American politician, U. S. President for two terms, Texas oil millionaire and baseball owner, from a noted family, the Republican son of U.S. President George W. Bush. With a strong Education platform, he became the governor of Texas, the largest of the United States, in 1998.
In 2001 he ascended to the US Presidency via a hotly contested debate that involved the Supreme Court and was re-elected in 2004.
After years of being dismissed as a footloose lightweight, at 50 he began emerging from his dad’s shadow. He has taken strong stands against gun control and teen pregnancy and is in favour of prayer and prison work gangs. More important even Democrats tend to view him as a straight-shooter with his mom’s candour. “You know where you stand with him,” says Pete Laney, speaker of the Texas House.
On 5 November 1977, three months after meeting her, he married Laura Welch (born on 4 November 1946), a devout west Texas school librarian. She manages the household while George was harried by twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara (born on 25 November 1981).
George spent some footloose years after college before settling into responsible marriage and politics. He entered Yale in 1964 and when Vietnam loomed, joined the Air National Guard. During his later campaigns for President, aspects of his National Guard service were questioned, specifically whether he had in fact received special preference as son of a Congressman and whether he had satisfactorily completed the requirements and obligations of his National Guard service.
He called 1968 to 1973 his “wandering years,” working on a senate campaign, trying out sales, as a youth advisor to inner-city kids, along with a high share of drinking and carousing.
After two years at Harvard Business School, Bush earned an MA in business administration and set out on his own, 28 years old. He drove to Midland and straight into the oil business with $20,000 of his own money. Having a father who was vice-president of the country was all the connection he needed.
Then his eye turned to baseball, a sport he loved, buying the Texas Rangers in 1989. His original investment there of $600,000 would eventually be worth an estimated $10 million. The drop in oil prices in the early ’80s was a serious set-back, but Bush managed to come out ahead.
Laura was a huge influence on Bush, He learned to read and talk about the Bible, and in 1986 just after his 40th birthday, he quit drinking suddenly. He’s learned to take hold of self-discipline, and to love his public life as a “pol.”
The official announcement of his candidacy for the presidential nomination was made on 12 June 1999 in Cedar Rapids, IA. Elections were held on 7 November 2000, leading to one of the most dramatic and confusing contests ever witnessed.
When the issue of uncounted ballots finally went to the Supreme Court, the conclusion was upheld on 12 December 2000 that Bush was the winner by a number of several hundred votes. By his refusal to allow the uncounted votes to be tallied, Bush jeopardized the authority of his position, leaving many voters with a cynical view that American democracy had not been fairly served.
He was sworn in to the nation’s first office on 20 January 2001, 12:02 PM EST, Washington, DC (from TV news). He became the first man since John Quincy Adams to follow his father into the White House. With brother Jeb the Governor of Florida as of 13 November 1998, the Bush family has seemed to become the political dynasty of the 21st century.
In August 2001, Bush took a month’s vacation on his Texas ranch with the resulting statistic that by labour day, he had spend 44% of his presidency off the job, either on R&R or travel.
President Bush’s nomination for a second term was made official at about 8:08 PM on 1 September 2004 at the Republican National Convention when the Lt. Governor of Maryland pronounced “the ayes have it.” Bush accepted the nomination in his speech at about 10:10 PM EDT on 2 September 2004 in New York, NY (time from observation, not official news report).
Bush won the election with results coming in on 3 November 2004. At about 11 AM, Senator Kerry, his opponent, called and conceded the election. At about 3 PM that day in Washington, DC, Bush gave his victory speech.
At 11:56 AM on 20 January 2005, Bush took the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Rehnquist. (The time of the oath is taken from personal observation; BBC News reported that Bush took the oath of office “just before 1700 GMT”).
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