George W. Bush

George W Bush

President Bush was elected in the closest election in modern history. He is the first President in this century to lose the popular vote and win the electoral vote.

George W. Bush was born on July 6, 1946, and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as an F-102 pilot for the Texas Air National Guard. Bush began his career in the oil and gas business in Midland in 1975 and worked in the energy industry until 1986. After working on his father’s 1988 presidential campaign, he assembled a group of partners that purchased the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in 1989, which later built the Rangers' new home, the Ballpark at Arlington.

He served as managing general partner of the Texas Rangers until he was elected Governor of Texas on November 8, 1994, with 53.5% of the vote. In a historic re-election victory, he became the first Texas Governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms on November 3, 1998, winning 68.6% of the vote.

In 1998, Governor Bush won 49% of the Hispanic vote, 27% of the African-American vote, 27% of Democrats, and 65% of women. He won more Texas counties—240 out of 254—than any modern Republican except Richard Nixon in 1972 and was the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win the heavily Hispanic and Democratic border counties of El Paso, Cameron, and Hidalgo.

Secretary of State: Colin Powell Condoleezza Rice Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill John Snow Henry Paulson Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates Attorney General John Ashcroft Alberto Gonzales Michael Mukasey Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton Dirk Kempthorne Secretary of Agriculture: Ann Veneman Mike Johanns Ed Schafer Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans Carlos Gutierrez Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson Mike Leavitt Secretary of Education Rod Paige Margaret Spellings Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez Alphonso Jackson Steve Preston Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta Mary Peters Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham Samuel Bodman Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi Jim Nicholson James Peake Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge Michael Chertoff

Second President to have a Father who was President

First President to have owned a baseball team

First President since the 19th century to lose the popular vote