George+Bush

=George W. Bush=

toc (Kate's) George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut to 41st president George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush. Before becoming president, he was the governor of Texas for 6 years. His opponent in his first presidential race was Al Gore, and his second democratic opponent was John Kerry. He won both of the times he ran as the republican candidate and is the 43rd president of the United States (2001-2009). George Bush preceded the current president, Barack Obama.

George W. Bush's parents are George H.W. Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush and he has 5 brothers and sisters, one of which dies of leukemia in 1953. George was born on July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut but grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He went to his father's boarding school and graduated from Yale. George, like his dad, was a member of the secret club of Yale's Skull and Bones Society. Right before he graduated from Yale Bush applied as a pilot trainee in the Texas Air National Guard. He became a certified fighter pilot and applied to the University of Texas Law school, but he was rejected. George never flew again since 1972 because he didn't take an annual physical exam. George W. Bush took an early discharge to go to Harvard business school in 1973.

In 1994, George W. Bush ran against the democrat Ann Richards for the position of Governer of Texas. It was a close race, but Bush won 53% to 46%. He then became the first son of a U.S. president to become a state governor. Bush increased state spending on schools for younger children and increased the pay for teachers based on the test scores from the school. He toughened the juvenile system as promised in his campaigning. During his first term as governor, he worked on laws related to young people and punitive laws. Bush was reelected in 1998 and became the first Texas governor to win back to back four year terms. During his second term as the Texas Governor, he announced his run for presidency on June 12, 1999. He ran against the democrat Al Gore. There was much controversy with the vote count of Florida, but after that was settled, Bush won an extremely close race of 271 to 266. Bush won by one vote after the dispute about the count of Florida's votes.

Benefits During his Presidency
Most of the good things that came of George Bush's presidency happened during his first term as president. He lowered the unemployment rate for a while. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.4%- 4.5% during the earlier times of his service. As much debated, the stock market hit record highs and the economy benefitted from this. George Bush captured and imprisoned Saddam Hussein, the 5th president of Iraq. This was seen as a good thing to many, because of his acts of genocide.

Drawbacks of his Presidency
George W. Bush might have started out his presidency well, but near the time he was reelected in 2004, his approval ratings went down. The economy was very good when he started out, but as he got further into his term, it went down and stayed down. Because of the bad economy during his time, he has left the current President with a very large mess, including a recession. Bush gave many tax cuts, however, they were to the wealthy Americans. A big issue that people found with George W. Bush as president, was the war in Iraq. It is said that he did not think of the long term outcome, and that we did not have the right to invade. The war was being fought for the majority of the time that he was in office. Although his actions made in the beginning of his service were considered good, his reputation and approval as a president went down in the middle and the end of his career. With his many errors in his speeches and rallies, a common term began to evolve. The word 'Bushism' means a linguistic gaffe of President George W. Bush. Some popular Bushisms are, "There's an old saying in Tennessee, I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee, that says, fool me once, shame on, shame on you. Fool me, you can't get fooled again." Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002. Another Bushism is, "They misunderestimated me." Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000. Bush left office as one of the most unpopular presidents in history. Bush's final approval rating was 22 percent, making him the lowest approved president in 70 years. Seventy-three percent of the people say they disapprove of the way President Bush handled his job as president for his eight years in office.

Conclusion of His Presidency and His Life After His Presidency
In conclusion, George W. Bush's service as president is not perceived as beneficial. He was harshly criticized because of his actions as president. Now that the current president, Barack Obama, has taken his place, he plans to continue many of his public acts. He plans on giving speeches and is currently writing a book called //Decision Points,// which is about 12 hard personal and political decisions he had to make while he was president. He and his wife returned to their ranch in Crawford, Texas and bought a home in a small neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. All in all, he is not remembered as a good president. Often times, he is compared to Richard Nixon, another controversial president. One thing George plans to do now that he is not president, is to not criticize Barack Obama.