President George Walker Bush had a very interesting life before becoming the president of the United States of America. Bush was born in Grace-New Haven Community Hospital the summer of 1946. Growing up he had a passion for baseball and wanted to be a professional baseball player, as it was his early passion. Bush went to high school at the Kinkaid School in Piney Point Village Texas for two years, and then finished up in the Phillips School in Andover, Massachusetts. Graduating in the class of 1963, the class thought of Bush as a young person of considerable skill and charm. After high school he entered Yale University in 1964, with a SAT score of 1206. Even though his score was a bit below average, he still graduated in 1968 with a grade point average of 2.35. After that, he entered in the Texas Air National Guard with a shaky military career, because he never wanted to fight in combat. His participation was so low he didn’t qualify for combat duty, or an honorable discharge. However, he managed to work out a deal and was honorably discharged even though he did not earn it. He then applied to Harvard business school with a grade point average of 2.35. Compared to today it’s relatively low but managed to graduate with a MBA degree and below average grades. He was elected Governor of Texas in 1994 and was reelected in 1998. When George Bush took office in the very tight 2000-election campaign, it really showed that in office presidents need to be ready for the unexpected. After being sworn into office, the first issues that he focused on where domestic in nature. These issues ranged from cutting taxes and expanding the energy production to boosting education. Bush’s term however also included September 11, 2001, with the fall of the World Trade Centers. The events from that day and Bush’s plan of action shaped every aspect of running the government, making it hard to stick to issues, but Bush did pursue his domestic nature plans even after that day. Actions after the attacks were all based on what needed to be done to protect the country form another terroristic attack. Economy is a big issue that faces many presidents as it did Bush. Tax cuts were one big issue that Bush was concerned about even before being elected president. Just one week into presidency, Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Alan Greenspan, testified that even a 1.6 trillion dollar tax cut would not harm the economy, and may do good. The bill proposed for a 1.6 trillion dollar tax cut for ten years. It was passed in the senate seventy-seven days later, but called for only a 1.25 trillion dollar tax cut. The president decided that he too would compromise on the bill. After the differences were sorted out, they decided on a tax cut estimate of 1.3 to 1.4 trillion-dollar tax cuts over the next ten years. This cut taxes for the top three classes and even made a whole new ten percent bracket for the poor working. Spending was a big issue with the tax cuts however, with the war in Iraq, the amount of money spent jumped but the amount of money taken in through taxes was lessened. This made the national debt reach the highest ever in United States history. For the safety of Americans, however, this spending must happen to keep us safe. Education was also a high priority for Bush and he created the No Child Left Behind Act. This act mostly came from Bill Clinton’s state of the union address saying that education is important to keep moving forward. The bill passed in both the house and senate then signed in January of 2002. This now requires that every child take mandatory tests and it ties the federal funding to the results of the tests. Therefore, a low scoring school will get less money than a higher scoring school. A low scoring school must also take steps to improve scores the following year. Other issues were also around when in office, like the environment. Some issues were global warming, drilling for oil in Alaska wild life range, and clean air. The Clean Skies Act of 2003 was created to farther expand the Clean Air Act to reduce emissions. The goal was to cut down on the amount of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury emissions in power plants over the next fifteen years. If it all worked out well they would cut down on all three emissions by sixty-nine percent. This would help the environment greatly with clean air and less global warming. With the term that president Bush had Foreign affairs dominated in his presidency. The unexpected happened with the fall of the twin towers and changed American history forever. The Country was then controlled by the main priority to protect our country. There were many plans of action that happened that were used in the defense. Some issues that were brought forth were; international treaties, defense, and going to war with the Middle East and Central Asia. Each one playing a big part with the war that we were fighting during this time.
Afghanistan was a big part of Bush’s presidency. Nine days after the twin towers collapsed, Bush gave a speech on Capitol Hill, which Congress thought to be a declaration of war. He wanted the Taliban to surrender to the United States, not only Bin Laden but also Al Qaeda leaders currently in Afghanistan, to free all workers unjustly imprisoned, close all terrorist camps, and arrest all terrorist groups including their support structure. The war itself started on October 7, 2001. "On my order, U.S. forces have begun strikes on terrorist camps of Al Qaeda, and the military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan," said Bush on a televised address in the White House. Other forces were also helping with the war; Great Britain joined in the air assistants. Concerns rose when the axis of evil came up. Reports said that Saddam had gained control of many biological and chemical warfare weapons. This brings the seriousness of the war to an extreme, since Iraq would be a likely country to have such weapons that terrorists could obtain. Such weapons were never found but proved a big deal showing up in his January 29, 2002, state of the union address. He quoted that he would not allow Saddam to receive such weapons. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq was one of the most questionable and controversial in his presidency, and was costly in many ways. He presented congress with a resolution allowing him to invade Iraq if Saddam did not surrender. This resolution passed both the house and the senate with big support. The war dragged on for many years, and before the next election there were over one thousand lives lost and over seven thousand wounded. Saddam’s capture and killing of his sons did not help stop the war. With the reelection coming up it was going to be a tough choice to choose president. President Kerry, runner against Bush, said that he has made many mistakes and he will correct them. Bush said that this must be done and has to be done to make things right, and we will look back at this day and see pride. Bush was elected a second term and the war dragged on.
President Bush had a very good connection in the legislature, in the law making cycle. He only vetoed twelve bills in his whole time as president, all of them in the second term. There were also four overrides in his two terms. This sets the record for the least vetoed bills in a president’s term in American history. The first bill that was vetoed by Bush was the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. This bill was formed to provide embryonic stem cell research. He vetoed the bill because he was anti abortion, and this went against his personal views. The second bill was the US Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability. This bill would make emergency supply relief for the ending year of September 30th, Vetoed mostly because of provisions in Iraq. The third bill vetoed was also a stem cell bill, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007. This was also vetoed because of President Bush’s stand on abortion and he was against stem cell research. The forth bill was the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007. This bill would have extended and expanded the state children’s health and insurance program. Bush said that these were steps toward federalization of health care. The fifth bill was the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. This bill was made for the conservation and development of water resources, and for improvement in rivers and harbors around the United States. Bush vetoed saying that it makes promises to local communities that Congress will have no way of keeping track of, and that it did not set priorities. This bill however got an override and made law six days after he vetoed it. Six was the Appropriations: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, 2008. It would make changes to the departments of labor, education, health, and human services. The reason the veto occurred was the cost and it would ban the use of thimerosal in childhood flu vaccines. Halfway through the list we hit number seven, which is the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, made to extend the children’s health care program. Vetoed because Bush said it was identical to earlier legislation. Eight is the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008; this was too increase the military construction and structure for the 2008 fiscal period. The ninth was the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 this would have authorized funding intelligence for the CIA. In both the eighth and ninth, Bush vetoed because of the water boarding ban in both bills. Tenth and eleventh are Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, both for different parts of agriculture. They both were to extend the agricultural programs. The bill was vetoed by President Bush because of the high cost and it would have a negative impact on small farmers. Despite the veto both of these bills were overridden and both became laws. Finally the last law was the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, which would extend the Medicare for more people to be able to have, and afford.
During President Bush’s term, the house and senate switched many times. From 2001-2003 the republicans had control of the house, and the senate split 50/50 but the tie breaking vote made the republicans have control. Then in 2002, one of the members went and switched from republican to democratic, giving the democrats control. In 2003-2005 the republicans still had control of the house and regained control of the senate. From 2005-2007 the republicans still controlled the house and the senate. From 2007-2009 the democrats took control of both houses for the first time in twelve years. Bush’s years were good for the Republican Party; they controlled all parts of the congress and executive for four years straight. This made him have a very good relationship with the other branches letting him achieve the least amount of vetoes. President Bush also got to appoint two Supreme Chief of Justice. He nominated John G. Roberts Jr. as the chief justice and Samuel Alito Jr. to be the associate of state. The senate confirmed John on September 29, 2005, and Samuel on January 31, 2006. In many times you believe the president to be a very intelligent person that will lead our country into the happy land. George Bush showed that getting good grades in high school and college is not the answer to being smart, knowing the issues and having the right plan of action is what is important to the country. He was not academically the top man, but common sense and getting new ideas and fresh blood in the office is sometimes needed to run the country efficiently. Bush has had a positive impact in my eyes even though many people disagreed with his choice in going to war. Looking deeper however, it shows that we have not had another innocent like the 9/11 attach. Every person has their own idea about war, but the war served the main purpose of protecting our country from more terroristic actions. Without the war, no one knows what could have happened or what would have happened. President’s Bush’s legacy is the day of 9/11. This day is one every American will remember forever whether seeing it on TV or living it by being in New York, or at the pentagon, at that time. Many people recall the smoke and fall of the towers on camera. Everyone turned to President Bush for his leadership abilities in relief efforts, retaliation, and his plan of action for the country. In my eyes, he did not disappoint.

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