George W. Bush

George Walker Bush, born July 6, 1946, is the eldest son of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States. Before entering politics he worked in the oil industry and co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team, then served as the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000, and served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 with Dick Cheney as his vice president. He won the disputed 2000 election, decided by a Florida recount and the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore ruling despite losing the national popular vote, and was reelected in 2004. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks reshaped his presidency, leading him to launch a war on terror that included the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the latter justified by since-discredited claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and ties to al-Qaeda; domestically he signed the Patriot Act and established the Department of Homeland Security. He left office with declining approval ratings amid the 2008 financial crisis, and while scholars generally rank his presidency as below average, his public standing has improved somewhat since leaving office.