George W Bush - George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. He was re-elected in the 2004 Presidential election. He formerly served as the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. A Republican, he belongs to the politically influential Bush family, being a son of former president George Bush and elder brother to Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida. He was president during the September 11, 2001, attacks and responded by declaring a global War on Terrorism. In October 2001 he ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban and destroy Al-Qaeda.[1] In March 2003, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, asserting that Iraq was in violation of UN Resolution 1441 regarding weapons of mass destruction and had to be disarmed by force.[2] Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, Bush committed the U.S. to establishing democracy in the Middle East, starting with Afghanistan and Iraq.[3] A self-described 'War President',[4] Bush won re-election in 2004 after an intense and heated election campaign, becoming the first candidate to win a majority vote in 16 years.[5] Since his re-election, he has received increasingly heated criticism, even from former allies, on the [Iraq War], Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandals, as well as domestic issues such as federal funding of stem cell research, Hurricane Katrina, and controversies such as NSA warrantless surveillance activities and the Plame affair. According to polls of job approval rating, his popularity has significantly declined from its record heights after the September 11, 2001, attacks, which contributed to what Bush called the 'thumping' of the GOP in the 2006 mid-term elections.[6] Infancy and History Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Bush is the eldest son of George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush. His paternal ancestors emigrated from Somerset in the West Country of England in the seventeenth century. Bush's parents moved from Connecticut to Texas when he was two years old. He was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with his four siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died in 1953 at the age of three from leukemia.[7] Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator, and his father served as U.S. President from 1989 to 1993. George W. Bush is sometimes mistakenly referred to as George Bush, Jr. Since his father goes by George H. W. Bush, this is not applicable. His brother Jeb is a two-term governor of Florida. The Bush family has a long-standing and strong involvement in the U.S. Republican Party. Childhood Bush attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and, following in his father's footsteps, was accepted into Yale University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1968. At the same time, he worked in various Republican campaigns, including his father's 1964 and 1970 Senate campaigns in Texas. As a college senior, Bush became a member of the secretive Skull and Bones society. By his own characterization, Bush was an average student.[8] Early Adulthood In May 1968, at the height of the ongoing Vietnam War, Bush was accepted into the Texas Air National Guard. After training, he was assigned to duty in Houston, flying Convair F-102s out of Ellington Air Force Base.[9] Throughout his political career, Bush has been criticized over his induction and period of service. Critics allege that Bush was favorably treated due to his father's political standing, and that he was irregular in attendance. Bush took a transfer to the Alabama Air National Guard in 1972 to work on a Republican senate campaign, and in 1974 he obtained permission to end his six-year service obligation six months early to attend Harvard Business School, receiving an honorable discharge. Controversial Acts There are a number of accounts of substance abuse and otherwise disorderly conduct by Bush from this time. Bush has admitted to drinking 'too much' in those years and described this period of his life as his 'nomadic' period of 'irresponsible youth'.[10] On September 4, 1976, at the age of 30, Bush was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He pleaded guilty, was fined $150, and had his driver's license suspended until 1978[11] in Maine.[12] Bush was able to keep his drunk driving arrest a secret throughout his years as governor of Texas.[13][14] Early Political LIfe After obtaining an MBA from Harvard University (Bush is the only US President to serve holding a Master of Business Administration degree[15]), Bush entered the oil industry in Texas. In 1977, he was introduced by friends to Laura Welch, a young schoolteacher and librarian. After three months of courting, Bush married Laura and settled in Midland, Texas. His twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, were born in 1981. Bush also left his family's Episcopal Church to join his wife's Methodist Church. Today, they are members of the congregation of the Highland Park United Methodist Church, near Dallas.[16]