George Walker Bush is a renowned American politician and Republican Party member who held the position of the 43rd President of the United States of America, serving in office for two terms, from 2001-2009. Bush also served as the 46th Governor of Texas and became the only Governor from the state to hold office twice, from 1995-2000. Bush began his career joining his father’s oil business and established the Arbusto Energy company which he sold in 1986.
Bush began his political career, campaigning for his father’s Presidential campaign in 1988. He was elected United States’ President in 2000 and assumed office in January 2001. In his term as President, Bush introduced several acts and policies including the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’, ‘The Homeland Security Department’ and also waged, what came to be known as the ‘War on Terror’ on Iraq and Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in USA in 2001.
Early Life and Education
Bush was born on 6 July 1946 in New Haven Connecticut as the eldest of the five children born to former U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush. Bush was raised in the cities of Midland and Houston in Texas as a Christian, along with his four siblings, brothers Jeb, Neil and Marvin and sisters Dorothy and Robin who died of leukaemia, aged 3. Bush has English, German and distant Irish, Welch, Scottish and French ancestry.
Bush studied at Midland Texas’ public school and later went to The Kinkaid Prep School in Houston. He was a student of the Phillips Academy boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts from where he graduated and moved to Yale University to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history in 1968. In 1973, Bush started attending Harvard Business school from where he graduated with a Masters of Business Administration Degree in 1975. He is USA’s only President to hold an MBA degree.
George W Bush – Young Pictures
Career Rise
Bush moved to Washington D.C. in 1988 to campaign for his father’s presidency, which marked the beginning of his own political career. Bush defeated Democrat candidate and incumbent Governor, Ann Richards in 1994 and was elected as the Governor of Texas. In his capacity as Governor of Texas, Bush raised teachers’ salaries, implanted domestic violence reduction policies and allocated funds to organizations that worked towards educating people about drug use effects. Bush became the first ever Governor in the history of Texas to be re-elected for a second term in office in 1998. Under his administration, Texas became USA’s leader wind powered electricity producer.
In 2001, Bush was elected as the 43rd President of USA. He implemented the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ of 2001 which focused on educating all children alike. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington D.C., headed by Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Bush declared the War on Terror. To ensure that USA never witnesses another terrorist attack on its soil, Bush introduced the Patriot Act and created the Homeland Security Department. He ordered USA’s invasion of Iraq in March 2003 which led to Saddam Hussein’s deposition in 2005. Bush was elected US President for a second term in 2004, defeating Democrat John Kerry. During his second term, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina resulted in the loss of 1800 lives with property damage amounting in billions, for which Bush received severe criticism. The stock market crisis and economic recession of 2008 made his situation worse. The Republican Party lost to election to Democrat Barack Obama in 2008. Bush left office and settled in Dallas, Texas in 2009.
George W Bush – Paintings
Post serving his term as US President, Bush began to cultivate the hobby of painting, after getting inspired by ‘Painting as a Pastime’ an essay by Winston Churchill. He went on to paint pictures of still life, people, dogs and other things that convey peace of mind. He has also painted pictures of world leaders. He released a book called ‘Portraits of Courage’ a book of potraits of world leaders. The proceeds from the sale of book went to The George W Bush Presidential Center.
Personal Life
Bush met school teacher and librarian Laura Welch in 1977 and proposed marriage to her after just three months of courtship. The couple married in November 1977 and became parents to fraternal twin girls Barbara and Jenna Bush in 1981. The resided in Midland, Texas after marriage.
Before his marriage to Welch, Bush battled alcohol addiction and claimed that his wife played a pivotal role in helping him battle the addiction.
George W. Bush. – Net Worth
Bush has an estimated net worth of approximately $20 Million.