George W. Bush's 81st Birthday Countdown

George W. Bush Timeline

About George W. Bush

A former governor of Texas and son of President George H. W. Bush, Bush was elected president in 2000 and served two terms defined by the response to the September 11 attacks. Since leaving office in 2009 he has devoted himself to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, painting, and support for veterans.

From the oil patch to the owner's box

After years of hardscrabble oil ventures in Midland, Bush found his stride in baseball. In 1989 he assembled a group of investors who bought 86 percent of the Texas Rangers for $75 million, and he served as the club's managing general partner for five seasons. The team, and the new ballpark that opened in Arlington in 1994, made him a Texas household name. He carried that folksy, baseball-first style into politics and in November 1994 unseated popular incumbent governor Ann Richards.

Three days later, a bullhorn

On September 14, 2001, standing on a crumpled fire truck at Ground Zero with his arm around retired firefighter Bob Beckwith, Bush began thanking rescue workers through a bullhorn. When someone shouted that they couldn't hear him, he ad-libbed the line history kept: "I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." That bullhorn is now on exhibit at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas.

The program that saved 25 million lives

In his 2003 State of the Union, Bush launched PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, at a time when some 30 million Africans had HIV and almost no access to treatment. It became the largest commitment by any nation to fight a single disease, credited with saving more than 25 million lives. Since leaving office he has painted 98 post-9/11 veterans for his book Portraits of Courage, with proceeds funding the Bush Institute's veteran programs.

Quick facts

• Born July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut
• 43rd President of the United States (2001-2009), after serving as governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000
• The second president's son to win the White House, after John Quincy Adams
• Ran baseball's Texas Rangers as managing general partner from 1989 to 1994
• Launched PEPFAR in 2003, a program credited with saving more than 25 million lives from HIV/AIDS
• The only U.S. president with an MBA, earned at Harvard Business School

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