George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. He served as the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2004 as President.

Bush worked in his family's oil businesses following college. In 1978, he made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before returning to politics in a campaign for Governor of Texas. He defeated Ann Richards and was elected as Governor in 1994, serving until his successful campaign for president.

Bush won the presidency in 2000 as the Republican candidate in a close and controversial contest. Although he lost the popular vote, the Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore gave Bush the required number of electoral votes with a 537-vote margin in the state of Florida. As President, Bush pushed through a $1.3 trillion tax cut program and the No Child Left Behind Act, and has also pushed for socially conservative efforts such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and faith-based welfare initiatives.

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Bush declared a global War on Terrorism and ordered an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, destroy Al-Qaeda and to capture Osama bin Laden in October 2001. In March 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq, asserting that Iraq was in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

Running as a self-described "war president" in the midst of the Iraq War, Bush won re-election in 2004. After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism, even from former allies. His domestic popularity decreased due to the war and other issues such as the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, record budget deficits, and scandals affecting the administration.

Bush was the first child of George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. Bush was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with his four siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died in 1953 at the age of three from leukemia. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut, and his father served as U.S. President from 1989 to 1993.

Bush attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Bush played baseball there, but "mostly made his mark as a cheerleader for the teams".[8] Following in his father's footsteps, Bush attended Yale University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1968. As a college senior, Bush became a member of the secretive Skull and Bones society. By his own characterization, Bush was an average student.

In May 1968, at the height of the ongoing Vietnam War, Bush was accepted into the Texas Air National Guard. After training, he was assigned to duty in Houston, flying Convair F-102s out of Ellington Air Force Base.[10] Critics have alleged that Bush was favorably treated during his time of service due to his father's political standing, and that he was irregular in attendance. Bush took a transfer to the Alabama Air National Guard in 1972 to work on a Republican senate campaign, and in 1974 he obtained permission to end his six-year service obligation six months early to attend Harvard Business School.

There are a number of accounts of substance abuse and otherwise disorderly conduct by Bush from this time. Bush has admitted to drinking "too much" in those years and described this period of his life as his "nomadic" period of "irresponsible youth". On September 4, 1976, at the age of 30, Bush was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He pleaded guilty, was fined $150, and had his driver's license suspended until 1978 in Maine.

After obtaining an MBA from Harvard University, Bush entered the oil industry in Texas. In 1977, he was introduced by friends to Laura Welch, a schoolteacher and librarian. They married and settled in Midland, Texas. Bush left his family's Episcopal Church to join his wife's United Methodist Church.

In 1978, Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 19th Congressional District of Texas. His opponent Kent Hance portrayed Bush as being out of touch with rural Texans; Bush lost by 6,000 votes. Bush returned to the oil industry, becoming a senior partner or chief executive officer of several ventures, such as Arbusto Energy, Spectrum 7, and, later, Harken Energy. These ventures suffered from the general decline of oil prices in the 1980s that had affected the industry and the regional economy. Additionally, questions of possible insider trading involving Harken have arisen, though the SEC's investigation of Bush concluded that he did not have enough insider information before his stock sale to warrant a case.

Bush moved with his family to Washington, D.C. in 1988, to work on his father's campaign for the U.S. presidency.

Returning to Texas, Bush purchased a share in the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in April 1989, where he served as managing general partner for five years. Bush presided over the trading away of Sammy Sosa, who would go on to be a popular and prodigious home run hitter for the Chicago Cubs. Bush actively led the team's projects and regularly attended its games, often choosing to sit in the open stands with fans. The sale of Bush's share in the Rangers brought him over $15 million from his initial $800,000 investment.

Bush is often referred to by the nickname "Dubya", playing on his Southern pronunciation of the letter W, his middle initial, and distinguishing him from his father George Bush. Upon his election to the Presidency, commentators often refer to him as "Bush 43" (the 43rd President of the United States) and his father as "Bush 41"

Bush declared his candidacy for the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election as his brother, Jeb, sought the governorship of Florida. Winning the Republican primary easily, Bush faced incumbent Governor Ann Richards, a popular Democrat who was considered the favorite.

Bush was aided by several political advisors, including Karen Hughes, John Allbaugh, and Karl Rove. The Bush campaign was criticized for allegedly using controversial methods to disparage Richards. Following an impressive performance in the debates, however, Bush's popularity grew. He won with 52 percent against Richards' 47 percent.

As governor, Bush successfully sponsored legislation for tort reform, increased education funding, set higher standards for schools, and reformed the criminal justice system. Under his leadership, Texas executed a record 152 prisoners. Bush used a budget surplus to push through a $2 billion tax-cut plan, the largest in Texas history, which cemented Bush's credentials as a pro-business fiscal conservative.

Bush also pioneered faith-based welfare programs by extending government funding and support for religious organizations providing social services such as education, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, and reduction of domestic violence. He proclaimed June 10 to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day where he "urged all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need."

In 1998, Bush won re-election in a landslide victory with nearly 69 percent of the vote. Within a year, he had decided to seek the Republican nomination for the presidency.

Bush's campaign was managed by Rove, Hughes and Albaugh, as well as by other political associates from Texas. He was endorsed by a majority of Republicans in 38 state legislatures. After winning the Iowa caucus, Bush lost to U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona in the New Hampshire primary. Bush then picked up eleven of the next sixteen primaries, effectively clinching the Republican nomination.

In the televised Republican presidential debate held in Des Moines, Iowa on December 13, 1999, all of the participating candidates were asked "What political philosopher or thinker do you most identify with and why?" Unlike most of the other candidates, who cited former Presidents and other political figures, Bush responded, "Christ, because he changed my heart". Bush's appeal to religious values seems to have aided him in the general election. In a Gallup poll those who said they "attend church weekly" gave him 56% of their vote in 2000 (and 63% of their vote in 2004). During the election cycle, Bush labeled himself a "compassionate conservative", and his political campaign promised to "restore honor and dignity to the White House".

Bush chose Dick Cheney, a former U.S. Representative and Secretary of Defense, as his Vice Presidential running mate. On election day, November 7, 2000, Bush won several key states, including Gore's home state of Tennessee. Based on exit polls, television networks initially called the state of Florida for Gore, then withdrew that projection and later called the state, along with the entire election, for Bush. Some time after some networks reported that Bush had won Florida, Gore conceded the election, and then rescinded that concession less than one hour later, when it was declared that the results were too close to call. The vote count, which favored Bush, was contested over allegations of irregularities in the voting and tabulation processes. Because of Florida state law, a state-wide machine recount was ordered. Eventually, four counties in Florida which had large numbers of presidential undervotes began a manual hand recount of ballots. On December 8, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that every county with a large number of undervotes would perform a hand recount. On December 9, in the Bush v. Gore case, the U.S. Supreme Court, with a 5-4 vote, reversed the Florida Supreme Court ruling and stopped the statewide hand recount. The machine recount showed that Bush had won the Florida vote by a margin of 537 votes out of 6 million cast, making it the 30th state he carried.

Bush received 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266 as a result of the Florida outcome. However, he lost the popular vote by more than half a million votes, making him the first President elected without at least a plurality of the popular vote since Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

Bush sworn into his second term on January 20, 2005 by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, watched on by First Lady Laura Bush and their daughters Barbara and Jenna Bush, as well as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.Main article: United States presidential election, 2004 Bush commanded broad support in the Republican Party and did not encounter a primary challenge. He appointed Kenneth Mehlman as campaign manager, with a political strategy devised by Rove. Bush outlined an agenda that included a strong commitment to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act, making earlier tax cuts permanent, cutting the budget deficit in half, promoting education, as well as reform in tort law, Social Security, and national taxes.

The Bush campaign advertised across the U.S. against Democratic candidates, including Bush's emerging opponent, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Kerry and other Democrats attacked Bush on the war in Iraq, perceived excesses of the USA PATRIOT Act and for allegedly failing to stimulate the economy and job growth.The Bush campaign portrayed Kerry as a staunch liberal who would raise taxes and increase the size of government. The Bush campaign continuously criticized Kerry's seemingly contradictory statements on the war in Iraq, and claimed Kerry lacked the decisiveness and vision necessary for success in the war on terrorism. Bush carried 31 of 50 states for a total of 286 Electoral College votes.