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 a mighty gay bum who not only rapes 5 years old black boys in speedoes but also local farm animals.
In the 2004 election, Bush won a second term against challenger John Kerry, with a popular-vote margin of three percent. (See George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004.) Bush's second term is scheduled to end on 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.
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]
Bush has addressed the issue of his alleged cocaine abuse on several occasions. The 2000 campaign initially refused to answer on principle, but later Bush told the press that, as a condition of Federal employment, he had signed a form averring he had not taken drugs in the previous seven years. When asked if he could have signed it when his father was president, he paused to think, and then answered that he could have. But Bush refused to answer if he had ever taken cocaine.
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.
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. [5] 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". [6] 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. [7]
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. [8]
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. Bush has stated that he is confident all these people were guilty [9], which some find statistically interesting. He only granted 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". [10]
Presidential campaigns
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, which favored Bush, 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
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. [11]
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.
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 WMD (weapons of mass destruction). The Bush administration examined the possibility of a new resolution from the Security Council, but 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. They have been called "coalition of the willing" and while most of them 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 topple the dictator Saddam Hussein. 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 difficulties in the occupation and implementation of a democracy, the failure to find Saddam's alleged weapons, and claims about information having been allegedly spun or distorted to support the war have all been used to challenge the Bush administration both domestically and from abroad. 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
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. Although President Bush did meet with the National Urban League, he is the first sitting President not to meet with the NAACP since Herbert Hoover.
Bush implemented three tax cuts during his first term in office that eliminated the "marriage penalty" and the "death tax" and reduced marginal tax rates. These cuts were enacted by Congress with large bipartisan majorities, but were later criticized as regressive give-aways. By 2004, these tax cuts reduced federal tax revenues, as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, to the lowest level since 1959. [12] 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. [13] Under Bush, however, the government returned to deficit spending. The annual deficit reached a record level of $374 billion in 2003 ([14]) and then a further record of $413 billion in 2004 ([15]). 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". [16]
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 [17] are planned to be spent on defense. This level is generally comparable to the defense spending during the cold war. [18]
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.[19]
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." [20] [21][22]
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. [23].
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 [[global warm