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Bush is elected
Bush narrowly won the Republican nomination. The 2000 presidential election pitted George W. Bush against Democratic candidate Al Gore . As Election Day unfolded, there was no clear winner. Bush had 246 electoral votes and Gore had 255, with 270 needed to win. Florida’s 25 electoral votes were held in the balance where several counties reported problems with balloting. After extensive investigation, Bush was declared the winner. Bush however lost the popular vote, complicating his victory. -
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The Presidency of George W. Bush
George W. Bush, America’s 43rd president, served in office from 2001 to 2009. Before entering the White House, Bush was a two-term Republican governor of Texas. In 2000, he won the presidency after narrowly defeating Democratic challenger Al Gore. Bush’s time in office was shaped by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against America. In response, he declared a global “war on terrorism,” established the Department of Homeland Security and authorized U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. -
US withdraws from the Anti-ballistic missile treaty
The United States withdrew from the landmark 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty on June 13. President George W. Bush issued a short written statement the day the treaty expired. In it, he noted that the treaty is “now behind us,” and he reiterated his commitment to deploy missile defenses “as soon as possible” to protect against “growing missile threats.” He then began shifting more towards preparing for missile threats, rather than preventing them. -
September 11th Terrorist attack
19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, a third plane hit the Pentagon, and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defined the presidency of George W. Bush. -
No Child Left Behind is signed into law
The No Child Left Behind Act was passed Congress with overwhelming support in 2001 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002. The law significantly increased the federal role in holding schools responsible for the academic progress of all students. It emphasized ensuring that states and schools boost the performance of certain groups of students, such as students in special education, and poor and minority children, whose achievement, on average, trails their peers. -
Bush declares war on Iraq
The main premise for the war in iraq was that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and that these were at risk of falling into the hands of terrorists. In the end, however, there were no such weapons, and Saddam’s links to al Qaeda were unproven. This robbed the invasion of legitimacy. -
George W. Bush removes American troops from Iraq
As the war progressed from its initial invasion phase in 2003 to a nearly decade-long occupation, American public opinion shifted towards favoring a troop withdrawal. The Bush Administration sought an agreement with the Iraqi government, and in 2008 George W. Bush signed the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. It stated that "all the United States Forces shall withdraw from all Iraqi territory". The last U.S. troops left Iraq on 18 December 2011, in accordance with this agreement. -
Bush is re-elected
In 2004, George W. Bush ran for re-election. Bush's political core remained supportive, and he was able to win reelection over Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry in the November election. During his second term, Bush pushed for immigration reform, which received criticism from many conservatives, and eased environmental regulations, which received criticism from many liberals. -
George W. Bush travels to Europe to smooth tensions over invasion of Iraq
George W. Bush travels to Europe in an attempt to gain foreign support for the war in Iraq from European Nations. He states that helping Iraq's failing democracy will make it a symbol of hope in the middle East. This was an attempt to have any US allies put their feelings about the war behind them, so they could give their continued support for the United States. -
U.S begins attack Al Qaeda in Somalia
Bush established a program at the National Security Agency to fight back. He built new programs at the Treasury Department to deny extremists state-of-the-art banking and financial tools, making it more difficult for them to raise funds, move money, pay operatives, bribe officials and finance new attacks. He established the CIA, an effort that doubled our intelligence on al-Qaeda. He created the Department of Homeland Security and transformed the FBI and the Justice Department to fight terror. -
George W. Bush hosts a middle eastern peace conference
President Bush outlined a two-state peace treaty he hoped to broker between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of his term. He called for redrawing borders and compensating Palestinians and their descendants for homes they left in what is now Israel. Speaking after two days of meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, President Bush was able to effectively find peace in the Middle East, a feat yet to be accomplished by the US.
