GEORGE BUSH

Marriage: 1977 to Laura Welch. Laura was born in Midland, Texas on November 4, 1946, the daughter of Harold and Jenna Welch. She graduated from Southern Methodist University, and formerly was a teacher and librarian.

Children: Twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, born 1981

Home: 1,600-acre ranch in Crawford, Texas; Lake home in Athens, Texas.

Education: Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, Yale University (B.A. 1968), Harvard Business School (M.B.A. 1975).

Religion: Raised Episcopal, changed to Methodist, the religion of his wife.

Occupation before Presidency: East Texas, management trainee at an agricultural firm; Worked on U.S. Senate campaigns in Florida and Alabama; Formed Arbusto Oil Co., later named Bush Exploration, an independent oil and gas exploration company. Merged his oil company with Spectrum 7, an oil-investing firm - then sold Spectrum 7 to Harken Energy; Ran for 1978 race for U.S. House of Delegates (defeated); Worked on his father's 1987 presidential campaign as the campaign's chief liaison to Christian conservatives; Purchased the Texas Rangers professional baseball team in 1988 along with other wealthy investors - invested $606,000 - made nearly $15 million when the team was sold in 1998.

Military Service: Texas Air National Guard (1968). Attained rank of lieutenant but was never called to serve in Vietnam.

Pre-Presidential Offices: Governor of Texas (1994-2001)

Age at Inauguration: 54

Bush Administration: Vice President: Richard B. Cheney, former congressman from Wyoming and former Secretary of Defense in his father's presidential cabinet. Cheney in also in the oil business in Texas. Inauguration January 20, 2001, The Capital, Washington, D.C.

Interesting Facts:

As Governor in 1997, Bush backed a huge tax reform plan that would have lowered property taxes by $3 billion per year, which also included other cuts, however this was defeated in the state legislature by fellow Republicans. In the end, taxes were cut by $1 billion from various reforms made from remnants of his plan.
Bush was the first Texas governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms.
Bush is a supporter of the death penalty, but holds a deep anti-abortion stance and opposes hate-crime legislation that supports and protects the rights of homosexuals.
In the November 2000 presidential election, Bush lost the popular vote to his rival, Democratic Vice-President Albert Gore and his running mate, Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman. As the election unfolded, voting improprieties in the state of Florida surfaced. As it turned out, the electoral votes for Florida were the deciding factor as to which candidate would win the election. Following weeks of counting and recounting votes, the case finally went to the U.S. Supreme Court, whereby the counting of votes was ordered stopped, and through the decision of the Justices, Bush was appointed by the high court as the winner. It is alleged that Vice President Gore would have prevailed if the counting of votes had been allowed to continue. George W's brother, John Ellis Bush, known as J.E.B., is the current governor of Florida. Having lost the election by more than a half-million popular votes, Bush is the first President since 1888 to become President without winning the popular votes. The last instance was President Benjamin Harrison who lost the popular vote and won the election per the electoral college.
George W. Bush is the second father and son to be elected as presidents in U.S. Presidential history. The first was John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams.
George W. Bush's mother, Barbara, the former First Lady has the distinction of becoming the first First Lady to personally witness the inauguration of her husband and son. John Adam's wife, the former First Lady Abigail Adams, only witnessed her husband's inauguration. She died on October 28, 1818; her son, John Quincy Adams did not assume the Presidency until March 4, 1825.

Copyright © 1993-2022 by John T. Marck. All Rights Reserved. This article and their accompanying pictures, photographs, and line art, may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the author. From The Presidents of the United States by John T. Marck.