Transcript Slide 1

42. George “W”alker Bush
2001- 2009 (R)
Birth/Death:
1946- retired in Texas
Elected from:
Texas
Vice President:
Dick Cheney
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(1) The 2000 Election/ Supreme Court
Intervention
FL’s 25 electoral votes were in question.
Bush led the popular vote in FL by < 2,000.
FL law required a recount.
Supreme Court
– December 12, 2000
– Bush v. Gore
awarded FL to Bush.
– 1st president in over
100years to win
Electoral vote, but not
the popular vote. (4th ever)
(notice Gore lost Tennessee where he’s from)
AL GORE
Nominee: George W. Bush
• Party:
Republican
• Home state:
Texas
• Running mate: Cheney
• Electoral vote: 271
• States carried: 30
• Popular vote: 50,456,002
• Percentage: 47.87%
Total electoral votes = 538.
Total electoral votes needed to
win = 270
Voting age population 205,815,000
only 51.3% voted
Albert A. Gore
Democratic
Tennessee
Lieberman
266
20+DC
50,999,897
48.38%
FYI: Ralph Nader- the 3rd
party got 2,882,955
popular votes… could
that have made a
difference???... They
would have voted D
Election results by county. Kinda cool looking
(2) Sept. 11, 2001
• 8 months into Bush’s
first term
• 19 terrorists (under bin Laden’s orders)
• 2 airline passenger jets into the Twin Towers (NYC)
• 1 into the Pentagon (DC), and one on way to DC
that was taken over by passengers and crashed in
PA. (thought to be headed to Congress or White
House)
• 3,000 Americans die within an hour and a half.
Rudy Giuliani becomes “America’s Mayor.”
• Osama bin Laden's declaration of a holy war against the
United States, and a fatwā signed by bin Laden and others
calling for the killing of American civilians in 1998, are seen by
investigators as evidence of his motivation to commit such
acts.
• Bin Laden and fellow Al-Qaeda leaders are believed to be
hiding near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan's Federally
Administered Tribal Areas.
• Bin Laden is Wahhabi Muslim, had married four women and
fathered roughly 25 or 26 children.??
• Bin Laden has consistently dwelt on the need for violent jihad
to right what he believes are injustices against Muslims
perpetrated by the United States and sometimes by other
non-Muslim states, the need to eliminate the state of Israel,
and the necessity of forcing the US to withdraw from the
Middle East. He has also called on Americans to "reject the
immoral acts of fornication (sex outside of marriage)and
homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and usury (high interest
rates)," in an October 2002 letter.
Born: March
10, 1957
(age 53)
(3) No Child Left Behind
• Education plan to increase efforts to fully
educate every child.
• Schools are held more accountable (state
testing)
• Federal and state governments have
increased education spending.
• (This is why the 6 of us
are a little stressed out
right now.  )
20 more days!!!Aghhhhhh
(4) Invasion of Afghanistan:
• Beginning of George W’s “War on
Terrorism”
• Purpose: to capture Osama bin Laden,
destroy al-Qaeda, and remove the Taliban
regime which had provided support and safe
harbor to al-Qaeda.
• Oct. 7, 2001: US and Great Britain begin
strategic air strikes.
• The U.S.-led Coalition is
credited with removing
the Taliban from power
and seriously crippling alQaeda and associated
militants in both
Afghanistan and
neighboring Pakistan.
• U.S. has maintained its
presence in Afghanistan
ever since, fighting
continued opposition by
Muslim extremists.
(5) USA Patriot Act (2001)
• " Uniting and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001"
• The Act expanded the authority of US law
enforcement agencies for the stated purpose of
fighting terrorism in the United States and
abroad.
• Very Controversial- supposedly “suppresses civil
liberties”
The Act increases the ability of law
enforcement agencies to search
telephone, e-mail communications,
medical, financial, and other records;
eases restrictions on foreign intelligence
gathering within the United States;
expands the Secretary of the Treasury’s
authority to regulate financial
transactions, particularly those involving
foreign individuals and entities; and
broadens the discretion of law
enforcement and immigration authorities
in detaining and deporting immigrants
suspected of terrorism-related acts.
The act also expands the definition of terrorism to include
domestic terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to
which the USA PATRIOT Act’s expanded law enforcement powers
can be applied.
(6) Widespread Roman Catholic Sex
Abuse Scandal (2002)
• Allegations made against a variety of
religious groups including but not exclusively
Roman Catholic priests, monks, and nuns.
• Only an estimated 0.2% of Roman Catholic
priests have been proven to be abusers. (that
is only 2/10ths of a %... But it was a big deal)
(7) Enron/ World Com/ Big Business
Bankruptcy (2002)
• Enron- Energy Co. out of Houston, TX
– Employs/ Investors lost millions because of
accounting fraud
– Inflated profits and assets
• World Com- Telecommunication Co. out of
Clinton, MS
– CEOs took money (loan) and inflated assets
– Bernie Ebbers: CEO now serving a 25 year jail
sentence!
(8) Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
• Feb. 1, 2003
• Caused by damage sustained during launch
when a piece of foam insulation from the
external fuel tank peeled off during the launch
16 days earlier, puncturing the edge of the
wing.
• Upon re-entry, hot gases entered the wing,
destroying the support structure. The shuttle
disintegrated over Texas.
(9) Invasion of Iraq/ Capture of
Saddam Hussein (2003)
• March 20, 2003- US and GB forces invade Iraq
after the UN would not invade.
• The Iraqi military was defeated, and Baghdad fell
on April 9.
• On May 1, U.S. declared the end of major combat
operations, terminating the Ba’ath’s party rule
and removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
from office.
• Coalition forces ultimately captured Saddam
Hussein on Dec. 13, 2003.
(10) Presidential Election of 2004
• [R] GW Bush (TX)/ Cheney- 286 electoral votes
(62,040,610 popular vote)
• [D] John Kerry (MA)/ John Edwards- 251
electoral votes (59,028,444 pop vote)
• Issue- WAR ON TERROR
(11) US hands over power to Iraqi
Interim Gov’t (2004)
• US and Coalition Allies created this gov’t as a
“caretaker” gov’t to govern Iraq
• Iraq has continued to see several different gov’ts
over the past 6 years. More stable now
Interim President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, right,
is sworn in Monday by Iraqi Chief Justice
Midhat Al-Mahmodi.
(13) Dec. 26, 2004- Tsunami
• Undersea earthquake in
Indian Ocean
• Killed 225,000 people in 11 countries
• Former presidents
Clinton and GHW
Bush led relief efforts
(12) Social Security Problems (2005)
• Soc Sec was in fear of bankruptcy (people are
living longer!!!)
• W. suggested allowing citizens to take Soc
Sec taxes and place them in secured
investments.
• Plan did not catch on
• social security is still in jeopardy.
• In 1950, there were 16 workers to support every one
beneficiary of Social Security.
• Today, there are only 3.3 workers supporting every Social
Security beneficiary.
• In 2008 – just two short years ago– baby boomers will begin
to retire. And over the next few decades, people will be
living longer and benefits are scheduled to increase
dramatically. By the time today’s youngest workers turn 65,
there will only be 2 workers supporting each beneficiary.
Under the current system, today’s 30-year-old worker will
face a 27% benefit cut when he or she reaches normal
retirement age.
(14) Hurricane Katrina (2005)
• August 23, 2005- Category 5
• Costliest and one of deadliest
in history
• Gulf Coast
• Over 1800 people killed
• Haley and Ray
Did somebody
say something
about buses?
There’s gonna be
a lot of wurter!
(15) Saddam Hussein is convicted & hanged
(2006)
• Dec. 13, ’03: Captured by U.S. forces
• Brought to trial under the Iraqi interim government
set up by U.S.-led forces.
• Nov. 5,’06: Convicted of executing 148 Iraqi Shi'ites 
sentenced to death by hanging.
“Where is my
• Dec. 30, ’06: Executed by the new
stunt
double?!!”
Iraqi government
“RUH- ROH!”
“I’m the King of the
World!”
(16) Bush Vetoes
stem-cell research - ‘06
• "This bill would support the
taking of innocent human life
in the hope of finding medical benefits for others,"
…"It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society
needs to respect. So I vetoed it."
• The Stem Cell Bill would have loosened the restrictions
on federal funding for stem-cell research.
• House Republican leaders tried to override the veto,
but that vote fell short of the necessary two-thirds
majority.
(above) President Bush holds a child who was
adopted while an embryo.
Kyoto Protocol
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at fighting global
warming. The UNFCCC is an international
environmental treaty with the goal of achieving
"stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in
the atmosphere at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system."
(17) Hezbollah/Lebanon/
Israel (2006)
a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon
And northern Israel. The principal parties
were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli
military. (The conflict started on 12 July 2006, and continued
until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the
morning on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8
September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of
Lebanon.) The conflict began
When Hezbollah militants
purposely fired rockets at
Israeli border towns
Remember the term
LAME DUCK?
• GHWB “Daddy Bush” was one, Jimmy Carter was one,
Herbert Hoover was one… what was it?
• When the President loses the next election, the other
political party is now in office, and Americans wish the
old guy would get out and let the new guy start
• George “W” Bush is not considered to be a Lame
Duck because he did not actually run for
reelection- but American’s want the Republicans
out and to give Obama and the Democrats a try.