George W. Bush

== Presidential campaigns ==
=== 2000 presidential candidacy ===
{{Main|George W. Bush 2000 presidential campaign|2000 Republican Party presidential primaries|2000 United States presidential election}}

==== Primary ====
Bush portrayed himself as a [[compassionate conservative]], implying he was more centrist than other Republicans. He campaigned on a platform that included bringing integrity and honor back to the White House, increasing the size of the military, cutting taxes, improving education, and aiding minorities.<ref name=msn /> By early 2000, the race had centered on Bush and Arizona Senator [[John McCain]].<ref name=msn />

Bush won the [[Iowa caucuses]] and, although heavily favored to win the [[New Hampshire primary]], trailed McCain by 19 percent and lost. Despite this, he regained momentum and effectively became the front runner after the [[Republican Party presidential primaries, 2000|South Carolina primary]], which according to ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' made history for his campaign's negativity. ''[[The New York Times]]'' described it as a [[smear campaign]].<ref name="anatomy">{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/21/the_anatomy_of_a_smear_campaign/ |title=The anatomy of a smear campaign |work=The Boston Globe |last=Davis |first=Richard H. |date=March 21, 2004 |access-date=June 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515081611/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/21/the_anatomy_of_a_smear_campaign/ |archive-date=May 15, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Hook|first1=Janet|last2=Finnegan|first2=Michael|date=March 17, 2007|title=McCain loses some of his rebel edge|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/17/nation/na-mccain17|access-date=June 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515081611/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/17/nation/na-mccain17|archive-date=May 15, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/us/politics/19mccain.html |title=Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina |work=The New York Times |date=October 19, 2007 |access-date=April 14, 2013 |last=Steinhauer |first=Jennifer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209070019/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/us/politics/19mccain.html |archive-date=December 9, 2008 }}</ref>

==== General election ====
[[File:ElectoralCollege2000.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|2000 electoral vote results]]

On July 25, 2000, Bush surprised some observers when he selected [[Dick Cheney]]{{snd}}a former [[White House chief of staff]], representative and secretary of defense{{snd}}to be his running mate. At the time, Cheney was serving as head of Bush's vice presidential search committee. Soon after at the [[2000 Republican National Convention]], Bush and Cheney were officially nominated by the Republican Party.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=La Ganga |first1=Maria L. |last2=Barabak |first2=Mark Z. |date=July 25, 2000 |title=Bush Chooses His Running Mate; All Signs Point to Cheney for Job |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-25-mn-58518-story.html |access-date=January 3, 2023 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US |archive-date=January 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103230557/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-25-mn-58518-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Bush continued to campaign across the country and touted his record as Governor of Texas.<ref name=msn /> During his campaign, Bush criticized his Democratic opponent, incumbent Vice President [[Al Gore]], over [[Gun law in the United States|gun control]] and taxation.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Sack, Kevin |author2=Toner, Robin |date=August 13, 2000 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/13/us/2000-campaign-record-congress-gore-selected-issues-ready-for-prime-time.html |title=The 2000 Campaign: The Record; In Congress, Gore Selected Issues Ready for Prime Time |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 23, 2009 |archive-date=May 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512192919/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/13/us/2000-campaign-record-congress-gore-selected-issues-ready-for-prime-time.html }}</ref>

When the election returns were tallied on November 7, Bush had won 29 states, including Florida. The closeness of the Florida outcome led to a [[United States presidential election in Florida, 2000|recount]].<ref name="msn" /> The initial recount also went to Bush, but the outcome was tied up in lower courts for a month until eventually reaching the [[U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref>{{Cite court|litigants=George W. Bush, et al., Petitioners v. Albert Gore, Jr., et al.|court=|reporter=U.S.|vol=531|opinion=98|date=December 12, 2000|url=https://law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html}}Retrieved February 12, 2010.</ref> On December 9, in the controversial ''[[Bush v. Gore]]'' ruling,<ref>{{cite news|date=December 13, 2000|title=Poll: Majority of Americans accept Bush as legitimate president|url=http://cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/13/cnn.poll/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108135219/http://cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/13/cnn.poll/index.html|archive-date=January 8, 2020|access-date=November 25, 2020|publisher=CNN}}</ref> the Court reversed a [[Florida Supreme Court]] decision that had ordered a third count, and stopped an ordered statewide hand recount based on the argument that the use of different standards among Florida's counties violated the [[Equal Protection Clause]] of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]].<ref name=msn /> The machine recount showed that Bush had won the Florida vote by a margin of 537 votes out of six million casts.<ref name="2000results">{{cite web |date=June 2001 |url=https://fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections00.pdf |title=2000 Official General Election Presidential Results |access-date=November 25, 2020 |publisher=Federal Election Commission |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124180024/https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections00.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Although he had received 543,895 fewer individual nationwide votes than Gore, Bush won the election, receiving 271 [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral votes]] to Gore's 266 (Gore had actually been awarded 267 votes by the states pledged to him plus the District of Columbia, but one D.C. elector abstained). Bush was the first person to [[List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote|win a U.S. presidential election with fewer popular votes]] than another candidate since [[Benjamin Harrison]] in 1888.<ref name=2000results />

=== 2004 presidential candidacy ===
{{Main|George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign|2004 United States presidential election}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege2004.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|2004 electoral vote results]]
[[File:George W. Bush 30 Oct 2004.jpg|thumb|right|George W. Bush re-election campaign stop in [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]]]]

In his 2004 bid for re-election, Bush commanded broad support in the Republican Party and did not encounter a primary challenge. He appointed [[Ken Mehlman]] as campaign manager, and [[Karl Rove]] devised a political strategy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec04/rove_9-01.html |title=An Interview With Karl Rove |access-date=September 1, 2008 |date=August 1, 2004 |work=NewsHour with Jim Lehrer |publisher=PBS |archive-date=May 26, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526202131/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec04/rove_9-01.html }}</ref> Bush and the Republican platform emphasized a strong commitment to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,<ref name=platform04 /> support for the [[Patriot Act|USA PATRIOT Act]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/2004_GOP_Platform_Civil_Rights.htm |title=2004 Republican Party Platform: on Civil Rights |access-date=August 20, 2008 |publisher=OnTheIssues.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515081611/http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/2004_GOP_Platform_Civil_Rights.htm |archive-date=May 15, 2006 }}</ref> a renewed shift in policy for constitutional amendments banning abortion and [[same-sex marriage]],<ref name=platform04 /><ref>After initial comments made in March, there was no statement on the latter issue until June. {{cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=Debra |title=A Gay-Marriage Wedge |work=Newsweek |volume=143 |issue=26 |date=June 28, 2004 |page=8}}</ref> reforming [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] to create private investment accounts,<ref name=platform04 /> creation of an [[ownership society]],<ref name=platform04 /> and opposing mandatory carbon emissions controls.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=OntheIssues.org |title=2004 Republican Party Platform: on Energy & Oil |access-date=August 20, 2008 |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/2004_GOP_Platform_Energy_+_Oil.htm |archive-date=February 18, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218063748/http://ontheissues.org/Archive/2004_GOP_Platform_Energy_+_Oil.htm }}</ref> Bush also called for the implementation of a [[guest worker program]] for immigrants,<ref name="platform04">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/25/us/2004-campaign-republican-agenda-draft-gop-platform-backs-bush-security-gay.html |title=The 2004 Campaign: The Republican Agenda; Draft GOP Platform Backs Bush on Security, Gay Marriage, and Immigration |access-date=June 23, 2009 |date=August 25, 2004 |work=The New York Times |last=Kirkpatrick |first=David D |archive-date=May 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513191301/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/25/us/2004-campaign-republican-agenda-draft-gop-platform-backs-bush-security-gay.html }}</ref> which was criticized by conservatives.<ref>{{cite news |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 23, 2009 |date=August 26, 2004 |last=Kirkpatrick |first=David D |title=The 2004 Campaign: The Platform; Conservatives Mount Stem Cell and Immigration Challenges |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/26/us/2004-campaign-platform-conservatives-mount-stem-cell-immigration-challenges.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515081611/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/26/us/2004-campaign-platform-conservatives-mount-stem-cell-immigration-challenges.html |archive-date=May 15, 2006 }}</ref>

The Bush campaign advertised across the U.S. against Democratic candidates, including Bush's emerging opponent, Massachusetts Senator [[John Kerry]]. Kerry and other Democrats attacked Bush on the [[Iraq War]], and accused him of failing to stimulate the economy and job growth. The Bush campaign portrayed Kerry as a staunch [[liberalism in the United States|liberal]] who would raise taxes and increase the size of government. The Bush campaign continuously criticized Kerry's seemingly contradictory statements on the war in Iraq,<ref name=msn /> and argued that Kerry lacked the decisiveness and vision necessary for success in the War on Terror.

Following the resignation of CIA director [[George Tenet]] in 2004, Bush nominated [[Porter Goss]] to head the agency. The White House ordered Goss to purge agency officers who were disloyal to the administration.<ref name="salon">{{cite news|url=https://www.salon.com/2004/11/15/cia_13/|title=Purging the disloyal at the CIA|last1=Sealey|first1=Geraldine|date=November 15, 2004|newspaper=Salon|access-date=April 4, 2017|archive-date=January 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104173258/https://www.salon.com/2004/11/15/cia_13/|url-status=live}}</ref> After Goss' appointment, many of the CIA's senior agents were fired or quit. The CIA has been accused of deliberately leaking classified information to undermine the 2004 election.<ref name="wapo">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45940-2005Jan3.html|title=Dubious Purge at the CIA|last1=Smith|first1=Haviland|date=January 4, 2005|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=April 4, 2017|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204231329/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45940-2005Jan3.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the election, Bush carried 31 of 50 states, receiving 286 [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral votes]]. He won an absolute majority of the popular vote (50.7 percent to his opponent's 48.3 percent).<ref name="16 years">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/nov/04/uselections2004.usa16 |title=And now ... four more years |access-date=September 1, 2008 |date=November 4, 2004 |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=Julian |last=Borger |archive-date=May 15, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515081611/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/04/uselections2004.usa16 }}</ref>