Analytical Essay on George W. Bush: Life Before Presidency

George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut. George W. Bush was the first born of 5 children. George had 4 siblings, 3 brothers and 2 sisters. His sister Pauline battled Leukemia Cancer. At the age of 4, she passed away. He was unaware of his sisters death until 2 days after she died. Bush struggled with living without his sister. He started getting an education at primary schools in Midland, Texas. In Texas they rented a small apartment in which they had to share a lot of things with neighboring prostitutes. He lived a typical suburban life that included baseball. Before enrolling in Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts from 1961-1964, Bush went to a variety of different schools. Bush struggled academically. He wasn’t very smart. After graduating he then started school at Yale University to earn a Bachelorś degree in History. During his schooling, his father decided to run for president, which made him fall in love with politics. He played baseball for Yale as a pitcher for the junior varsity team. He didn’t have much success in sports though. He decided he was better at rugby than baseball. He ended up making the varsity team for rugby. He graduated from Yale in 1968. After college, Bush enlisted in the Air National Guard. He served in Texas and Alabama until his discharge in 1974. His military experience became a point of contention to his political opponents. Because he enlisted in the National Guard, they accused him of avoiding overseas service and combat. He then enrolled at Harvard University to get a Masters degree in Business Administration. After getting his Masters, he moved moved back to Midland and got a job in the oil field. In 1977 Bush married Laura Lane Welch. They got married in Midland, Texas and ended up having 2 daughters. Their names were Jenna and Barbara. Also in 1977 Bush founded Arbusto Energy. In 1968, he underwent a recommitment in Christian faith. After that he moved to Washington D.C., where he assisted his father during his campaign. One year later, he purchased the Texas Rangers baseball organization and managed iti for the next 5 years. He began Presidency on January 20, 2001.

Foreign Affairs

Bush announced that the U.S. would not follow the Kyoto Protocol on reducing emissions of gases that cause Global Warming. The emission limits could affect the U.S. economy. In 1972 the administration withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

On September 11, 2001, four American commercial planes were hijacked by islamic terrorists. Two of the four planes crashed into Tower 1 and Tower 2 of the World Trade Center in New York. Plane three crashed into the Pentagon. Plane 4 didn’t make it to its destination when crew and passengers tried to regain control of the plane and crashed it into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The 9/11 attacks were the worst on U.S. soil. It killed some 3,000 people. Bush accused Osama bin Laden and terrorist group Al Qaeda of the attack.

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The war in Afghanistan was a deadly and long war. On October 7, the United States began dropping Air Strikes on taliban and Al Qaeda camps. The war plan against Afghanistan was known as Operation Enduring Freedom. The operation consisted of four phases. The first phase was to connect the U.S. forces with other allies. The second phase was to begin air campaigns to take out taliban and Al Qaeda bases and supply Afghan civilians air drops to enlighten their load and stress. The third phase was to combine U.S. soldiers and other allies and send them in to work with Afghan forces to hunt down and kill remaining taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The final phase was to help stabilize the country and ensure a free society for the Afghan people. By early November the United States had conquered Mazar-i-Sharif. That city was known for strategic attacks and defense. After conquering Mazar-i-Sharif, most other big cities got taken over. With the fall of the cities talibans had to retreat and surrender. They retreated into the mountains South and East of Kabul. Hamid Karzai, leader of opposing Afghan forces, joined forces with Marine forces to take Kandahar on December 7, 2001. They forced the remaining taliban al Al Qaeda fighters to the eastern border. In earley 2002, Operation Anaconda drove the remaining taliban and Al Qaeda combatants out. Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the leader and mastermind of the taliban and Al Qaeda was captured by springtime of 2003. Forces then focused on remaining taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. They then focused on Osama bin Laden who fled to Pakistan. By 2006 attacks throughout Afghanistan drastically increased. In the fall of 2006, Bush ordered a troop increases from about 20,000 to about 30,000 troops in two years. Bush put a lot of time, money, and effort into creating a new Afghan Government. After most insurgents were driven out of Afghanistan, the focus shifted on taking out Al Qaeda and the rest of the taliban out of Pakistan. Negotiations with the president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, went very well. He promised to hunt down terrorists at the border. Both governments agreed to exclude U.S. soldiers from the country to avoid political tension. Even though both governments promised there would be no political tension, there was. There was a political crisis and preparation for a war with India. Even though Bush couldn’t send ground troops in, he increased missile strikes and surveillance to the area. Bush called out an Axis of Evil. It consisted of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. He stated that all three countries were a threat. British and French allies didn’t take bush seriously because they thought that his use of words was overly aggressive. The Bush doctrine was in 2002, stating that if the United States struck war on any country then they have a chance to fight back. The second point stated that the United States had to fight alone to defend themselves whether it was at home of U.S. soil or anywhere in the world. The third point was to embrace and spread democracy and freedom around the world. People’s liking to the Bush Doctrine were mixed. Neoconservatives strongly supported it. Others believed that spreading democracy around the world was unrealistic. With the doctrine, the Iraq situation became more unstable.

On October 7, 2001, Bush ordered a bombing attack on Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid by the SEAL Team 6. The raid was officially called Operation Neptune Spear. Operation Geronimo was another name for the raid. Bush’s public approval rating rose after the September 11th attacks. In January 2002, captured Taliban fighters and suspected Al-Qaeda members were moved from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Because the base was outside U.S. territory, the prisoners did not get granted constitutional rights. Guantanamo Bay became an international focus in June 2004 when the International Committee of the Red Cross aquired intel that many interrogation methods used on most of the prisoners were borderline torture. This started when publication of photographs showed proof of American soldiers abused prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Because of these actions, Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act which stated that all cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners was banned for prisoners in U.S. custody. In 2006, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act which gave the commissions the express statutory basis the court had been lacking. It also prevented enemy combatant that were not U.S. citizens from challenging their detention in federal courts. The CIA abducted some dozens of individuals that were suspected in an involvment in terrorism and hld them in prisons in eastern Europe and transferedbthem to other countries that practiced extreme interrogation and torture. In February of 2005, the CIA admitted to waterboarding individuals in custody. Waterboarding is a form of tortue in International Law. Enhanced interrogation techniques were illegal until 2005 when the Justice Department declared it legal. In 2007, Bush ordered an Executive Order stating that the CIA was prohibited from using torture or cruel and inhumane techniques, but allowed specific interrogation methods that remain classified. In March of 2008, Bush vetoed a bill that would have prevented the CIA to use interrogation methods that was not on the U.S. Army manuel. In September of 2002 the U.S. announced a new National Security Strategy that stated that the U.S. could use military force on any country that has nuclear weapons. In Bush’s State of the Union speech, he addressed that Iraq had attempted to purchase enriched Uranium for Niger to use in nuclear weapons. On March 17, Bush issued a warning to Saddam that he and his immediate family leave Iraq within 48 hours or they will be removed by force. Saddam refused to leave within 48 hours so Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq. This invasion is known as Operation Iraqi Freedom. The invasion began on March 20th. The U.S. and British forces overwhelmed the Iraqi soldiers and by mid-April they entered Baghdad and other sites forcing Saddam from power. Saddam was captured by U.S. and executed by the Iraqi government three years later. From May 1st to December of 2003, nearly 200 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq. The number of casualties increased within the next four years. There was 900 casualties of U.S. soldiers in 2007 alone. By March of 2008, there had been 4,000 U.S. soldiers dead. After the U.S. won the war, Iraqi people broke out in violence and chaos. There were mass suicides and homicides. There was carbombing, beheadings, and kidnappings. In 2006, on average there were about 120 Iraqi deaths a day. Al Qaeda troops flooded into Iraq to train Iraqis to become terrorists. U.S. troops patrolled to area on foot alongside the Iraqi military. By the end of 2008, both Iraqi and U.S. deaths declined by 60%. The U.S. withdrew from Iraq on December 31, 2001. By the time they withdrew, there had been more than 4,200 U.S. deaths during the war.

On June 19, 2002, Bush announced the International Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative. The initiative was to give treatment to women and stop the spread of HIV. Bush’s budget of $15 billion supplied life extending medication to 2 million victims of AIDS/HIV. In 2005, Bush began the Malaria Inistiative. He put $1.2 billion into the initiative. In Africa, 9$ of the deaths were caused by Malaria. This initiative continued after his presidency. The Millennium Challenge Corporation, established in January of 2004, provided development aid to poorer countries. By 2005 the corporation raised $5 billion in grants. There was $34 billion of debt cancelled for poorer African countries.

Domestic Affairs/Policy

At the beginning of his presidency, Bush proposed a $1.6 Trillion tax-cut bill in February, 2001. A compromise of $1.35 Billion was passed by congress in June. In May of 2001, Dick Cheney (bush’s Vice President) opened more federal land for mining and oil and gas exploration. This extended tax credits and other subsided to energy companies. All this was for an increase of fossil fuel production. In July, a number of nonprofit organizations filed suit to expose the task force and all the people or groups they met with. After the September 11th attacks Bush announced that the U.S. would not rest until every terrorist group that’s in reach are found. The Department of Homeland Security began on January 24, 2003. In October 2001 Bush introduced and Congress passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act). This act expanded the search and surveillance of the FBI. In January of 2002, Bush secretly authorized the NSA to Spy on international phone calls and emails. The U.S. economy was still poor despite recession. In May of 2003, Bush secured a tax cut of $250 million. In January of 2002, Bush put into the law the No Child Left Behind Act. It introduced new cariculum into schools. States had to administer yearly tests for math and reading.

References

1. https://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/life-before-the-presidency.
2. “George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.” George W. Bush - The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/en/The-President-and-Family/George-W-Bush.
3. “George W. Bush: Foreign Affairs.” Miller Center, 10 July 2017, https://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/foreign-affairs.
4. Leffler, Melvyn P. “Think Again: Bush's Foreign Policy.” Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/23/think-again-bushs-foreign-policy/.
5. “George W. Bush: Domestic Affairs.” Miller Center, 10 July 2017, https://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/domestic-affairs.
6. “George W. Bush: Impact and Legacy.” Miller Center, 10 July 2017, https://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/impact-and-legacy.
7. Ford, Matt. “The Real Impact of George H. W. Bush's Presidency.” The New Republic, 5 Dec. 2018, https://newrepublic.com/article/152521/real-impact-george-h-w-bushs-presidency.
8. “Governor of Texas.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-W-Bush/Governor-of-Texas.