onengine.com

Bush, George W. b. New Haven, Conn., 1946. Forty-third U.S. president. A former governor of Texas, George Walker Bush was the second son of a former president to ascend to the top office, winning the controversial 2000 election despite losing the popular vote to the sitting vice president, Al Gore. Bush didn't capture a majority in the Electoral College until five weeks after the election, when the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to suspend recounts in Florida, which Bush appeared to win by fewer than 1,000 votes. Despite running as a "compassionate conservative," he pushed a pro-business agenda, deep tax cuts (with resulting high deficits), and, after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, an aggressive military policy in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mounting controversies surrounding the buildup to and the aftermath of the Iraq war clouded the final days of his first term.