Bush, George Walker

George Walker Bush, Jr. was born July 6, 1946 in New Haven ( Connecticut ) in the family of a retired naval pilot George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Bush . George was their first son, Paulin was born in 1949 (she died of leukemia in 1953), Jeb in 1953, Neil in 1955, Marvin in 1956, and Dorothy in 1959. George's grandfather, Prescott Sheldon Bush , was a Senator from Connecticut in 1952-1963.

The childhood of Bush Jr. passed in the city of Midland (Texas) . After George finished 7th grade, his family moved to Houston. There, Bush studied at Kinkaid Private School for two years to prepare for university entrance. He began his education at the Phillips Academy . In 1968, he received a bachelor 's degree in history from Yale , where he studied medium, but was popular.

In 1968-1973 he served in the National Guard . He was a pilot of the F-102 aircraft in the Air Force of the Texas National Guard .

In 1973-1975 he studied at Harvard Business School , received a master's degree in business administration ( MBA ). Then he returned to Midland, where he worked in the oil industry until 1986. Several times actively participated in the election campaigns of his father , was his adviser. In 1977, he stood for election to the US House of Representatives . In 1989, together with several partners, he bought the Texas Rangers baseball club.

He became the 46th governor of Texas on November 8, 1994, when he received 53.5% of the vote. In this post, he gained a reputation as an effective politician who knows how to cooperate with the opposition, standing in the position of “compassionate conservatism” (that is, not completely abandoning social programs), advocated for a more active role of the church (of various faiths) in social work, and achieved support from many prominent state democrats. He was again elected governor on November 3, 1998 with a record high number of votes and became the first Texas governor to be elected for a second term immediately after the first. He was criticized by the Democrats of Texas and other states for signing several death sentences for convicts as governor.

First term

In 1999, he decided to run for president of the United States. In one of the most controversial presidential elections in the history of the country on November 7, 2000, as a result of the counting and recounting of votes and five-week legal proceedings, the candidate from the Democratic Party Albert Gore wins. During the election campaign, Bush in every possible way beat the details of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal , which brought him success. He became the second president in US history (after John Adams ), who took this post after his father. Bush is the holder of another interesting achievement (along with the same Adams Jr. and two other presidents of the 19th century: Rutherford Hayes and Benjamin Garrison ) - the candidate who received the majority of electoral votes, but lost in the number of citizens' votes (more than 0.5 million person).

In his inaugural address, Bush promised to reform social insurance and Medicare and reduce the tax burden. Bush’s cabinet consisted of politicians of various directions and views, from the Social Democrats (“liberals” in American political jargon) to tough conservatives. In February 2001, the president introduced the federal budget ($ 1.96 trillion), which provides for tax cuts, increased allocations for education and the armed forces. The first signs of a recession in the US economy came in the same period. Despite criticism, Congress in June 2001 adopted a powerful tax cut program ($ 1.35 trillion).

In April, the administration had to negotiate heavily with China to free pilots forced to land a reconnaissance aircraft in China. At the end of the same year, bioterrorism swept across the United States, several envelopes with anthrax were sent to offices. In 2001, George W. Bush announced the speedy creation of a complete missile defense system, and a year later outlined the so-called " Axis of Evil ." Bush also froze further stem cell research projects ^[7] . Finally, he signed a law banning late abortion. ^[8]

As a result of the events of September 11, 2001 , about 3 thousand people died. Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, accused of organizing these attacks, was hiding in Afghanistan , according to US intelligence, and the US administration demanded that the Taliban extradite him. The answer to the refusal was Bush’s words: “ We will smoke them out of our holes ... and bring them to justice or deliver justice to them .” As a result of active diplomatic efforts and military preparations, the United States managed to create an unprecedented coalition for military operations in Afghanistan, and by the end of 2001, with the support of airstrikes and American units, a Mujahideen group called the Northern Alliance established control over Afghanistan and created a government of national unity, and the main Taliban forces were defeated.

To combat terrorism in the United States, the Office of Homeland Security was created, which received virtually unlimited rights against individuals suspected of terrorism. In December 2001, the United States announced its withdrawal from the Missile Defense Treaty , which did not cause serious condemnations from Russia .

In 2003, Bush launched an attack on Iraq to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein . The pretext for the war was Bush's statement about the presence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which allegedly is hiding from UN inspectors, and Saddam’s ties with al-Qaeda . Many countries that supported the invasion of Afghanistan found the evidence presented by the United States unconvincing and refused to side with the United States in this war. Despite the fact that the United States again demonstrated its military power by breaking the resistance of regular Iraqi forces for several weeks, the war received a very mixed assessment from the world community and the US population. Further events, which showed the impotence of the American administration in Iraq before the wave of terrorist acts organized by opponents of the presence of the US and other powers in the country, and the growth of crime, sharply lowered Bush's rating in anticipation of new elections. In addition, statements by officials and unofficials began to appear that the USA did not have any reliable evidence of the existence of WMDs and Saddam’s ties with al-Qaeda at the start of the war, and the invasion of Iraq was Bush’s political gamble to increase his internal rating, declining as a result of his unsuccessful economic policy, giving American oil companies the opportunity to extract oil in Iraq, providing large arms production contracts to private corporations for the needs US Army in Iraq. In Michael Moore ’s documentary and journalism film “ Fahrenheit 9/11, ” this very reason (pressure on the president of the oil lobby, with whom he has long-standing friendly and business relations) is called among the main reasons for starting a war.

The US economy during the first term of George W. Bush developed successfully. The country's GDP was constantly growing: in 2001 by 1.0%, in 2002 by 1.8%, in 2003 by 2.8%, in 2004 by 3.8% ^[9] . Inflation remained low - 1.6% in 2002, 2.3% in 2003 ^[9] . It was more difficult with unemployment, the level of which in 2003 was 6.0% of the US able-bodied population, but then decreased - 5.5% in 2004 ^[9] .

In 2002 , during the presidency of D. Bush, the United States hosted the XIX Winter Olympic Games, which were held in the city of Salt Lake City . Moreover, he opened these games .

Second term

On November 2, 2004, he defeated a Democratic candidate from Massachusetts Jr. Senator John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election .

A new blow to the image of Bush was the flood in New Orleans as a result of Hurricane Katrina in late August - early September 2005 , when 80% of the city’s territory was flooded; due to the fact that insufficient measures were taken to timely evacuate the city before the hurricane, the number of victims amounted to several hundred people. Before the hurricane, residents of New Orleans were asked to leave the city, but a significant part of the population did not have sufficient funds for this.

The reputation of the president and the Republican Party was negatively affected by the corruption scandal related to the case of the famous lobbyist Jack Abramoff . In 2005, Abramoff was arrested on charges of bribing congressmen (mainly Republicans) ^[10] . The Abramoff case led to the fact that in 2006, Republican Congressman Randy Cunningham was convicted of receiving bribes totaling $ 2.4 million ^[11] . George W. Bush denied his acquaintance with Abramoff, but the investigation established that the president met with this lobbyist at least ten times ^[11] . Moreover, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad admitted that he paid Abramoff $ 1.2 million for a meeting with George W. Bush ^[10] .

In November 2006, Republicans suffered a crushing defeat in the midterm elections.

George W. Bush was a categorical opponent of euthanasia , as manifested in his speech in the case of T. Shaivo. In 2005, the husband and guardian of a seriously ill patient, T. Shaivo, made the court disconnect his wife from the tube through which power was supplied to her body, which meant her imminent death ^[12] . This judgment, made on February 25, 2005, was challenged by the Republicans, who promptly adopted a federal law that gave the parents of a seriously ill patient (they opposed euthanasia) the right to challenge the fact of leaving their daughter without medical care ^[13] . George W. Bush signed the law on March 21, 2005, and it entered into force. However, T. Shaivo could not be saved - on March 24 of that year, Judge J. Greer, who ruled to disconnect her from the life support system, forbade the Florida state authorities to take care of her ^[13] . As a result, T. Shaivo died 14 days after shutting down the system ^[13] .

In 2007, he was an active supporter of the deployment of US missile defense elements in Eastern Europe, and also advocated the early entry of Georgia and Ukraine into NATO .

In August 2008, defended Georgia during the Russian-Georgian conflict ^[14] ; On September 23, 2008, speaking at the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly , he accused Russia of violating the UN Charter , saying, in particular:

During the second term of George W. Bush, the performance of the US economy was good. The unemployment rate in 2005 was 5.1%, in 2006 - 4.6% ^[9] .

Attempt

On May 10, 2005, at the Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Vladimir Harutyunyan threw a grenade in the direction of the rostrum, where the presidents of Georgia and the United States were. The grenade was put into combat condition, but did not explode ^[17] .

Incident at a press conference

On December 14, 2008, at a press conference in Baghdad, journalist Muntazar al-Zeidi tried to get into George W. Bush with his boots , throwing them towards the rostrum. None of them got into George W. Bush, who after the conference regarded the incident as "funny", but in Iraq this is considered the greatest insult to both the individual and the person himself. The trick was accompanied by verbal abuse against the American president ^[18] . The journalist was arrested and beaten in prison ^[19] . During the examination, the boots were destroyed, the presence of explosives and other substances was not detected ^[20] . On March 12, 2009, the court sentenced Muntazar al-Zaydi to three years in prison ^[21] , but he was released on September 11, 2009 for exemplary conduct.

Security

All Bush’s international trips, apart from political aides and national security advisers, were accompanied by 250 secret service agents, 15 police officers, 2 convoys of 20 armored vehicles, including a presidential limousine, Sikorsky Sea King and Black Hawk helicopters .

George W. Bush is committed to the Methodist Church. ^[22]

In 1977, Bush married Laura Welch , a former teacher and librarian. On November 25, 1981, the spouses gave birth to twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.

Jenna Bush (Henry Jager) and Henry Hager (Henry Hager) married May 10, 2008 in a modest ceremony at the ranch of the president in his native Texas ^[23] .

• In 2005, Melanskaya Street in Tbilisi was renamed Bush Street in connection with the visit of the US President to Georgia ^[24] .
• In honor of George W. Bush a series of postage stamps of Albania 2007 was released.

• Bush has been criticized for the war in Iraq ^{[25] [26]} , the war in Afghanistan ^[27] and the pursuit of an aggressive foreign policy ^{[28] [29] [30]} , as well as for his administration authorizing the torture of US suspects and investigators in terrorism ^{[31] [32] [33]} .
• The United States Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama (later the President of the United States), wrote in his book “The Insolence of Hope ” (2006): “Democrats are often surprised when I admit that I personally don’t consider George Bush a bad person and I think that he and his the administration sincerely tries to work for the good of the country ” ^[34] .
• In his 2003 interview, Shamil Basayev : “Through the mouth of Bush, the whole worldkufra said that they will forcefully establish democracy in the world - democracy in their concept. In fact, it is a conspiracy against the whole world. Against all of humanity. I called him Adolf Bush because he is no different from Hitler, who also established a new world order, but in his own way, with the supremacy of the Aryan race. Bush decided to establish "American democracy." There is no difference between them other than the terms used. The principles are the same - militant ignorance and fascism ” ^[35] .

American

• , , Medal For National Defense Service , ^{[36] [37]} .
• Philadelphia Medal of Liberty ( , 2018) ^[38] .

Foreign

• ( Kosovo , June 12, 2004) ^[39] .
• The Order of Three Stars of the 1st degree with a chain ( Latvia , May 3, 2005) ^[40] . Presented by Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga during Bush’s visit to Riga ^{[41] [42] [43]} .
• The Order of Victory named after St. George ( Georgia , May 10, 2005) ^{[44] [45]} . Presented by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili during Bush’s visit to Tbilisi ^{[46] [47] [48]} .
• ( Albania , June 10, 2007) ^[49] . Presented by Albanian President Alfred Moyciu at a ceremony in the presidential palace in Tirana ^[50] .
• ( Afghanistan , December 15, 2008) ^[51] . Presented by Afghan President Hamid Karzai during Bush’s visit to Kabul ^{[52] [53]} .
• The Order of the Cross of the Land of Mary of the 1st class ( Estonia , February 1, 2012) ^[54] . Presented by former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves during his visit to Dallas ^{[55] [56] [57]} .
• ( Northern Macedonia , September 27, 2015) ^[58] . Presented by the Prime Minister of Macedonia, Nikolai Gruevsky, during his visit to Columbus ^{[59] [60]} .
• The title “ Honorary Citizen of Vilnius ” ( Lithuania , August 29, 2018) ^{[61] [62]} .

• Key decisions / Translation from English. O. Akimova, M. Kozyreva, E Ganieva. - M.: CJSC OLMA Media Group, 2011. - 544 p. - 5,000 copies. ISBN 978-5-373-04418-9

• " Bush " (2008) - Oliver Stone's biographical film, in which Josh Brolin played George W. Bush.
• “ Vice President ” (2018) - Adam Mackay ’s biographical film about Dick Cheney , in which George Bush played Sam Rockwell .
• American Crime History (TBA) is a crime-series anthology. Season 3 will be dedicated to Hurricane Katrina , Dennis Quaid will play the role of George W. Bush.

• Bushism
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• “ He who is not with us is against us ”

• George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
• White house biography
• Collection of George W. Bush's works on the Troubled Asset Relief Program
• Bush, George Walker in the Open Directory Project Link Directory (dmoz)
• How do you remember the presidency of George W. Bush // Baltnews