born July 6, 1946, New Haven, Conn., U.S.
Governor of Texas (1995–2000) and 43rd president of the U.S. (from 2001).
The eldest child of Al Gore by more than 500,000 votes, he gained the presidency when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a recount order by the Florida Supreme Court, enabling him to secure a narrow majority in the electoral college (271–266). In June 2001 Bush signed into law a $1.35 trillion tax-cut bill. In foreign affairs, his administration refused to abide by the Kyoto Protocol on reducing the emission of gases responsible for the greenhouse effect , withdrew from the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, and attempted to remove U.S. citizens from the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court . Following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon building near Washington, D.C., in September 2001 (see September 11 attacks ), the Bush administration's main priorities shifted to domestic security and counterterrorism. Bush identified Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network as responsible for the attacks. In October he launched a military campaign against Afghanistan's Taliban government, which harboured bin Laden; the invasion of the country routed al-Qaeda and forced the Taliban from power. In late 2002 Bush and British Prime Minister {{link=Blair, Tony">Tony Blair accused the Iraqi government of Saddām Ḥussein of continuing to possess and develop biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in violation of UN mandates. After failing to persuade France, Russia, and other UN Security Council members that those weapons would not be uncovered by UN weapons inspections, which had resumed in November, Bush and Blair led an attack on Iraq that toppled Ṣaddām's regime in 2003. Though no such weapons were found, fighting continued and escalated, as the United States helped Iraq pave the way for democratic elections. Bush faced a strong challenge for the presidency in 2004 by Democratic Senator John Kerry but defeated him in a close contest.
George W. Bush.
Eric Draper/White House photo