George W. Bush served as the 43rd President of the United States from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2009. A Republican and former governor of Texas, his presidency was shaped by the response to the September 11, 2001 attacks and consequential domestic policies.
Bush's presidency is most widely remembered for the response to the September 11 attacks, the launch of the global War on Terror, and military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Decisions on intelligence, national security, and counterterrorism had long-lasting international and political effects.
On the domestic front, his administration passed major laws including the No Child Left Behind education reform and the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, and he appointed two Supreme Court justices. The 2008 financial crisis and emergency responses also significantly influenced assessments of his record.
Led U.S. response to 9/11 and launched the War on Terror; Ordered U.S. invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003); Enacted No Child Left Behind education reform (2001); Created Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit (2003); Appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito; Responded to the 2008 financial crisis, including signing the TARP bailout
Key highlights and dated events associated with this presidency.
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President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, a major corporate reform law enacted in response to accounting scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and others.
Telecommunications company WorldCom filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after revealing a multibillion-dollar accounting fraud.
The Bush administration published the National Strategy for Homeland Security, a comprehensive plan outlining prevention, protection, response, and recovery efforts against terrorist threats on U.S. soil.
In Zelman v. Simmons‑Harris (decided June 27, 2002), the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that an Ohio voucher program providing tuition aid that could be used at religious schools did not violate the Establishment Clause.
President Bush attended the G8 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, where G8 leaders launched the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction and pledged funding to help secure and dismantle WMD-related programs, particularly in Russia and the former Soviet states.
On the sidelines of the G8 summit in Kananaskis, President Bush held a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss major security concerns, including weapons proliferation and the situation in Iraq.
In Ring v. Arizona (536 U.S. 584), the Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment requires a jury, rather than a judge, to find the aggravating factors necessary to impose the death penalty.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6–3 decision in Atkins v. Virginia, held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of defendants with intellectual disability.
President Bush signed the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act into law, expanding federal authority and funding to protect food and water supplies and strengthen public‑health preparedness.
President Bush released a detailed proposal to reorganize federal agencies and create a cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security to centralize U.S. domestic counterterrorism and border-security functions.
At the U.S. Military Academy commencement, President Bush laid out a policy endorsing preemptive action against regimes that harbor or sponsor terrorists and possess WMD.
President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) in Moscow, agreeing to cut their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 each by 2012.