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George W. Bush
Retired figureUnited StatesBorn 1946

George W. Bush

43rd President of the United States (2001-2009) · Governor of Texas (1995-2000)

Republican former president and Texas governor who cut taxes, led the nation after the 9/11 attacks, began the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and widened Medicare with a drug benefit.

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Profile on 12 axesAll 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stand

George W. Bush, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership+60
    PublicPrivate

    His wish to let people hold personal accounts inside Social Security would have partly privatized it, so he scores toward private.

  2. 02Markets+40
    PlannedFree

    He favored tax cuts and markets, yet his administration approved the $700 billion TARP rescue in 2008. He scores toward markets.

  3. 03Welfare+25
    SharedSelf-reliant

    He lowered income taxes in 2001 and 2003 but also expanded Medicare with a drug benefit, its largest growth since 1965. He scores moderately toward self-reliance.

  4. 04Authority+15
    DemocraticStrong leader

    He ruled through elections and Congress, but during the wars he asserted broad presidential power, and the Supreme Court rejected some of those claims. That is a slight lean toward strong leadership.

  5. 05Security+70
    LibertyOrder

    He set up the Department of Homeland Security. His government also kept prisoners at Guantanamo with no habeas corpus hearings and approved NSA wiretapping without warrants, along with harsh questioning methods.

  6. 06Structure+35
    LocalCentral

    National school standards under No Child Left Behind move him toward central.

  7. 07Morality+60
    ProgressiveTraditional

    He supported a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the form of an amendment, and he restricted federal money for embryonic stem cell work.

  8. 08Religion+45
    SecularReligious

    His faith-based initiatives, created by executive order, were criticized by people who thought they weakened the wall between church and state.

  9. 09Technology+35
    EmbraceCaution

    He confined federal embryonic stem cell funding to lines that already existed, and vetoed efforts to loosen the rule. That scores toward caution.

  10. 10Culture-15
    MulticulturalNational identity

    He paired stricter border enforcement with guest workers and a route to citizenship, and he stressed learning English and assimilating. That is a slight lean toward openness.

  11. 11Trade-35
    GlobalProtected

    His administration raised the number of US free trade agreements from three to seventeen, though it put temporary tariffs on steel in 2002. He scores toward free trade.

  12. 12Foreign policy+75
    CooperationStrength

    His doctrine accepted striking first and acting without allies, and he sent forces into Afghanistan in 2001 and then Iraq in 2003.

Who is George W. Bush?

Bush was born in 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut. His father, George H. W. Bush, also became president. He was raised in Texas, studied at Yale and Harvard Business School, and worked in oil. In 1994 voters made him governor of Texas. A contested count gave him the White House in 2000, and he won a second term in 2004 as a self-described compassionate conservative. The 9/11 attacks, and the wars that came after them, defined his years as president. He is now out of active politics and leads his presidential center in Dallas.

Political views

  • He signed two rounds of tax cuts, in 2001 and 2003. Together they were estimated to cost about $4 trillion in lost revenue across a decade.Source: millercenter.org
  • No Child Left Behind became law in 2002. A year later he added prescription drug coverage to Medicare.Source: millercenter.org
  • By executive order he opened federal programs to faith-based groups. He also proposed letting workers put part of their Social Security money into private accounts.Source: millercenter.org
  • In 2006 he called for extra border agents and a temporary worker scheme. He also backed a path to citizenship for long-settled undocumented immigrants who paid a fine and learned English.Source: georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov
  • In 2004 he asked Congress for a constitutional amendment protecting marriage as something only for one man and one woman.Source: georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov
  • His security strategy accepted preventive war and the spread of democracy. He sent troops into Iraq in 2003 on claims about banned arms that were never found.Source: millercenter.org
  • He launched PEPFAR, a $15 billion fight against HIV/AIDS. By 2009 it was funding treatment for about 2.1 million people.Source: millercenter.org

Legacy

Supporters say Bush pulled Americans together after 9/11 and that no further large attack struck the country during his presidency. They also point to the health gains from PEPFAR and to his quick moves in the 2008 financial crisis. Critics say the Iraq War was based on bad intelligence, killed several hundred thousand people and left the region less stable. They add that Guantanamo, interrogation methods widely called torture, abuse at Abu Ghraib and surveillance without warrants harmed civil liberties and the country's reputation. Many also fault the federal handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and opponents link his tax cuts to larger deficits. His public image has improved somewhat in the years since he left the White House.

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George W. Bush: questions

What party does George W. Bush belong to?

He is a Republican. After serving as governor of Texas, he held the presidency for two terms, from 2001 to 2009.

What is compassionate conservatism?

It was the label Bush used for conservative ideas, such as lower taxes and traditional values, joined with a role for government and faith groups in helping poor people. Supporters point to No Child Left Behind and the Medicare drug benefit as examples.

Why was the Iraq War so controversial?

No weapons of mass destruction were found, and critics say the invasion rested on faulty intelligence. They also say it cost several hundred thousand lives and left the region less stable.

Sources