George W. Bush: The Eight Year President

George W. Bush: The Eight Year President

George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. Formerly the 46th Governor of the State of Texas, President Bush has earned a reputation as a compassionate conservative who shapes policy based on the principles of limited government, personal responsibility, good work ethic, strong families, good traditions and local control. These are a few reasons why the President earned another term at office in 2004. The 2004 Presidential Election was truly one of the most brutal and divided elections in American history since the Civil War. But as you can see, through good morals and the backing of fifty two percent of the votes, President George W. Bush took up another four year term in Washington D.C. at the White House.

George W. Bush happened to have lived a very interesting life, starting from his childhood to his life in the White House. Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, the first child of George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush. His grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a Wall Street financier who was elected to the Senate from Connecticut in 1952. Although George Herbert Walker Bush began his career in the oil industry, he eventually served as a congressman, head of the Republican National Committee, ambassador to the United Nations, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and vice president, and eventually President of the United States. At the age of two, Bush moved with his parents from Connecticut to Odessa, Texas, where his father embarked on a career in the petroleum business. After a year in Texas, the family relocated to California for business reasons. A year later, the family moved back to Texas and settled in Midland, a town in western Texas located about 300 miles from Fort Worth. Bush lived in Midland from 1950 to 1959. In 1953 his younger sister Robin, the next oldest child in the family, died from leukemia.

He received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He served as an F-102 pilot for the Texas Air National Guard before beginning his career in the oil and gas business in Midland in 1975, working in the energy industry until 1986. After working on his father's successful 1988 presidential campaign, he assembled the group of partners that purchased the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in 1989.

He became managing general partner of the Texas Rangers until he was elected Governor of Texas on November 8, 1994, winning by 53.5 percent of the vote. In an historic re-election victory, he became the first Texas Governor to be elected for two consecutive four-year terms on November 3, 1998, winning 68.6 percent of the vote.

President Bush is married to Laura Welch Bush, a former teacher and librarian, and they have 19-year-old twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna Bush. The Bush family also includes their dogs, Spot and Barney, and a cat, India. In the 2004 Presidential Election, Laura Bush provided a very smooth touch to the President's campaign. She provided strong support when it came down to issues of women's rights in Afghanistan, and even stronger support when it came to the education in America. His daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush also stepped out of the shadows to support their father during this election while they were kept more behind the scenes in the President's first election. This helped the President come on with a well-built look and feel towards the families of America.

President Bush is pursuing the same common-sense approach and bipartisan spirit that he used in Texas. He has proposed bold initiatives to ensure that America's prosperity has a purpose. He has also addressed issues on improving our nation's public schools by strengthening local control and insisting on accountability. Reducing taxes on all taxpayers, especially for those