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0 / 34 Fotos
Early years
- George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, the first child of George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce.
© NL Beeld
1 / 34 Fotos
Move to Texas
- Bush was the eldest of six children and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four of his siblings—Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died from leukemia at the age of three in 1953.
© NL Beeld
2 / 34 Fotos
The Bush dynasty
- Bush junior's father was Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981 to 1989, and the 41st US president from 1989 to 1993.
© Getty Images
3 / 34 Fotos
Education
- After attending a college-preparatory school in Piney Point Village, Texas, Bush headed back east to enroll at the Phillips Academy, a boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts.
© NL Beeld
4 / 34 Fotos
Life at Phillips Academy
- Bush studied at the Phillips Academy from 1961 to 1964, where he also played baseball and was the head cheerleader during his senior year.
© NL Beeld
5 / 34 Fotos
Studying at Yale
- Bush junior later attended Yale University (his father's and grandfather's alma mater), graduating in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in history.
© NL Beeld
6 / 34 Fotos
Character building
- Bush's entry to Andover and graduation from Yale did much to shape his character and forge beliefs that many say he took to the White House, though he always characterized himself as an average student. He's pictured clowning around in a break from study.
© NL Beeld
7 / 34 Fotos
Texas Air National Guard
- In May 1968, Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard's 147th Fighter Group at Ellington Field, completed Air Force flight training, and served as an F-102 fighter pilot.
© Getty Images
8 / 34 Fotos
Military record
- Members of the Texas Air National Guard were less likely than regular soldiers to fight in the Vietnam War. In August 1972, Bush was permanently suspended from flying with the Texas Air National Guard for having missed an annual medical examination. According to his military records, he never flew again. The matter resurfaced as a campaign issue in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
© Getty Images
9 / 34 Fotos
Harvard and marriage
- Bush received an honorable discharge from the Air National Guard in 1973 to attend Harvard Business School: he graduated with an MBA in 1975. Two years later, he married Laura Welch, a schoolteacher and librarian. Laura Bush was instrumental in helping her husband give up alcohol, the abuse of which had become a serious issue. Bush also says that his faith in God was critical in abstaining.
© Getty Images
10 / 34 Fotos
Family business
- In 1978, Bush unsuccessfully ran for Congress, after which he refocused on running his own oil and gas firm.
© Getty Images
11 / 34 Fotos
Influential circles
- In the late 1980s, Bush and his family moved to Washington, D.C. to work on his father's campaign for the US presidency. He mixed in the highest political circles and was able to attract numerous prominent investors.
© Public Domain
12 / 34 Fotos
Bush senior wins the White House
- George H. W. Bush, who was serving as Ronald Reagan's vice president, won the White House in 1989 to become the 41st President of the United States. He served just one term, succeeded in 1993 by Bill Clinton.
© Getty Images
13 / 34 Fotos
Governor of Texas
- In 1995, George W. Bush became governor of Texas. During his tenure, many Republicans saw in the governor a potential future presidential candidate. In 2000, Bush decided to seek the Republican presidential nomination.
© Getty Images
14 / 34 Fotos
Bush v. Gore
- The election of 2000 and the Supreme Court case of Bush v. Gore remain two of the most controversial political developments in the last half-century. The landmark decision settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
© Getty Images
15 / 34 Fotos
President George W. Bush
- George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States on January 20, 2001. He entered office as one of only a handful of presidential candidates to have won a majority of the electoral vote while losing the nation's popular vote (in fact, the first to do so since Benjamin Harrison in 1888).
© Getty Images
16 / 34 Fotos
Dealing with 9/11
- Within nine months of taking office, President Bush's mettle was severely tested after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Political commentators agree that Bush did a masterful job in uniting and reassuring the American people in the wake of the atrocities. Pictured is the moment White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card interrupts the president's early morning school reading event in Florida to inform him that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center.
© Getty Images
17 / 34 Fotos
Rallying the nation
- On September 14, President Bush arrived in New York and spoke to rescue workers, firefighters, and police officers from the rubble of Ground Zero. Grabbing a megaphone, the Commander in Chief rallied those around him by declaring, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked own these buildings will hear all of us soon." In the wake of 9/11, Bush became the most popular president in the history of polling, reaching an astounding 90% approval rating.
© Getty Images
18 / 34 Fotos
War on terror
- The subsequent invasion of Afghanistan produced some early success in the so-called war on terror, but the effort in trying to eliminate those who perpetrated 9/11 turned into the longest war in American history.
© Getty Images
19 / 34 Fotos
Patriot Act
- As the dust was still settling over New York, Bush signed into law the Patriot Act, legislation that significantly expanded the search and surveillance powers of federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies. The sweeping new powers the Act afforded the government in its efforts to combat future acts of terror sparked strong divisions amongst the American people throughout the Bush presidency.
© Getty Images
20 / 34 Fotos
No Child Left Behind Act
- Among President Bush's early domestic policy triumphs was the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. An education reform bill passed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in Congress, it mandated standards-based education reform and included provisions applying to disadvantaged students.
© Getty Images
21 / 34 Fotos
Mission accomplished?
- On March 19, 2003, Bush announced that the US military had struck at "targets of opportunity" in Iraq. Less than two months later, the president flew with Naval Flight Officer Lieutenant Ryan Philips to the USS Abraham Lincoln prior to his Mission Accomplished speech, delivered on May 1, 2003. The Iraq War would in fact continue to be prosecuted until 2011.
© Public Domain
22 / 34 Fotos
Hurricane Katrina
- Bush flew into a storm of criticism as he visited scenes of devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina after it made landfall in the Southeastern United States in late August 2005. Condemnations of mismanagement and lack of preparation in the relief effort in response to the disaster and its aftermath were leveled against local authorities and the federal government. The president is pictured with a survivor of the Category 5 storm.
© Getty Images
23 / 34 Fotos
Weathering the storm
- The following year, Bush presented a federal report titled 'Hurricane Katrina; Lessons Learned,' the contents of which recommended changes in disaster relief coordination among federal agencies. It also highlighted significant flaws in the national response plan issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
© Getty Images
24 / 34 Fotos
Kennedy Center Honors
- Bush's White House duties in 2005 included presenting Kennedy Center Honors to singers Tina Turner and Tony Bennett, dancer Suzanne Farrell, and actors Julie Harris and Robert Redford. The annual honors are given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.
© Getty Images
25 / 34 Fotos
Ducking the issue
- In an episode captured on national television on December 14, 2008, during a press conference at the prime minister's palace in Baghdad, two shoes were thrown at Bush by Al-Baghdadia TV journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, causing the US president to duck.
© Public Domain
26 / 34 Fotos
Retiring from office
- President George W. Bush served two terms in the White House, retiring from office in January 2009. On January 7, Bush lined up in the Oval Office with President-elect Barack Obama and former presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush.
© Getty Images
27 / 34 Fotos
Post presidency
- The former US president published his memoir, 'Decision Points,' in 2010. It opened at number one on The New York Times bestseller list and surpassed sales of two million copies just two months after its release. Bush also penned '41: A Portrait of My Father' in 2014 for his father, George H. W. Bush.
© Getty Images
28 / 34 Fotos
George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
- The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was inaugurated on April 25, 2013, at University Park near Dallas. The building houses Bush's presidential archives, and maintains approximately 43,000 artifacts, mainly foreign and domestic gifts given to the president and first lady. The complex also chronicles Bush's young life and follows him through his tumultuous terms in office.
© NL Beeld
29 / 34 Fotos
'Portraits of Courage'
- In 2017, Bush showed off his artistic talent by publishing his 'Portraits of Courage,' a book that included a collection of oil paintings and stories about military veterans.
© Getty Images
30 / 34 Fotos
Death of George H.W. Bush
- The death in November 2018 of former President George H.W. Bush saw his eldest son eulogizing his father saying, "He looked for the good in each person, and he usually found it."
© NL Beeld
31 / 34 Fotos
Legacy
- Bush left office with a dismal 33% approval rating. But he also remains the most popular president, that benchmark 90% achieved back in September 2001 yet to be surpassed. He has since led a largely quiet and unassuming life, though he's often seen attending Dallas Cowboys' games.
© Getty Images
32 / 34 Fotos
Bush's own place in US history
- Bush was present at the funeral of President Jimmy Carter in January 2025. His own place in US history is likely to be debated and reconsidered years into the future. Sources: (The White House) (The American Presidency Project) (Politico) (Miller Center) (National Archives) See also: Historical burial sites of US presidents
© Getty Images
33 / 34 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 34 Fotos
Early years
- George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, the first child of George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce.
© NL Beeld
1 / 34 Fotos
Move to Texas
- Bush was the eldest of six children and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four of his siblings—Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died from leukemia at the age of three in 1953.
© NL Beeld
2 / 34 Fotos
The Bush dynasty
- Bush junior's father was Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981 to 1989, and the 41st US president from 1989 to 1993.
© Getty Images
3 / 34 Fotos
Education
- After attending a college-preparatory school in Piney Point Village, Texas, Bush headed back east to enroll at the Phillips Academy, a boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts.
© NL Beeld
4 / 34 Fotos
Life at Phillips Academy
- Bush studied at the Phillips Academy from 1961 to 1964, where he also played baseball and was the head cheerleader during his senior year.
© NL Beeld
5 / 34 Fotos
Studying at Yale
- Bush junior later attended Yale University (his father's and grandfather's alma mater), graduating in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in history.
© NL Beeld
6 / 34 Fotos
Character building
- Bush's entry to Andover and graduation from Yale did much to shape his character and forge beliefs that many say he took to the White House, though he always characterized himself as an average student. He's pictured clowning around in a break from study.
© NL Beeld
7 / 34 Fotos
Texas Air National Guard
- In May 1968, Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard's 147th Fighter Group at Ellington Field, completed Air Force flight training, and served as an F-102 fighter pilot.
© Getty Images
8 / 34 Fotos
Military record
- Members of the Texas Air National Guard were less likely than regular soldiers to fight in the Vietnam War. In August 1972, Bush was permanently suspended from flying with the Texas Air National Guard for having missed an annual medical examination. According to his military records, he never flew again. The matter resurfaced as a campaign issue in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
© Getty Images
9 / 34 Fotos
Harvard and marriage
- Bush received an honorable discharge from the Air National Guard in 1973 to attend Harvard Business School: he graduated with an MBA in 1975. Two years later, he married Laura Welch, a schoolteacher and librarian. Laura Bush was instrumental in helping her husband give up alcohol, the abuse of which had become a serious issue. Bush also says that his faith in God was critical in abstaining.
© Getty Images
10 / 34 Fotos
Family business
- In 1978, Bush unsuccessfully ran for Congress, after which he refocused on running his own oil and gas firm.
© Getty Images
11 / 34 Fotos
Influential circles
- In the late 1980s, Bush and his family moved to Washington, D.C. to work on his father's campaign for the US presidency. He mixed in the highest political circles and was able to attract numerous prominent investors.
© Public Domain
12 / 34 Fotos
Bush senior wins the White House
- George H. W. Bush, who was serving as Ronald Reagan's vice president, won the White House in 1989 to become the 41st President of the United States. He served just one term, succeeded in 1993 by Bill Clinton.
© Getty Images
13 / 34 Fotos
Governor of Texas
- In 1995, George W. Bush became governor of Texas. During his tenure, many Republicans saw in the governor a potential future presidential candidate. In 2000, Bush decided to seek the Republican presidential nomination.
© Getty Images
14 / 34 Fotos
Bush v. Gore
- The election of 2000 and the Supreme Court case of Bush v. Gore remain two of the most controversial political developments in the last half-century. The landmark decision settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
© Getty Images
15 / 34 Fotos
President George W. Bush
- George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States on January 20, 2001. He entered office as one of only a handful of presidential candidates to have won a majority of the electoral vote while losing the nation's popular vote (in fact, the first to do so since Benjamin Harrison in 1888).
© Getty Images
16 / 34 Fotos
Dealing with 9/11
- Within nine months of taking office, President Bush's mettle was severely tested after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Political commentators agree that Bush did a masterful job in uniting and reassuring the American people in the wake of the atrocities. Pictured is the moment White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card interrupts the president's early morning school reading event in Florida to inform him that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center.
© Getty Images
17 / 34 Fotos
Rallying the nation
- On September 14, President Bush arrived in New York and spoke to rescue workers, firefighters, and police officers from the rubble of Ground Zero. Grabbing a megaphone, the Commander in Chief rallied those around him by declaring, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked own these buildings will hear all of us soon." In the wake of 9/11, Bush became the most popular president in the history of polling, reaching an astounding 90% approval rating.
© Getty Images
18 / 34 Fotos
War on terror
- The subsequent invasion of Afghanistan produced some early success in the so-called war on terror, but the effort in trying to eliminate those who perpetrated 9/11 turned into the longest war in American history.
© Getty Images
19 / 34 Fotos
Patriot Act
- As the dust was still settling over New York, Bush signed into law the Patriot Act, legislation that significantly expanded the search and surveillance powers of federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies. The sweeping new powers the Act afforded the government in its efforts to combat future acts of terror sparked strong divisions amongst the American people throughout the Bush presidency.
© Getty Images
20 / 34 Fotos
No Child Left Behind Act
- Among President Bush's early domestic policy triumphs was the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. An education reform bill passed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in Congress, it mandated standards-based education reform and included provisions applying to disadvantaged students.
© Getty Images
21 / 34 Fotos
Mission accomplished?
- On March 19, 2003, Bush announced that the US military had struck at "targets of opportunity" in Iraq. Less than two months later, the president flew with Naval Flight Officer Lieutenant Ryan Philips to the USS Abraham Lincoln prior to his Mission Accomplished speech, delivered on May 1, 2003. The Iraq War would in fact continue to be prosecuted until 2011.
© Public Domain
22 / 34 Fotos
Hurricane Katrina
- Bush flew into a storm of criticism as he visited scenes of devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina after it made landfall in the Southeastern United States in late August 2005. Condemnations of mismanagement and lack of preparation in the relief effort in response to the disaster and its aftermath were leveled against local authorities and the federal government. The president is pictured with a survivor of the Category 5 storm.
© Getty Images
23 / 34 Fotos
Weathering the storm
- The following year, Bush presented a federal report titled 'Hurricane Katrina; Lessons Learned,' the contents of which recommended changes in disaster relief coordination among federal agencies. It also highlighted significant flaws in the national response plan issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
© Getty Images
24 / 34 Fotos
Kennedy Center Honors
- Bush's White House duties in 2005 included presenting Kennedy Center Honors to singers Tina Turner and Tony Bennett, dancer Suzanne Farrell, and actors Julie Harris and Robert Redford. The annual honors are given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.
© Getty Images
25 / 34 Fotos
Ducking the issue
- In an episode captured on national television on December 14, 2008, during a press conference at the prime minister's palace in Baghdad, two shoes were thrown at Bush by Al-Baghdadia TV journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, causing the US president to duck.
© Public Domain
26 / 34 Fotos
Retiring from office
- President George W. Bush served two terms in the White House, retiring from office in January 2009. On January 7, Bush lined up in the Oval Office with President-elect Barack Obama and former presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush.
© Getty Images
27 / 34 Fotos
Post presidency
- The former US president published his memoir, 'Decision Points,' in 2010. It opened at number one on The New York Times bestseller list and surpassed sales of two million copies just two months after its release. Bush also penned '41: A Portrait of My Father' in 2014 for his father, George H. W. Bush.
© Getty Images
28 / 34 Fotos
George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
- The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was inaugurated on April 25, 2013, at University Park near Dallas. The building houses Bush's presidential archives, and maintains approximately 43,000 artifacts, mainly foreign and domestic gifts given to the president and first lady. The complex also chronicles Bush's young life and follows him through his tumultuous terms in office.
© NL Beeld
29 / 34 Fotos
'Portraits of Courage'
- In 2017, Bush showed off his artistic talent by publishing his 'Portraits of Courage,' a book that included a collection of oil paintings and stories about military veterans.
© Getty Images
30 / 34 Fotos
Death of George H.W. Bush
- The death in November 2018 of former President George H.W. Bush saw his eldest son eulogizing his father saying, "He looked for the good in each person, and he usually found it."
© NL Beeld
31 / 34 Fotos
Legacy
- Bush left office with a dismal 33% approval rating. But he also remains the most popular president, that benchmark 90% achieved back in September 2001 yet to be surpassed. He has since led a largely quiet and unassuming life, though he's often seen attending Dallas Cowboys' games.
© Getty Images
32 / 34 Fotos
Bush's own place in US history
- Bush was present at the funeral of President Jimmy Carter in January 2025. His own place in US history is likely to be debated and reconsidered years into the future. Sources: (The White House) (The American Presidency Project) (Politico) (Miller Center) (National Archives) See also: Historical burial sites of US presidents
© Getty Images
33 / 34 Fotos
George W. Bush: his life and legacy
A profile of the 43rd President of the United States
© Getty Images
George W. Bush served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. The eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush, his term in office coincided with the September 11 terrorist attacks and Iraq War, as well as Hurricane Katrina, one of the most powerful storms to hit the United States. Bush also presided over large tax reductions and a major reform of the American educational system. His legacy continues to develop, but is subject to controversy and debate. So, what is the Bush presidency best remembered for, and what isn't it?
Click through for a profile of former US President George W. Bush.
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