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George W. Bush was born in 1946 in Connecticut but grew up in Texas. His father, George H. W. Bush, was a career politician who served in a variety of posts, including both vice president and president of the United States.

After a business career as an oilman and owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, the younger Bush was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and was reelected in 1998. He gained the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 based on a campaign that emphasized "compassionate conservatism," a new, more moderate approach to social and domestic issues. Bush won the 2000 election in one of the closest contests in U.S. history. His Democratic opponent, Al Gore, won the majority of the popular vote, but Bush won the electoral vote after controversy surrounding recounts in Florida. Bush achieved some initial successes in his domestic policy, including the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act and a series of tax cuts; however, his presidency came to be defined by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent U.S.-led "war on terror," as Bush referred to it. He was reelected in 2004. Following the 2001 terrorist attacks by al Qaeda, Bush developed a coalition of nations and invaded Afghanistan, where U.S. and allied Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban regime and disrupted the al Qaeda network in the country.

The United States then launched a variety of covert missions and financial operations against terrorist groups around the world. For its part, Congress enacted new domestic security measures, including the USA Patriot Act, which expanded the government's security powers. In the largest government reorganization since the 1940s, Bush created the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the disparate agencies involved in domestic law enforcement and intelligence. In 2002 Bush instituted a new security doctrine to replace the cold war emphasis on containment and deterrence. The new strategy embraced preemptive war as a means to preventing future terrorist attacks against the United States. The first invocation of the new doctrine came in 2003, when the United States invaded Iraq under the pretext of the larger war on terror. The invasion led both to prolonged conflict in Iraq and to deep divisions between the United States and some of its closest allies, such as France, Germany, and Turkey. Bush's refusal to adopt the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and unilateralist actions such as the withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty added to tensions between the United States and other nations.

The president's security policies were initially very popular, and Bush's approval ratings soared above 90 percent. Bush's public appeal helped Republicans build sizable majorities in both houses of Congress in 2002 and 2004. However, his popularity was undermined by the administration's slow response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the growing unpopularity of the war in Iraq. In addition, partially owing to increased security spending, the administration developed a substantial budget deficit. Democrats regained control of both chambers of Congress in 2006 for the first time since 1994. Faced with a hostile Congress, Bush was then unable to make progress on other domestic priorities, including an effort to reform Social Security.

References:

1. Brady, David W. Revolving Gridlock: Politics and Policy from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2005.

2. Burke, John P. Becoming President: The Bush Transition, 2000-2003. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 2004.

3. Conley, Richard S., ed. Transforming the American Polity: The Presidency of George W. Bush and the War on Terrorism. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005.

4. Hilliard, Bryan, Tom Lansford, and Robert P. Watson, eds. George W. Bush: Evaluating the President at Midterm. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004.

5. Jacobson, Gary C. A Divider, Not a Uniter: George W. Bush and the American People. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007.

6. Maranto, Robert, Doug Brattebo, and Tom Lansford, eds. The Second Term of George W. Bush: Prospects and Perils. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

7. Woodward, Bob. Bush at War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.

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