User:Floaterfluss/Bel-Air

George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. He served as the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2004 as President.

Although Bush began as an entrepreneur in the Texas oil industry, he made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before returning to politics in a campaign for Governor of Texas. He was elected as Governor in 1994 and served until his successful campaign for president. Bush won the presidency in 2000 as the Republican candidate in a close and controversial contest. Although he lost the popular vote, Bush won the required number of electoral votes with a 529-vote margin in the state of Florida. As President, Bush pushed through a $1.3 trillion tax cut program and his mom got scared, and said "you're moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air." I whistled for a cab and when it came near, the license plate said "FRESH" and there were dice in the mirror. If anything, I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought, "Nah, forget it, yo Holmes, to Bel-Air!" I pulled up to the house about seven or eight and I yelled to the cabbie, "yo Holmes, smell ya later!" I looked at my kingdom, I was finally there, to sit on my throne, as the prince of Bel-Air.

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Bush declared a global War on Terrorism and ordered an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, destroy Al-Qaeda and to capture Osama Bin Laden in October 2001. In March 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq, asserting that Iraq was in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1441. . Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, Bush committed the U.S. to establishing democracy in the Middle East, and specifically in both Afghanistan and Iraq in the short term.

Since his re-election, Bush has received increasingly heated criticism, even from former allies. His domestic popularity has decreased due to the war and other issues such as Hurricane Katrina, wiretapping of suspected terrorists, record budget deficits which were recently cut in half, and scandals affecting the administration.

Childhood to mid-life


Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Bush was the first child of George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush. Bush was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with his four siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died in 1953 at the age of three from leukemia. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut, and his father served as U.S. President from 1989 to 1993.

Bush attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Bush played baseball there, but "mostly made his mark as a cheerleader for the teams". Following in his father's footsteps, was accepted into Yale University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1968. As a college senior, Bush became a member of the secretive Skull and Bones society. By his own characterization, Bush was an average student.

In May 1968, at the height of the ongoing Vietnam War, Bush was accepted into the Texas Air National Guard. After training, he was assigned to duty in Houston, flying Convair F-102s out of Ellington Air Force Base. Critics have alleged that Bush was favorably treated during his time of service due to his father's political standing, and that he was irregular in attendance. Bush took a transfer to the Alabama Air National Guard in 1972 to work on a Republican senate campaign, and in 1974 he obtained permission to end his six-year service obligation six months early to attend Harvard Business School.

There are a number of accounts of substance abuse and otherwise disorderly conduct by Bush from this time. Bush has admitted to drinking "too much" in those years and described this period of his life as his "nomadic" period of "irresponsible youth". On September 4, 1976, at the age of 30, Bush was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He pleaded guilty, was fined $150, and had his driver's license suspended until 1978 in Maine.

After obtaining an MBA from Harvard University, Bush entered the oil industry in Texas. In 1977, he was introduced by friends to Laura Welch, a schoolteacher and librarian. They married and settled in Midland, Texas. Bush left his family's Episcopal Church to join his wife's United Methodist Church.

In 1978, Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 19th Congressional District of Texas. His opponent Kent Hance portrayed Bush as being out of touch with rural Texans; Bush lost by 6,000 votes. Bush returned to the oil industry, becoming a senior partner or chief executive officer of several ventures, such as Arbusto Energy, Spectrum 7, and, later, Harken Energy. These ventures suffered from the general decline of oil prices in the 1980s that had affected the industry and the regional economy. Additionally, questions of possible insider trading involving Harken have arisen, though the SEC's investigation of Bush concluded that he did not have enough insider information before his stock sale to warrant a case.

Bush moved with his family to Washington, D.C. in 1988, to work on his father's campaign for the U.S. presidency.

Returning to Texas, Bush purchased a share in the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in April 1989, where he served as managing general partner of the Rangers for five years. Bush presided over the trading away of Sammy Sosa, who would go on to be a popular and prodigious home run hitter for the Chicago Cubs. Bush actively led the team's projects and regularly attended its games, often choosing to sit in the open stands with fans. The sale of Bush's share in the Texas Rangers brought him over $15 million from his initial $800,000 investment.

Governor of Texas
Bush declared his candidacy for the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election, even as his brother Jeb was seeking the governorship of Florida. Winning the Republican primary easily, Bush faced incumbent Governor Ann Richards, a popular Democrat who was considered the favorite.

Bush was aided by several political advisors, including Karen Hughes, John Allbaugh, and Karl Rove. The Bush campaign was criticized for allegedly using controversial methods to disparage Richards. Following an impressive performance in the debates, however, Bush's popularity grew. He won with 52 percent against Richards' 47 percent.

As governor, Bush successfully sponsored legislation for tort reform, increased education funding, set higher standards for schools, and reformed the criminal justice system. Under his leadership, Texas executed a record 152 prisoners. Sister Helen Prejean argues that he failed to give serious consideration to clemency requests. Bush used a budget surplus to push through a $2 billion tax-cut plan, the largest in Texas history, which cemented Bush's credentials as a pro-business fiscal conservative.

Bush also pioneered faith-based welfare programs by extending government funding and support for religious organizations providing social services such as education, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, and reduction of domestic violence. He proclaimed June 10 to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day where he "urge[d] all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need." Although Bush was criticized for violating the constitutional separation of church and state, his initiative was popular with most people across the state.

In 1998, Bush won re-election in a landslide victory with nearly 69 percent of the vote. Within a year, he had decided to seek the Republican nomination for the presidency.

Primary
Bush's campaign was managed by Rove, Hughes and Albaugh, as well as by other political associates from Texas. He was endorsed by a majority of Republicans in 38 state legislatures. After winning the Iowa caucus, Bush lost to U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona in the New Hampshire primary. Bush then picked up eleven of the next sixteen primaries, effectively clinching the Republican nomination.

In the televised Republican presidential debate held in Des Moines, Iowa on December 13 1999, all of the participating candidates were asked "What political philosopher or thinker do you most identify with and why?" Unlike most of the other candidates, who cited former Presidents and other political figures, Bush responded, "Christ, because he changed my heart". Bush's appeal to religious values seems to have aided him in the general election. In a Gallup poll those who said they "attend church weekly" gave him 56% of their vote in 2000 (and 63% of their vote in 2004). During the election cycle, Bush labeled himself a "compassionate conservative", and his political campaign promised to "restore honor and dignity to the White House".

General election
Bush chose Dick Cheney, a former U.S. Representative and Secretary of Defense, as his Vice Presidential running mate. While stressing his successful record as governor of Texas, Bush's campaign attacked the Democratic nominee, incumbent Vice President Al Gore, over gun control, the Kyoto Protocol, and taxation.

On election day, November 7, 2000, Bush won several key states, including Gore's home state of Tennessee. Based on exit polls, television networks initially called the state of Florida for Gore, then withdrew that projection and later called the state, along with the entire election, for Bush. Some time after some networks reported that Bush had won Florida, Gore conceded the election, and then rescinded that concession less than one hour later, when it was declared that the results were too close to call. The vote count, which favored Bush, was contested over allegations of irregularities in the voting and tabulation processes. Because of Florida state law, a state-wide machine recount was ordered. Eventually, four counties in Florida which had large numbers of presidential undervotes began a manual hand recount of ballots. On December 8, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that every county with a large number of undervotes would perform a hand recount. On December 9, in the Bush v. Gore case, the U.S. Supreme Court, with a 5-4 vote, reversed the Florida Supreme Court ruling and stopped the statewide hand recount. The machine recount showed that Bush had won the Florida vote by a margin of 537 votes out of 6 million cast, making it the 30th state he carried.

Bush received 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266 as a result of the Florida outcome. However, he lost the popular vote by more than half a million votes, making him the first President elected without a plurality of the popular vote since Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

2004 Presidential candidacy


Bush commanded broad support in the Republican Party and did not encounter a primary challenge. He appointed Kenneth Mehlman as campaign manager, with a political strategy devised by Rove. Bush outlined an agenda that included a strong commitment to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act, making earlier tax cuts permanent, cutting the budget deficit in half, promoting education, as well as reform in tort law, Social Security, and national taxes.

The Bush campaign advertised across the U.S. against Democratic candidates, including Bush's emerging opponent, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Kerry and other Democrats attacked Bush on the war in Iraq, perceived excesses of the USA PATRIOT Act and for allegedly failing to stimulate the economy and job growth.The Bush campaign portrayed Kerry as a staunch liberal who would raise taxes and increase the size of government. The Bush campaign continuously criticized Kerry's seemingly contradictory statements on the war in Iraq, and claimed Kerry lacked the decisiveness and vision necessary for success in the war on terrorism. Bush carried 31 of 50 states for a total of 286 Electoral College votes.



Bush won an outright majority of the popular vote, the first president to do so since his father in 1988.

Cabinet appointments
In August 2005, with his nomination of the controversial John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations filibustered by the Senate, Bush installed him with a recess appointment. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid criticized this action as an abuse of presidential power.

In 2006, Bush replaced long-time chief of staff Andrew Card with Joshua Bolten and made major staff and cabinet changes with the intention of revitalizing his Administration.

On November 8, 2006 (the day after the Democrats took back Congress in the midterm elections), Bush announced plans to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with former CIA Director Robert Gates. Gates was confirmed by the Senate on December 6 and took office as the 22nd Secretary of Defense on December 18.

Economic policy
Facing opposition in Congress, Bush held town hall-style public meetings across the U.S. in 2001 to increase public support for his plan for a $1.3 trillion tax cut. Bush and his economic advisers argued that unspent government funds should be returned to taxpayers.

Under the Bush Administration, unemployment peaked at a high of 6.2% in June 2003, and is currently at a low of 4.4%. The economy has remained strong, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average setting several record highs and the GDP experiencing healthy growth. Several news sources argue that the economy, however strong, is only benefiting the wealthy, and not the majority of middle and lower-class citizens, while others have claimed the exact opposite.

Education and health
The No Child Left Behind Act aimed to close the achievement gap, measure student performance, provide options to parents with students in low-performing schools, and target more federal funding to low-income schools. Critics argue that Bush has underfunded his own program, and Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy has claimed: "The tragedy is that these long overdue reforms are finally in place, but the funds are not." Bush increased funding for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in his first years of office, and created education programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students. However, funding for NIH failed to keep up with inflation in 2004 and 2005, and was actually cut in 2006, the first such cut in 36 years.

Social services and Social Security
Bush promoted increased deregulation and investment options in social services, leading Republican efforts to pass the Medicare Act of 2003, which added prescription drug coverage to Medicare and created Health Savings Accounts, which would permit people to set aside a portion of their Medicare tax to build a "nest egg". The retired persons lobby group AARP worked with the Bush Administration on the program and gave their endorsement. Bush said the law, estimated to cost $400 billion over the first 10 years, would give the elderly "better choices and more control over their health care". President Bush began his second term by outlining a major initiative to reform Social Security, which was facing record deficit projections beginning in 2005. Bush made it the centerpiece of his agenda despite contrary beliefs in the media and in the U.S. Congress, which saw the program as the "third rail of politics," with the American public being suspicious of any attempt to change it. It was also widely believed to be the province of the Democratic Party, with Republicans in the past having been accused of efforts to dismantle or privatize it. In his 2005 State of the Union address, Bush discussed the allegedly impending bankruptcy of the program and attacked political inertia against reform. He proposed options to permit Americans to divert a portion of their Social Security tax (FICA) into secured investments, creating a "nest egg" that he claimed would enjoy steady growth. Despite emphasizing safeguards and remaining open to other plans, Bush's proposal was criticized for its high cost, and Democrats attacked it as an effort to partially privatize the system, and for leaving Americans open to the whims of the market. Bush embarked on a 60-day national tour, campaigning vigorously for his initiative in media events ("Conversations on Social Security") in a largely unsuccessful attempt to gain support from the general public.

Environmental policy and global warming

 * Main article: Environment from Domestic policy of the George W. Bush administration

Upon arriving in office in 2001, President Bush withdrew United States support of the Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change seeking to impose mandatory targets for reducing "greenhouse gas" emissions - carbon dioxide emitted in the burning of fossil fuels. Bush asserted that uncertainties existed in the climate change science regarding the degree to which human activity is the cause and cited concerns regarding the treaty's impact on U.S. industry and economy and the fact that China and India had not yet agreed. The Bush Administration's stance on global warming has remained controversial in the scientific and environmental communities during his presidency. In 2004, the Director of NASA's Goddard Institute, James Hansen, publicly and harshly accused the Administration of misinforming the public by suppressing the scientific evidence of the dangers of greenhouse gases, saying the Bush Administration wanted to hear only scientific results that “fit predetermined, inflexible positions” and edited reports to make the dangers sound less threatening in what he asserted was "direct opposition to the most fundamental precepts of science." President Bush had said that he has consistently noted that global warming is a serious problem but asserted there is a "debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused" and maintained that regardless of that debate his administration was working on plans to make America less dependent on foreign oil "for economic and national security reasons." In his 2007 State of the Union Address, President Bush renewed his pledge to work toward diminished reliance on foreign oil by reducing fossil fuel consumption and increasing alternative fuel production.

In 2002, President Bush announced the Clear Skies Initiative, aimed at amending the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution through the use of emissions trading programs. Critics contended that it would have weakened the original legislation by allowing higher levels of pollutants than were permitted at that time. The initiative was introduced to Congress, but failed to make it out of committee.

In 2006, Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, creating the largest marine reserve to date. It comprises 84 million acres and is home to 7,000 species of fish, birds and other marine animals, many of which are specific to only those islands. The move was hailed by conservationists for "its foresight and leadership in protecting this incredible area."

Stem cell research and first use of veto power
Federal funding for medical research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos through the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health has been forbidden by law since the Republican Revolution of 1995. Bush has asserted that he supports limited stem cell research, but only to the extent that human embryos are not destroyed in order to harvest additional stem cells. On August 9 2001, Bush signed an executive order lifting the ban on federal funding for the 71 existing "lines" of stem cells, but the ability of these existing lines to provide an adequate medium for testing has been questioned. Testing can only be done on 12 of the original lines, and there are fears that even these lines are corrupted.

On July 19 2006, President Bush used his veto power for the first time in his presidency to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, a bill that would have reversed the Dickey Amendment, permitting federal money to be used for research where stem cells are derived from the destruction of an embryo.

Immigration
In 2006, Bush somewhat shifted focus to re-emphasize immediate and comprehensive immigration reform. Going beyond calls from Republicans and conservatives to secure the border, Bush demanded that Congress create a "temporary guest-worker program" to allow more than 12 million illegal immigrants to obtain legal status. Bush continues to argue that the lack of legal status denies the protections of U.S. laws to millions of people who face dangers of poverty and exploitation, and penalizes employers despite a demand for immigrant labor. Bush urged Congress to provide additional funding for border security, and committed to deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to the United States-Mexico border.

Justice
On August 17, 2006, a U.S. district court judge in Detroit ruled that warrantless and otherwise congressionally unauthorized eavesdropping on telephone calls under the Terrorist Surveillance Program was unconstitutional. The judge agreed to place her ruling on hold pending an appeal.

On August 28, 2006, Congress approved a bill that made the detainee interrogation program legal. The bill was in response to the Supreme Court's decision in June that the program is illegal. It was the second time Bush had tried to approve it through Congress. Bush signed the bill into law on October 17, 2006 as the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

September 11, 2001
The September 11 terrorist attacks were a major turning point in Bush's presidency. That evening, he addressed the U.S. from the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks but emphasizing the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. On September 14, he visited the World Trade Center site, meeting with Mayor Rudy Giuliani and firefighters, police officers and volunteers. Bush addressed the gathering via megaphone while standing on a heap of rubble: I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

In a September 20 2001 speech, President Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, and issued the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, an ultimatum to "hand over the terrorists, or … share in their fate." President Bush declared a global War on Terrorism, and after the Afghan Taliban regime was not forthcoming with Osama bin Laden, he ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime.

Hurricane Katrina
President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on August 27, and in Mississippi and Alabama on August 28; he authorized DHS and FEMA to manage the disaster, but his announcement failed to spur these agencies to action. The eye of the hurricane made landfall on August 29, and New Orleans started to flood due to levee breaches; later that day, Bush declared that a major disaster existed in Louisiana, officially authorizing FEMA to start using federal funds to help with the recovery effort. On August 30, Department of Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff declared it "an incident of national significance," triggering the first use of the newly created National Response Plan. Several days later, on September 2, National Guard troops first entered the city of New Orleans. The same day, President Bush toured parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and declared that the success of the recovery effort up to that point was "not enough." Due to mounting criticism as the disaster in New Orleans intensified during the days of inaction, President Bush claimed full responsibility for the failures on the part of the federal government in its response to the hurricane.

Foreign policy


The Bush administration withdrew U.S. support for several international agreements, including the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) with Russia. It pursued a national missile defense which was previously barred by the ABM treaty and was never ratified by Congress. Bush also expressed U.S. support for the defense of Taiwan following the stand-off in April 2001 with the People's Republic of China over the crash between an EP-3E American spyplane and a Chinese air force jet, leading to the detention of U.S. personnel. In 2003-04, Bush authorized U.S. military intervention in Haiti and Liberia to protect U.S. interests.

Bush emphasized a careful approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Bush denounced Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat for alleged support of violence. However, he endoresed a two-state solution and sponsored dialogs between Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas. Bush supported Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and lauded the democratic elections held in Palestine following Arafat's death.



In his State of the Union Address in January 2003, Bush outlined a five-year strategy for global emergency AIDS relief, the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief. Bush announced $15 billion for this effort&mdash;$3 billion per year for five years&mdash;but requested less in annual budgets. This budget represented more money contributed to fight AIDS globally than all other donor countries combined.



Bush condemned the attacks by militia forces on the people of Darfur, and denounced the killings in Sudan as genocide. Bush said that an international peacekeeping presence was critical in Darfur, but opposed referring the situation to the International Criminal Court.

Bush began his second term with an emphasis on improving strained relations with European nations. He appointed long-time adviser Karen Hughes to oversee a global public relations campaign to improve the image of the U.S. and significantly increased development aid to countries with a focus on encouraging democracy and human rights. Bush lauded the pro-democracy struggles in Georgia and Ukraine. He led international pressure against Syria to withdraw troops from Lebanon. In March 2006, Bush visited India, leading to renewed ties between the two countries, particularly in areas of nuclear energy and counter-terrorism cooperation. Relations between the U.S., Germany, and Canada also improved following the election of conservative governments in those countries. Midway through Bush's second term, many analysts observed a retreat from his freedom and democracy agenda, highlighted in policy changes toward some oil-rich former Soviet republics in central Asia.

The democratic election of the Hamas organization in the parliamentary elections of the Palestinian Territories, along with democratic gains in legislatures for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hezbollah in Lebanon, all of whom are seen as terrorist organizations by the United States, also contributed to a less aggressive approach to democratic reform world-wide from the Bush administration.

War on Terror
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States by the al Qaeda organization of Osama bin Laden and the invasion of Afganistan in response, President Bush discussed a global War on Terror in his January 29 2002 State of the Union address most remembered for his assertion that an "axis of evil", an alliance between terrorists and states like North Korea, Iran and Iraq, was "arming to threaten the peace of the world" and "pose[d] a grave and growing danger". The Bush Administration proceeded to assert a right and intention to engage in preemptive war, also called preventive war, in response to perceived threats. This would form a basis for what became known as the Bush Doctrine. The broader "War on Terror", allegations of an "axis of evil", and, in particular, the doctrine of preemptive war, began to weaken the unprecedented levels of international and domestic support for President Bush and United States action against al Qaeda following the September 11 attacks.

Some national leaders alleged of abuse by U.S. troops and called for the U.S. shut down detention centers in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. Dissent from, and criticism of, President Bush's leadership in the War on Terror increased as the war in Iraq expanded. In 2006, a National Intelligence Estimate expressed the combined opinion of the United States' own intelligence agencies, concluding that the Iraq War had become the "cause celebre for jihadists" and that jihad movement was growing.

Afghanistan
On October 7 2001, U.S. and British forces initiated bombing campaigns that led to the November 13 arrival of Northern Alliance troops in Kabul. The main goals of the war were to defeat the Taliban, drive al Qaeda out of Afghanistan, and capture key al Qaeda leaders. By December 2001, the UN had installed the Afghan Interim Authority chaired by Hamid Karzai. However, efforts to kill or capture al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden failed as he escaped a battle in December 2001 in the mountainous region of Tora Bora, which escape the Bush Administration later acknowledged resulted from a failure to commit enough U.S. ground troops. Bin Laden and al Qaeda's number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as the Afghan leader of the Taliban, Mohammed Omar, remained at large as of January 2007.

Despite the initial success in driving the Taliban from power in Kabul, the war continued as by early 2003 the Taliban was regrouping, amassing new funds and recruits. In 2006 the Taliban insurgency appeared larger, fiercer, and better organized than expected, with large-scale allied offensives such as the Operation Mountain Thrust attaining limited success.

Iraq
In late 2002, President Bush began urging the United Nations to enforce Iraqi disarmament mandates, claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. These claims precipitated a diplomatic crisis. Bush also argued that the Iraqi government was supporting al Qaeda. The UN reinitiated weapons inspections, which ended upon U.S. advisement four days prior to the U.S. invasion, despite the inspectors' requests for more time. Many international leaders, such as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, heavily criticized the war, agreeing that more time should have been given to the inspectors.

In October 2002 the CIA drew together an National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction, using information from all major U.S. intelligence services, including dissenting views, from which President Bush received a one-page summary. No weapons of mass destruction were found, and critics alleged that the administration had exaggerated the evidence for Iraq's possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction and for ties between Sadaam Hussein and al Qaeda. Bush later stated that "It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong." , but said he would have made the same decision if he had known more.

The war effort (approved by the U.S. Congress) was joined by more than 20 other nations (most notably the United Kingdom) whom the Bush Administration designated the "coalition of the willing". The invasion of Iraq began on March 20, 2003, and Iraqi military was quickly defeated. On May 1, 2003, President Bush declared the end of major combat operations in his "Mission Accomplished" speech.

Following the invasion, the situation deteriorated and by 2007 the conflict between Iraqi Sunni and Shi'a factions was described by the National Intelligence Estimate as having elements of a civil war. In a January 10, 2007 address to the American people, President Bush stated that "Eighty percent of Iraq's sectarian violence occurs within 30 miles of the capital. This violence is splitting Baghdad into sectarian enclaves, and shaking the confidence of all Iraqis."

North Korea
President Bush publicly condemned Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, naming North Korea one of three states in an "axis of evil," and saying that "[t]he United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons." Within months, "both countries had walked away from their respective commitments under the U.S.-DPRK Agreed Framework of October 1994."

North Korea's October 9 2006 detonation of a nuclear device further complicated President Bush's foreign policy, which centered for both terms of his presidency on "[preventing] the terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the world." President Bush condemned North Korea's claims, reaffirmed his commitment to "a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula," and stated that "transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States," for which North Korea would be held accountable.

Assassination attempt
On May 10, 2005, while Bush was giving a speech in the Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, a live hand grenade was thrown by Vladimir Arutinian towards the podium where he and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili were seated. It landed in the crowd about 65 feet from the podium after hitting a girl; it did not detonate. Arutinian was arrested in July 2005, confessed, and was convicted in January 2006 and given a life sentence.

Domestic perceptions


At the beginning of his first term, Bush was regarded by some as lacking legitimacy due to his narrow victory in Florida and the attendant controversy surrounding his overall victory, which included accusations of vote suppression and tampering. Bush began his presidency with approval ratings near 50%; however, following the September 11 attacks, Bush gained an approval rating of greater than 85%, maintaining 80–90% approval for four months after the attacks. Since then, his approval ratings and approval of handling of domestic and foreign policy issues have steadily dropped. Bush has received heavy criticism for his handling of the Iraq War, his response to Hurricane Katrina, and to the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse, NSA warrantless surveillance, and Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp controversies. Additionally, critics have decried his frequent use of signing statements, contending that they are unconstitutional. The decision of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) the House Judiciary Chair to hold hearings on Bush’s use of “signing statements”, has been hailed by the President’s critics as a step towards impeachment.

In the 2004 elections, 95-98% of the Republican electorate approved of him. This support waned, however, due mostly to Republicans' growing frustration with Bush on the issues of spending and illegal immigration. Many Republicans began criticizing Bush on his policies in Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian Territories. Bush's approval rating has been below the 50 percent mark in AP-Ipsos polling since December 2004.

Polls conducted in 2006 showed an average of 37% approval ratings for Bush; the lowest for any second term president in this point of term since Harry Truman in March 1951, when his approval rating was 28 percent, which contributed to what Bush called the "thumping" of the GOP in the 2006 mid-term elections.

Calls for the impeachment of Bush have been made by various groups and individuals, with their reasons usually centering on the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, the Bush administration's justification for the war in Iraq, and violations of the Geneva Conventions. Opinion polling has shown that a majority of Americans would support impeaching Bush if it was found that he had lied about the reasons for the war in Iraq. However, when asked if Bush should be impeached, a majority of Americans disagreed.

Bush's intellectual capacities have been questioned by the news media, as well as other politicians. Detractors tended to cite the various linguistic errors made by Bush during his public speeches (colloquially known as Bushisms).

Activist and filmmaker Michael Moore released Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004, making a plethora of accusations against Bush, most notably using public sentiments following 9/11 for political purposes, financial connections between the Bush family and the prominent Saudi Arabian families such as the royal family and the Bin Laden family, and lying about the cause for war in Iraq. In 2000 and again in 2004, Time magazine named George W. Bush as its Person of the Year.

Foreign perceptions


Bush has been widely criticized in the international community; he was targeted by the global anti-war and anti-globalization campaigns, and criticized for his foreign policy in general. Bush's policies were also the subject of heated criticism in the 2002 elections in Germany and the 2006 elections in Canada. Bush was openly condemned by current and former international leaders such as Gerhard Schröder, Jean Chrétien, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Romano Prodi, Paul Martin, and notably Hugo Chávez. Later in Bush's presidency, tensions arose between himself and Vladimir Putin, which has led to a cooling of their relationship.

Bush has been described as having especially close personal relationships with Tony Blair and Vicente Fox, although formal relations are sometimes strained.

In 2006 a majority of respondents in 18 of 21 countries surveyed around the world were found to hold an unfavorable opinion of Bush. Respondents indicated that they judged his administration as "negative" for world security. A poll conducted in Britain named Bush the second biggest "threat to world peace" after Bin Laden, topping North Korean president Kim Jong-Il. According to a poll taken in November 2006, Finns also believed that Bush was the second biggest "threat to world peace" after Bin Laden. Kim Jong-Il came in third in the poll and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Nasrallah came joint fourth.