that had harbored al-Qaeda, and signed the Patriot Act.

In 2003, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, arguing that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and posed a threat. No active WMD stockpiles were found, and the war became the central controversy of his presidency. The occupation of Iraq proved far more complex and prolonged than anticipated, requiring sustained American commitment and adaptation over many years.

Bush won reelection in 2004 and pursued a second-term agenda that included Social Security reform, which failed, and continued war management. His administration also created Medicare Part D and launched PEPFAR, a major global AIDS initiative. His final year was dominated by the 2008 financial crisis, which prompted emergency federal intervention. He left office in January 2009, having kept the country safe from additional terrorist attacks for over seven years after September 11.