George W. Bush brief biography. The Bushes clan: history and reasons for success
George Walker Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. Bush's name is well known in the ranks of America's top leadership: George W. Bush is the eldest son of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States. Previously, father and son were elected presidents only once, at an early stage in the country's history, when in 1825 John Quincy Adams, son of the second President John Adams, became the sixth president of the United States. The newly elected President Bush joins the ranks of state governors who have risen to the highest office in the country in recent years.
During the election campaign, Bush's program was addressed to a wide range American voters to conservative and moderate forces in both major political parties, Hispanics and African Americans. One of the leitmotifs of his campaign was the idea of unification. "Our country must be prosperous," Bush said. "But prosperity must have a goal - to make American dream touched every heart that was ready for it. The goal of prosperity is to leave no one aside ... leave no one behind "The Bush II Administration // Bushology Interactive.-http: //www.moldea.com.
The president called this philosophy "compassionate conservatism." “I am convinced that conservative philosophy is a philosophy of compassion that frees the individual to maximize his potential,” he told voters. “Conservatism is to cut taxes, compassion is to give people more money to spend. Conservatism is to insist on local control over schools, high standards and educational outcomes compassion - to ensure that every child learns to read and no one is left behind Conservatism - to reform the welfare system, insisting on the need to work; compassion - to free people from dependence on government "Ibid.
Bush believes that this conservative note is not muted or blurred. She is clear and convincing. It does not imply good intentions, but nice results... Compassionate conservatism applies conservative free market principles to the real challenge of helping all people, including the poor and the poor. His vision of compassionate conservatism also requires America to assert its leadership in the world. “We are the only remaining superpower in the world, and we must use our power with firmness to help spread freedom.” Ibid .. “One of the secrets to George W. Bush’s success in reaching out to virtually everyone,” columnist E J. Dionne, Jr., “is that he owns the oldest political art: he just knows how to please people, all kinds of people” Dionne J. The new President.- The Washington Post.-20.01.01.
President Bush's ancestors were also politicians. George W. Bush's paternal grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1952 to 1963. His father began his career as an elected politician in 1966 when voters in Houston, Texas, commissioned him to represent them in the US House of Representatives. George W. Bush served as Vice President under President Reagan from 1981 to 1989 and President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. The president's younger brother, John Bush, is currently the Governor of Florida. "My grandfather Prescott Bush believed that the most enduring and important moment in any person's life comes when he hears the call of public service and responds to it," writes George W. Bush in his autobiographical book, The Burden That Is Always With You (" A Charge to Keep "). - Money and material goods are not, in the end, the measure of life, - he believes, - and if you have them, then the price of their possession should be the service of society" Bush G. A Charge to Keep.- Oxford University Press.-NY-2000.-p. 27.
George W. Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, where his father was a student at Yale University. Two years later, after graduating from Yale University, Bush Sr. went into the oil business in West Texas. George W. Bush spent most of his childhood in Midland, Texas, which he still considers his homeland. “Midland is a small town with a corresponding way of life,” he writes in his book “The Burden That Is Always With You.” “We were taught to respect our elders, to do what they say. We attended church. great importance both the lessons that were given to us at home and the lessons at school. The city fathers tried very hard to attract the best teachers to our schools. The doors in the houses were never locked, because everyone trusted their friends and neighbors. I had a happy childhood "Bush G. A Charge to Keep.-.-Oxford University Press.-N.Y.-2000.-p. 54.
In December 1949, George had a sister, Robin; the third child in the Bush family. Just 3 years later, Robin was diagnosed with leukemia as a result of a medical examination. In October 1953, Robin died at the age of three. The death of his sister had a devastating effect on George. “I felt grief and shock, - he writes in his book. - I knew that Robin was ill, but I could not even imagine that she would die. A few moments ago I had a sister and suddenly she was gone. After forty six years, these moments are still the clearest memory of my childhood - acute pain against the background of a generally quite happy time "Ibid.-p.-55.
There, in West Texas, the Bushes subsequently had three more children: Neil in 1955, Marvin in 1956, and Dorothy in 1959. Soon after Dorothy was born, her father moved the entire family to Houston, a city located in the southeastern part of the state, where he became the head of an offshore oil company, which he helped to create.
In the fall of 1961, George W. Bush's parents sent him to the Filips Academy boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts, one of the most prestigious private schools, which, by the way, his father graduated from. George was then 15 years old, he had never before lived separately from his family, and for him the wide expanses of the Southwest were more familiar to him than the wooded hills of the Northeast. “Being in Andover taught me how to think,” says Bush. “I learned to read and write in ways I had never been able to do before. And there I discovered an interest in a subject that has accompanied me throughout my adult life. This interest originated in me thanks to history teacher Tom Lyons. He was passionate about the subject and was able to convey love and interest in it to his students. He taught me to understand that history gives us a living connection with the past and its lessons, and these lessons can often be useful in predicting the future "Bush G. A Charge to Keep. - Oxford University Press.-NY-2000.-p.68.
After graduating from high school in Andover in 1964, Bush entered Yale University in Connecticut, where he devoted himself to his traditional activities. He was elected president of the student fraternity and continued to play sports at the same time. His favorite game was still baseball, and in his own words, “my ability never matched my passion for playing; playing on the Yale freshman team, I was a pretty mediocre pitcher. In my freshman year, I started playing rugby and, becoming a senior student, he was included in the university team "Ibid.-p.70.
George graduated from Yale University in May 1968 with a degree in history. Two weeks before graduation, he visited Ellington Air Force Base near Houston at the headquarters of the Texas Air Force National Guard and applied for admission to pilot courses. George was promoted to lieutenant and spent two years on active duty as an F-102 fighter-interceptor pilot. For more than four years thereafter, he flew occasional missions to help the State Air Force National Guard maintain round-the-clock combat duty of the two F-102 fighter-interceptors at its disposal.
During this period of his biography, George worked for one of his father's former partners, who left the oil business and established an agricultural company in Houston, which did everything from raising cattle and chickens to growing tropical plants. George's job was to travel around the United States and Central America and select nurseries for his company. In the spring of 1972, he left this job and went to Alabama to participate in the campaign for the elections to the US Senate Republican Winton Blount, which, however, ended in failure.
Upon returning to Houston, he became an advisor to the Professional United Leadership League program for African-American youth. As part of this program, volunteers from the sports, entertainment and business worlds carried out a variety of work with young people. George himself trained young African Americans in basketball and wrestling. Working in this program, writes Bush in his book, gave him “the opportunity to see the side of life that I was not familiar with. It was a tragic experience. I saw how many people live in poverty. I saw vices: drug addiction, drunkenness "Ibid.-p.73. In the fall of 1973, Bush entered Harvard Business School, Cambridge. "Harvard was a major turning point in his life," his mother, Barbara Bush, told the Washington Post. . The new President. - The Washington Post. -20.01.01.
After completing his Master's Degree in Private Company Management in 1975, George decided to move back to Midland and try his hand at the oil business. He started out as a small entrepreneur who studies the rights of owners to subsoil, and then negotiates the lease of promising oil-bearing areas. He soon began selling mineral rights and rent shares, and investing in oil development projects. In the summer of 1977 in Midland, George met Laura Welch. She was born in Midland and held a BA in Education from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and an MA in Librarianship from the University of Texas at Austin. At the time of meeting George, she worked as a librarian in primary school in Austin. "Laura has a calm personality, - says George. - And energy boils in me. She is a balanced person, and I am a restless person. She is patient, but I am not" Bush G. A Charge to Keep.-Oxford University Press ..- NY-2000.-p77 .. Two months after they met, they got married. George had already decided to run for Congress for a seat in the House of Representatives, so after the wedding, they began to campaign, during which they traveled all over the territory of the huge constituency that constitutes West Texas. Bush managed to become the Republican candidate, but he lost the election. “Defeat humbles,” Bush writes in his book. “You work, dream, hope that people will understand you - and suddenly everything comes to an end and it turns out that people did not understand you. It is difficult not to attribute the political defeat to your own account; after all, it was your name that was put on the ballot papers. Nevertheless, you must overcome the disappointment, accept the verdict and keep going "Ibid.-p.79. Continuing his business meant for Bush a return to the oil business in Midland. He created a company called Arbusto (this is how Bush translates into Spanish) Energy, which was later renamed Bush Exploration, but things were not going well for her. In the early 1980s, oil prices began to fall, and it was difficult for the young company to work in such conditions. In 1984, Bush decided to merge his company with another small mineral exploration firm and became president of a new company called Spectrum 7. The sharp decline in oil prices continued, and Spectrum experienced very serious financial difficulties. In 1986, the larger Harken Energy Corporation bought the Bush company. George worked as a consultant at Harken for some time, but later helped his father in his presidential campaign as an advisor and speechwriter. After his father became president of the country in 1988, George moved to Dallas with the intention of starting his own business there. Meanwhile, news that the Texas Rangers professional baseball team, playing in the Dallas suburbs, was up for sale changed his plans. He brought together a group of wealthy investors who bought the team for $ 75 million. Bush himself bought a small stake in the business. He and another investor named Edward "Rusty" Rose were tasked with organizing the day-to-day life of the team. “Rusty didn’t like making speeches or talking to reporters,” Bush writes in his book, “so I became the face and mouthpiece of the Texas Rangers. I worked a lot on box office issues. I researched the Ranger market, which occupied a large part of Texas. , contacted civic groups and chambers of commerce. I have done thousands of interviews promoting baseball as a family sport and great fun "Bush G. A Charge to Keep.- Oxford University Press.-NY-2000.-p.79. In the process, Bush became a very prominent and independent figure in Texas, emerging from the shadow of his famous father.
(1968), Bush Jr. did not excel academically, but enjoyed a reputation as a good comrade. From 1968-1973 he served as a pilot in the Texas National Guard. After demobilization, Bush earned an MBA from Harvard (1975), worked in the oil and energy business, and was co-owner and manager of the Texas Rangers baseball team. In 1977, he tried to become a US Congressman, in the same year he married his same age as Laura Welch, a teacher by education. In 1981, the Bush couple had twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara.
As an adviser, George participated in his father's presidential campaign (1988), and in 1994 was elected governor of Texas (1995-2000), in this post he gained a reputation as an effective manager who knows how to cooperate with the opposition, advocated an active role of the church of different denominations in social work. In 1998, he was re-elected for a second term with a record high number of votes. During Bush's tenure as governor, taxes totaling $ 3 billion were cut, local school reforms were carried out to raise educational standards, laws were passed to prohibit parole for adult offenders, and to lower the age limit for prosecuting juvenile offenders. During these years, Bush developed his political program of "compassionate conservatism" (that is, not a complete rejection of social programs).
In 2000, Bush Jr. became the Republican presidential candidate (Vice President D. Cheney). Conservative voters became its mainstay. The main contender in the elections was the Democrat Al Gore, then vice-president. The 2000 election campaign was unique in American history. Participants in the presidential race received almost equal support from voters. The election results in Florida, governed by George W. Bush's brother Jeb, were decisive. Automated vote counting gave Bush an advantage, but the gap between the candidates was negligible, which gave grounds to speak of the possibility of a technical error. The Florida District Court ruled to recount the votes manually, as the gap in the number of votes received by candidates was less than 1%. The five-week legal litigation process culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which decided to complete a manual recount in Florida. Thus, Bush was declared the winner of the elections in Florida. And although Gore won half a million more votes nationwide, Bush became President of the United States, thanks to a two-stage electoral system (Bush had 271 electoral votes against Gore's 266).
In his inaugural speech, Bush promised to reform the social and health insurance system and reduce the tax burden. The cabinet of ministers was formed from a variety of politicians, from liberals to tough conservatives. The cabinet included prominent representatives of the Republican administrations of R. Reagan and D. Bush Sr.: K. Powell (Secretary of State 2001-2005), K. Rice (Advisor on national security, since 2005 Secretary of State), D. Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense). Despite signs of a downturn in the American economy, Bush pursued a policy of lowering taxes, increasing spending on education and defense. In June 2001, a decision was made to cut taxes by $ 1.35 billion. In foreign policy, Bush continued the course of previous administrations to ensure the leading role of the United States in the world. The Americans refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of industrial emissions, in December 2001 they withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.
The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, became an ordeal for the president and the entire country. As a result of these events, about four thousand people died. The priorities of the American president have shifted towards ensuring security within the United States and the fight against international terrorism. Bush called on the international community to help America fight terrorism. He blamed the terrorist acts on the underground Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, who was hiding in Afghanistan. The United States demanded that the Taliban, the ruling Islamic movement in Afghanistan, extradite the criminal, but was refused. As a result of active diplomatic efforts, the United States managed to create an anti-terrorist coalition, the Americans provided massive assistance to the enemies of the Taliban inside Afghanistan. Since October 2001, US troops have taken a direct part in the hostilities in Afghanistan and in December the Taliban government was overthrown.
In late 2002, Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government of working on weapons of mass destruction. It was not possible to convince France, Germany, Russia, the UN Security Council of this. However, Bush, under the banner of the fight against terrorism, managed to put together an anti-Iraqi coalition and in March-April 2003 carried out an invasion of Iraq, as a result of which Hussein's regime was overthrown, and the dictator himself went underground. Iraq, occupied by coalition forces, has entered a long period of instability. Terrorist attacks, hostage-taking, armed attacks on coalition troops (mostly Americans) have triggered an anti-war wave both inside the United States and abroad. The capture of Saddam Hussein in the spring of 2004 also did not bring peace.
In the 2004 presidential election, Bush's rival was Democratic Senator J. Kerry. Among the intellectual elite of America, Bush was not quoted highly, his public speeches were often ridiculed. But the bulk of ordinary Americans gave their sympathy to Bush. The incumbent won the election by a narrow margin, with more than 51% of the vote, despite the fact that the northeastern states, as well as California, voted for his rival.
In November 2006, Republicans were defeated in the congressional elections and Democrats took control of both houses of parliament. Observers declared a failure of George W. Bush's policy in Iraq. Defense Secretary D. Rumsfeld was "appointed" responsible for the failure and was dismissed. Last years George W. Bush's tenure as president was marked by an unprecedentedly low level of support from the population, which was due to failures in foreign policy and economic difficulties that escalated into a full-scale crisis.
With such a good start, George W. Bush had much to hope for in the future. And so, in 2001, he becomes the 43rd President of America.
The Republican team knocked their main trump card out of the hands of their rivals - the country's economic prosperity. Bush's counter-arguments are pretty compelling. First, he explained that the new economy was created not by the government, but by entrepreneurs. Second, he put forward the idea of defining a goal for America's prosperity.
Republican campaign priorities were tax cuts, reform of education, welfare and the government's Medicare program, and strengthening of the US military.
Bush believed that a quarter of the federal government's "surplus" must be returned to the people, or the money would be spent by the bureaucrats in Washington. A $ 1.2 trillion tax cut was projected.
According to forecasts of those years, the fiscal surplus of the US federal government reached almost $ 5 trillion. The new president put forward a balanced economic program, which aimed to use half of this money for social security needs (opening personal retirement accounts, etc.), a quarter for tax cuts to stimulate production, and the remainder for educational reform, the Medicare system. and other socially important tasks. As a result of the reform, the rich had to pay less federal tax and the 6 million poor will not pay a cent. 43rd President of the United States is a staunch supporter of policies based on the principles of "limited government, personal responsibility, strong families and local control." During the election campaign, he said that the federal government should not interfere in the market, but it can create conditions for the prosperity of entrepreneurs who "foster innovation, offset risk, and equal opportunities."
George W. Bush emphasized the rejection of "old methods of government" and the fact that "the success of each initiative will depend on reforms in the government itself."
The new president gives the government a new role - to appeal to beneficent organizations, public groups that help those who need support. Financial resources, in accordance with its program, the federal government can provide not to the administrative structures of the states, but different groups, including religious, based on competition, depending on the results of charity. "As President, George W. Bush will focus his efforts and the nation's efforts on mobilizing the armies of mercy," his biography, posted on the website, emphasized. This is entirely consistent with his image of a "sympathetic conservative".
Bush also made efforts to push popular Republican measures such as the Partially Born Abortion Act, proposed the Federal Marriage Amendment, which defines marriage as a one-man-to-one-woman relationship and prevents same-sex marriage from being recognized in the United States.
On March 16, 2006, already during his second presidential term, George W. Bush made public the next US National Security Strategy (the previous one was published in 2002). It consolidated and developed the principles of foreign and domestic policy of the state, the essence of which was to combine the problem of spreading the ideals of freedom, human rights and democracy with the problem of protecting American interests abroad, neutralizing the mobilization basis of anti-American regimes, eliminating the terrorist threat, and ensuring the national security of the United States. So, the question was again raised about the relationship between international security and the content of US foreign and domestic policy in relations with countries that do not share Euro-Atlantic values in the form it proposes, or even simply those that belong to a different cultural and civilizational world.
Meanwhile, for the Republican administration of George W. Bush, the rhetoric regarding human rights and the values of democracy was a constant propaganda cover for solving the main task - ensuring national security through the preventive use of force and reformatting the entire international system security.
Accordingly, the main stake at that time was not on diplomatic methods of achieving foreign policy goals and ensuring their own national interests within the boundaries of the existing international security structures (including NATO), but on the open use of their economic and military-technological advantage through unilateral actions.
The conclusion made by the George W. Bush administration after the events of September 11, 2001, is that totalitarian political regimes, by definition, regardless of religious orientation and current intentions, pose a potential threat to the United States and democracies of the world due to fundamental differences basic values of totalitarianism and democracy.
According to the US political leadership, such differences further complicate the aggressive nature of totalitarian regimes. So, although international terrorism in itself is a non-traditional challenge to national and international security, the ultimate goal of the United States in the fight against it remains traditional - "the triumph of the American-centric world order, as well as American (more precisely, Euro-Atlantic, but in the American version) values such as human rights, rule of law, ... an open and free economy, religious tolerance. "
Thus, the Bush administration considered the problem of human rights and the democratization of political regimes in the context of a fundamental change in the mechanisms for ensuring the security of the United States and its allies in the context of the intensification of the international terrorist network and the emergence of new types of risks for the global security system. The task of promoting democracy in the regions most important for US interests (the Near and Middle East, Transcaucasia, Central Asia) was not an end in itself for the US Republican administration, as before (especially under the democratic administrations of J. Carter - 1977-1981 and B. Clinton - 1993-2000), but a tool for ensuring its national security. george bush governor president
If during the Cold War and up to September 11 the tasks of promoting the values of democracy in the world and ensuring national security were considered by the American administrations somehow in isolation, then after those events they are perceived by the US leadership in interconnection. This approach significantly strengthened the position of the United States, which declares its right to interfere in certain situations in the internal affairs of other states.
This understanding of the tasks of ensuring national and international security determines the position of the United States, according to which human rights and the values of democracy are not the exclusive prerogative of sovereign states and their national governments.
Revealing the economic role of the US image of that time, we can say that it was based on the redistribution of material, financial and other resources of the country, while introducing measures to strengthen the international economic position of the United States and to expand the expansion of American monopolies. The aggravation of disagreements in the country's economy contributed to the strengthening of the economic role of the state, which was expressed in further development systems of state monopoly regulation of the economy.
As you know, the US credit system is a combination of public and private credit institutions, and its main state-monopoly component is the Federal Reserve System, which performs the functions of the US central bank.
The ratio of areas in the US economy reflects the social division of labor and the proportion of social reproduction. These proportions largely determine the level of efficiency of the entire US economy.
At the beginning of the Bush Jr. administration, intangible production occupied an insignificant place in the US economy, but at this time it has become the most dynamically developing sector of the economy. The rapid growth of the sphere of non-material production and services in the United States in those years was noted in the areas of spiritual production (science and education), as well as in the restoration of the physical and creative abilities of a person. Among these areas, those that are associated with the provision of recreation for the population stand out in particular.
The restructuring of industrial production undertaken in those years was based on the rapid and interconnected growth of three key areas of modern industry: mechanical engineering, power generation and the chemical industry. They account for 55-60 percent of all investments in industry.
The second important information component of the US image in those years was, as we have already said, an attempt to regulate foreign economic activity.
George W. Bush had to make difficult decisions during 8 years of his presidency. In 2001 and 2002, after 9/11, he declared war on terror, toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and adopted the doctrine of preventive foreign policy intervention. And in 2003, he went even further, organizing the invasion of Iraq - these steps, which basically led to the fact that the once most popular politician went into oblivion, are known to everyone.
However, few people pay attention to the fact that in the sphere of domestic politics, George W. Bush also did not hesitate to make difficult and sometimes tough decisions.
In 2003, he passed a tax cut program through Congress, despite the fact that this caused a sharp increase in the budget deficit. The president's main argument was that the economy needed a stimulus. Indeed, the recession has been overcome, but many economists have argued that the American poor have paid the price.
The Economist wrote at the time that Bush "is obsessed with making history as a reformist president: not just as a custodian of the status quo, like Bill Clinton, but as someone who can change the course of history."
Former adviser to two US presidents, Henry Kissinger, confirmed: "This is not about the election campaign, but about how he (Bush Jr.) will enter the history books."
What contributed to the emergence of such thoughts?
Undoubtedly, George W. Bush was a real leader. Analyzing the qualities necessary for this, the ability to win over adherents, both at home and abroad, George W. Bush himself in his article "Leadership in Transformation and the National Strategy of the United States" comes to the conclusion that such features are:
First, the political vision - the ability to draw an inspiring picture of the future ... An effective vision is formed in an accurate diagnosis of the situation in the world, establishing a balance between reality and risk, between ideals and opportunities;
Second, it is emotional intelligence, self-knowledge, and self-discipline that allows leaders to tap into personal opportunities. For the sake of making a positive impression, you need some of the talents that are inherent in good actors;
Three more qualities are closely related to the leader's use of hard power. Organizational gift - the ability of the president to lead government structures, including advisers, in order to ensure the flow of reliable information about the factors and results inherent decisions taken... Without good organizational skills, presidents can easily fall into the trap of kings if they are told only about how beautiful their new dress is.
The obvious need for political professionalism is the art of finding means in accordance with the intended purpose, either through admonitions, or resorting to bribery or threats. The president cannot act only in the interests of a narrow circle of his adherents; he needs to build on success in order to accumulate political capital and expand the circle of followers ...
Finally, success in foreign policy requires what business leadership theorists call “contextual intelligence,” the ability to grasp the peripeteia of a volatile environment and align available resources with set goals, moving with the flow of events rather than against it. Contextual intelligence allows a leader to act on inspiration, which is based on the "well-informed" intuition, which, according to Bismarck, was the duty of a statesman - to listen to God's course of history and be able to cling to his garment. "
George W. Bush dubiously admits: “Senior government officials are confident that the aggressive democratization I have proposed will be successful and the next president will have to generally adhere to this new Bush strategy ... However, when analyzing the leadership, as well as the efforts of past presidents to transform the national strategy The United States, it is doubtful that history turned out to be so supportive of Bush "...
43rd President of the United States - George Walker Bush (George Walker Bush) - was born in New Haven (pcs.), July 6, 1946 George W. Bush held the presidency from 01.20.2001 to 01.20.2009.Bush's father, George Herbert Bush, was a retired naval pilot. Mother, Barbara Bush, gave birth to her husband four more children later: daughter Paulina, who died of leukemia, the sons of Jacob, Neil and Marvin, the last was the daughter of Dorothy. Grandfather, Perescott Sheldon Bush, 1952-1963 served as senator of the piece. Connecticut.
All his childhood Bush Jr. spent in Midland (pcs.). After finishing seventh grade, he moved with his family to. In Houston, he completed two classes at Kincaid Private School, after which he entered the Phillips Academy. While studying in, Bush had a very poor academic performance, but he was terribly popular and somehow got his bachelor's degree in 1968. 1968 to 1973 Bush served in the National Guard. In the Texas Air National Guard, he was the pilot of the F-102 aircraft.
1973 to 1975 - Bush continued his education at the School of Business, where he received a Master of Business Administration (MBA). After that, George returned to his native Mildred. Here he worked for an oil company until 1986.
Bush was an advisor to his father many times during the election races. In 1977, George W. Bush ran for the House of Representatives. In 1989, Bush bought out the Texas Rangers baseball club.
November 8, 1994 Bush is elected governor of the state. In this post, Bush forged cooperation with the opposition, suggested that representatives of all faiths participate more actively in social work, and enlist the support of influential Democrats in the state. On November 3, 1998, he was re-elected as governor. But Bush had opponents, those who accused him of signing death sentences during his first term in office.
In 1999, Bush Jr. announced his decision to run for President of the United States. It was the most controversial election in American history, with vote-tampering charges, five weeks of legal proceedings and a recount. November 7, 2000 George W. Bush defeats Albert Gore to become the new President of the United States. During the election campaign, Bush skillfully played and presented the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal to the public, which played into his hands. He became the second president of the United States (after John C. Adams) to take over after his father's rule. Another record that is attributed to Bush is that he became a candidate who lost in terms of the number of votes received by citizens (by 0.5 million people), but gained the majority of the electoral votes.
At his inauguration, Bush pledged to reform social security and cut taxes. Liberals and Conservatives worked together in the Bush administration. In February 2001, Bush proposed a federal budget of $ 1.96 trillion. $, according to which significantly reduced taxes and increased appropriations for the military and educational sphere.
In the United States, a tangible recession began in the economy. The budget was criticized, but Congress continued to implement the tax program.
In April 2001, American pilots made an emergency landing in the PRC. The Bush administration has entered into difficult negotiations with the Chinese government to release the pilots. At the end of the year, several cases of bioterrorism were recorded in the country. Anthrax envelopes were sent to government offices. The presidential administration has started to create a missile defense system. A year later, Bush outlined the Axis of Evil. In addition, the president has suspended research in the field of genetics.
On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the United States. About 3,000 people lost their lives that day. The Bush administration appealed to the Taliban movement with a request to extradite the main suspect in these events - Osama bin Laden, who was hiding from the American special services in Afghanistan. But Bush received a sharp refusal. Then the president threatened that he would smoke the Taliban out of their holes and bring them, one way or another, to justice. The United States has created an unprecedented coalition with the right to participate in the fighting in Afghanistan. By the end of 2001, the Northern Alliance mujahideen group, supported by the US military, had conquered control of Afghanistan. A government of national unity was established in the country, and most of the Taliban was destroyed.
At this time, in the United States, Bush creates the Homeland Security Office. The office was granted unlimited rights against terrorists. In December 2001, the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Moscow reacted calmly to the decision of the States.
In 2003, Bush spearheaded an attack on Iraq. Thus, the United States intended to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein. Bush accused Hussein of being connected with al-Qaeda, said that weapons of mass destruction were harboring in Iraq. But many countries considered the US statement to be far-fetched and did not support Bush. The United States broke down the Iraqis, but this also caused ambiguous assessments from the country's population and the world community as a whole. Subsequent events only confirmed the impotence of the Americans in the war on terrorism. Then it got worse. Evidence has surfaced in the press that the terrorist attacks were a Bush adventure and that Saddam never had any relationship with al-Qaeda. The reason was attributed to the falling ratings of the Bush administration, as a result of his ineffective economic reforms; in that it provided an opportunity for large oil refineries to extract oil in Iraq. In addition, with the permission of Bush, private companies were provided with solid contracts for the production of weapons for the needs of the US army in Iraq.
In November 2004, Bush won the election again by defeating Democrat John Kerry. In early September 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. This hurricane crippled the city and Bush's image. 80% of the territory of New Orleans was under water. Due to the slowness of the authorities to evacuate the population, several hundred people died. New Orleans residents were encouraged to leave their homes even before the storm began, but most of them did not have the means to leave the city. In 2006, in the midterm elections, the Republicans were completely defeated.
In 2007, Bush actively supported the idea of deploying US missile defense elements in Eastern Europe and advocated for Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO.
On December 14, 2008, during a press conference in Baghdad, journalist Muntazar al-Zeidi attempted to hit Bush with his boots. The boots did not reach the stand. Bush found the situation "funny." But in Iraq, such an act is considered an insult of the highest standard. In addition, the daredevil scolded the president from head to toe. The journalist was arrested and beaten. The boots were examined, but no explosives were found in them. On March 12, 2009, the court sentenced Muntazar to three years in prison, but the journalist was released in September 2009 for exemplary behavior.
George Walker Bush. Born July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. American Republican politician, 43rd President of the United States in 2001-2009, Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
Son of the 41st President of the United States, also known as George W. Bush. Graduated from Yale University in 1968, Harvard University Business School in 1975. Served in the National Guard Air Force from 1968 to 1974. In 1994 he was elected governor of Texas, in 1998 - re-elected for a second term. In 2000, he won the presidential election, then Vice President Albert Gore.
A few months after Bush took office on September 11, 2001, a series of major terrorist attacks took place in the United States, in response to which Bush declared a global "war on terrorism." In the same year, the United States invaded Afghanistan, in 2003 - in Iraq. In addition to national security issues, Bush introduced a series of health, education and welfare reforms and severe tax cuts.
In 2004, Bush was successfully re-elected to a second term, defeating Democratic Senator John Kerry. In 2005, the Bush administration was criticized for mismanagement in the crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina. In December 2007, the United States entered the largest recession since World War II, forcing the presidential administration to actively intervene in the economy, implementing a set of measures to stimulate its growth.
Although Bush was a popular president during his first term, his approval rating declined steadily during his second term. In 2009, Barack Obama succeeded him as president. Bush returned to Texas and is currently involved in community activities. In 2010 he published his memoir, which was published by Crown under the title "Turning Points". The book immediately topped the bestseller lists. In Russia, Bush's memoirs were published in September 2011 by the OLMA Media Group publishing house.
George Walker Bush Jr. was born on July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of retired naval pilot George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Bush. George was their first son, Pauline was born in 1949 (died in 1953 of leukemia), Jeb in 1953, Neil in 1955, Marvin in 1956, and Dorothy in 1959. George's grandfather, Prescott Sheldon Bush, was Senator from Connecticut from 1952-1963.
Bush Jr.'s childhood was spent in Midland (Texas). After George finished 7th grade, his family moved to Houston. There Bush attended Kincaid Private School for two years to prepare for university. He began his education at Phillips Academy. In 1968 he received a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University, where he studied secondary, but was popular.
In 1968-1973 he served in the National Guard. He was an F-102 pilot in the Texas Air National Guard.
In 1973-1975 he studied at the Harvard Business School, received a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Then he returned to Midland, where he worked in the oil industry until 1986. Several times he actively participated in his father's election campaigns, was his adviser. In 1977 he ran for election to the US House of Representatives. In 1989, together with several partners, he bought the Texas Rangers baseball club.
He became the 46th governor of Texas on November 8, 1994, when he received 53.5% of the vote. In this post, he gained a reputation as an effective politician who knows how to cooperate with the opposition, standing on the position of "compassionate conservatism" (that is, not completely rejecting social programs), advocated a more active role of the church (of different denominations) in social work, achieved support from many prominent Democrats in the state. Was re-elected governor on November 3, 1998 with a record high number of votes and became the first governor of Texas to be elected to a second term immediately after the first. Criticized by Democrats in Texas and other states for signing several death sentences by convicts while serving as governor.
In 1999, he decides to run for the presidency of the United States. In one of the most controversial presidential elections in the country's history on November 7, 2000, a count and recount and five weeks of legal action wins Democratic candidate Al Gore. During the election campaign, Bush played up the details of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in every possible way, which brought him success. He became the second president in the history of the United States (after John C. Adams) to take this post after his father. Bush, the holder of another record (along with the same Adams Jr. and two more presidents of the 19th century: Rutherford Hayes and Benjamin Harrison), is the candidate who received the majority of the electoral votes, but lost in terms of the number of citizens' votes received (by more than 0.5 million people ).
In his inaugural speech, Bush promised to reform social security and Medicare, and reduce the tax burden. The Bush cabinet was made up of politicians of a variety of trends and views, from Social Democrats ("liberals" in American political jargon) to hard-line conservatives. In February 2001, the President presented a federal budget ($ 1.96 trillion), providing for tax cuts, an increase in spending on education and armed forces... This period saw the first signs of a downturn in the US economy. Despite the criticism voiced, Congress in June 2001 adopted a powerful program of tax cuts (by $ 1.35 trillion).
In April, the administration had to conduct difficult negotiations with China on the release of pilots forced to land a reconnaissance aircraft in the PRC. At the end of the same year, bioterrorism swept across the United States, several envelopes with anthrax were sent to offices. In 2001, George W. Bush announced the early creation of a full-fledged missile defense system, and a year later outlined the so-called "Axis of Evil". Bush also froze projects for further research in the field of stem cells.
As a result of the events of September 11, 2001, about 3 thousand people died. The Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, accused of organizing these terrorist attacks, was hiding in Afghanistan according to the statements of the US intelligence services, and the US administration demanded that the Taliban extradite him. The response to the refusal was the words of Bush: "We will smoke them out of their holes ... and bring them to justice or bring justice to them." As a result of active diplomatic efforts and military preparations, the United States managed to create an unprecedented coalition for military operations in Afghanistan, and by the end of 2001, with the support of airstrikes and American units, a group of mujahideen called the Northern Alliance had established control over Afghanistan and created a government of national unity, and the main the Taliban forces were defeated.
To combat terrorism in the United States, the Office of Homeland Security was created, which received practically unlimited rights against persons suspected of terrorism. In December 2001, the United States announced its withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which did not cause serious condemnation from Russia.
In 2003, Bush launched an attack on Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime. The pretext for the war was Bush's statement about the presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, which allegedly is hiding from UN inspectors, and Saddam's ties with al-Qaeda. Many countries that supported the invasion of Afghanistan found the evidence presented by the United States inconclusive and refused to side with the United States in this war. Despite the fact that the United States once again demonstrated its military power, breaking the resistance of regular Iraqi troops for several weeks, the war received a very ambiguous assessment from the world community and the US population. Further events, which showed the powerlessness of the American administration in Iraq in the face of a wave of terrorist acts organized by opponents of the presence of the United States and other powers in the country, and an increase in crime, sharply lowered Bush's rating on the eve of new elections. In addition, statements by officials and unofficial persons began to appear that no reliable evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's ties with al-Qaeda at the start of the war was available to the United States and the invasion of Iraq was a political adventure of Bush in order to increase his internal rating. decreased as a result of his unsuccessful economic policy, giving American oil companies the opportunity to extract oil in Iraq; granting large contracts for the production of weapons to private corporations for the needs of the US army in Iraq. In Michael Moore's documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, this very reason (pressure on the president of the oil lobby, with whom he has a long-standing friendship and business relationship) is named among the main reasons for starting a war.
On November 2, 2004, defeated Democratic candidate Junior Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts in the 2004 presidential election.
A new blow to Bush's image was the flooding in New Orleans as a result of Hurricane Katrina in late August - early September 2005, when 80% of the city's territory was flooded; due to the fact that insufficient measures were taken to timely evacuate the city before the hurricane, the number of victims amounted to several hundred people. Before the hurricane, New Orleans were encouraged to leave the city, but a significant portion of the population did not have sufficient funds to do so. In November 2006, the Republicans suffer a crushing defeat in the midterm elections.
In 2007, he was an active supporter of the deployment of US missile defense elements in Eastern Europe, and also advocated the early entry of Georgia and Ukraine into NATO.
In August 2008, defended Georgia during the Russian-Georgian conflict; On September 23, 2008, speaking at the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly, he accused Russia of violating the UN Charter.
On May 10, 2005, at Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Vladimir Harutyunyan threw a grenade in the direction of the podium where the presidents of Georgia and the United States were. The grenade was brought into combat condition, but did not explode.
On December 14, 2008, at a press conference in Baghdad, journalist Muntazar al-Zeidi tried to hit George W. Bush with his boots, throwing them towards the podium. None of them hit George W. Bush, who, after the end of the conference, considered the incident "funny", but in Iraq it is considered the greatest insult to both the person and the person himself. The trick was accompanied by verbal abuse of the American president. The journalist was arrested and beaten in prison. During the examination, the boots were destroyed; the presence of explosives and other substances was never revealed. On March 12, 2009, the court sentenced Muntazar al-Zeidi to three years in prison, but on September 11, 2009, he was released for exemplary behavior.
George W. Bush is a Methodist believer.
In 1977, Bush married Laura Welch, a former teacher and librarian. On November 25, 1981, the couple had twin daughters Barbara and Jenna.
Jenna Bush and Henry Hager were married on May 10, 2008 in a modest ceremony at the president's ranch in his native Texas.