Bush was the 43rd President of the United States.

Bush was elected president in 2000 after a close and controversial win over Democratic rival Al Gore, becoming just the fourth president to be elected while receiving fewer popular votes than his opponent.

He thought he had lost until Karl Rove called to say that Florida was too close to call. The closeness of the election led to the 36-day legal battle over Florida and its 25 electoral votes. Bush was eventually declared the winner when the Supreme Court stopped a court ordered recount in a controversial 5-4 decision on December 18, 2000.

Dick Cheney was the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009.

Bush attended high school at Phillips Academy, a boarding school (then all-male) in Andover, Massachusetts, where he played baseball and was the head cheerleader during his senior year.

George H.W. Bush, was Ronald Reagan's Vice President from 1981 to 1989 and also served as the 41st U.S. President from 1989 to 1993.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 supported standards-based education reform based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals could improve individual outcomes in education.

Bush became a member of the Skull and Bones society as a senior. The Skull and Bones Hall is known as the "Tomb", and members are known as "Bonesmen".

At a backyard barbecue in 1977, friends introduced him to Laura Welch, a school teacher and librarian. After a three-month courtship, she accepted his marriage proposal and they wed on November 5 of that year.

Fewer than nine months into office, Bush's leadership skills were tested like no other president before him. On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four U.S. jetliners, crashing one into rural Pennsylvania, another into the Pentagon building outside Washington, D.C., and two into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. The tragedy, which killed thousands and destroyed the World Trade Center, prompted Bush to announce a "War on Terrorism.