George W. Bush Early Life/Political Career George Walker Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut on July 6, 1946, the first child of George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush Bush attended Yale University and later Harvard Business School where he characterized himself as an average student After graduation Bush entered the oil business in Texas and at one point was the co-owner of the Texas Rangers before becoming the Governor of Texas in 1994

Election of 2000 Candidates Democrats Al Gore (Vice-President) Joe Lieberman (Senator of Connecticut)   Republicans George Bush (Governor of Texas) Dick Cheney (Former Congressman from Wyoming, Secretary of Defense under George Bush Sr.)

Election of 2000 Popular Vote Bush/Cheney 47.9% Gore/Lieberman 48.4% States Carried Bush/Cheney 30 Gore/Lieberman 20 Plus DC

Election of 2000

Election of 2000 Final Results The result of the election hinged on the outcome in Florida which had 25 electoral votes The news networks initially projected Gore to be the early winner based on the exit polls As the night proceeded they shifted their projections to Bush as the winner By the end of the night, it was too close to call and the state would not officially be decided until December 9, a little over a month later In a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision, the court ruled that the previously ordered state wide hand recount would stop and the machine recount would be used The final tally determined that Bush had won Florida by 537 votes

Behind Taliban Lines http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/t alibanlines/view/

Bush administration 9/11 Less than a year into his presidency, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania would completely change the course of his presidency 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets The hijackers intentionally piloted two of those planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City Both towers collapsed within two hours The hijackers also intentionally crashed a jet into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia just outside of Washington, DC A fourth hijacked jet was headed to a target in Washington, DC, but the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its passengers attempted to take control of the jet from the hijackers

Bush administration 9/11 Continued… Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks including the 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes, none of whom survived The leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, who had initially denied involvement, claimed responsibility for the attacks Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in the Middle East, and the economic sanctions placed on Iraq following the first Gulf War as their justification for the attacks Bin Laden said that the attacks were carried out because, "we are free ... and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours." The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, which had supported and protected al-Qaeda and Bin Laden in Afghanistan

Bush administration War on Terror After the September 11 attacks, Bush launched the War on Terror, in which the United States military and an international coalition invaded Afghanistan In 2003, Bush launched the invasion of Iraq, which he described as being part of the War on Terrorism in accordance with what became known as the “Bush Doctrine” The Bush Doctrine created a new American foreign policy of preventive war, which held that the United States should depose foreign regimes that represented a potential or perceived threat to the security of the United States The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq led to the toppling of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq

Bush administration Post Presidency/Legacy Bush's popularity was highly variable during his two terms He began his presidency with approval ratings near 50% After the September 11 attacks, Bush gained an approval rating of 90% It remained over 50% during most of his first term This led to his re-election in 2004 when he defeated John Kerry (Senator – Massachusetts)

Bush administration Post Presidency/Legacy Continued… By April 2008, during the end of Bush’s second term, his disapproval ratings were the highest ever recorded in the 70-year history of the Gallup poll for any president, with 69% of those polled disapproving of the job Bush was doing as president Bush left the White House as one of the most unpopular American presidents, second in unpopularity only to Richard Nixon A 2010 Siena College Poll of 238 Presidential scholars found that Bush was ranked 39th out of 43, with poor ratings in handling of the economy, communication, ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments and intelligence