George Walker Bush (July 6th 1946 – Present) is an American politician and businessman. He was the forty-third President of the United States of America and served from 2001 to 2009. He is the son of the forty-first President, George H.W. Bush. Before becoming President, Bush was the owner of the Texas Rangers and the Governor of Texas from 1994 to 2000. In his first year of office, on September 11th, the United States was attacked by the radical Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with a fourth plane missing its target and crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. Following this tragedy, the Bush Administration launched the War on Terror, targeting terrorist groups and those who harbored them worldwide. The United States, and a coalition of nations declared war on the Taliban, who led Afghanistan and harbored Al-Qaeda in 2001. The Taliban was removed from power in the same year, but troops remained in Afghanistan to continue fighting the Taliban. In 2003, the United States and a coalition of nations declared war on Iraq, led by dictator Saddam Hussein. The United States accused Iraq of harboring weapons of mass destruction, despite UN demands to give them up. Saddam was also removed from power rather quickly, but the United States were unable to find sufficient evidence of WMDs. Troops also remained in Iraq to help maintain order after the fall of Saddam. Stateside, Bush signed tax cuts into law, and banned federal funding of stem-cell research. George W. Bush was reelected President in 2004, but a year later, Hurricane Katrina struck the southern coast, causing millions of dollars in damage and taking many lives. The Bush Administration was criticized for its response to the hurricane. Near the end of his term, the economy fell into a major recession, and many banks and businesses failed. The federal government had to bail out multiple banks and businesses. Bush left office with low approval, but recently, he has become much more popular.
