Featured Speaker
The 43rd President of the United States
and Founder of the George W. Bush Foundation
George W. Bush
George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States, having served from 2001 to 2009. Prior to his election, he served for six years as the Governor of Texas. As Governor, George W. Bush successfully reformed the state's education, juvenile justice, welfare, and tort laws. In 1998, he became the first Governor elected to back-to-back four-year terms in the history of Texas with a record 68 percent of the vote.
During his time as President, George W. Bush worked to extend freedom, opportunity, and security at home and abroad. His first initiative as President was the No Child Left Behind Act, a bipartisan measure that has led to demonstrable gains in educational achievement, especially among minority students. Faced with a recession when he took office, President Bush cut taxes for every federal income taxpayer, triggering 52 months of uninterrupted job growth, the longest such streak in American history. President Bush also modernized Medicare by adding a prescription drug benefit, a reform providing access to critical medicines for 40 million seniors and other beneficiaries.
Following the attacks of September 11th, 2001, President Bush implemented a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism, including the largest reorganization of the federal government since World War II. President Bush rallied the world in the defense of freedom and led a global coalition in the liberation of more than 50 million people from tyranny. In his more than seven years in office after September 11th, 2001, the United States was not attacked again.
Since leaving office, President Bush has focused on launching the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University, which will encompass the Presidential Library and Museum, Archives, and the George W. Bush Institute, an organization committed to serious, independent research in search for practical solutions to important public policy problems and outlines its four initial major areas of focus: education, global health, human freedom, and economic growth. The Institute will advance the principles that guided President Bush during his time in public service and will engage in action-oriented research and develop partnerships with foundations, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, government entities, and faith-based organizations. In short, a major part of the Institute's mission is to turn ideas into action.
President Bush is married to Laura Welch Bush, a former teacher and librarian. They have twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, and a son-in-law, Henry Hager. The Bush family also includes two dogs, Barney and Miss Beazley.