George W. Bush

==== Hurricane Katrina ====
{{Main|Political effects of Hurricane Katrina}}
[[File:President Bush Biloxi after Katrina.jpg|thumb|left|President Bush with hurricane victims in [[Biloxi]], September 2, 2005]]

[[Hurricane Katrina]] struck early in Bush's second term and was one of the most damaging natural disasters in U.S. history. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] hurricane season and devastated much of the north-central [[Gulf Coast of the United States]], particularly New Orleans.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Knabb, Richard D |author2=Rhome, Jamie R. |author3=Brown, Daniel P |date=December 20, 2005 |title=Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina: August 23–30, 2005 |publisher=National Hurricane Center}}</ref>

Bush declared a state of emergency in [[Louisiana]] on August 27<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html |title=Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana |date=August 27, 2005 |archive-date=May 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507075732/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] |url-status=live }}</ref> and in [[Mississippi]] and [[Alabama]] the following day.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828.html |title=Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Mississippi |date=August 28, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507035330/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828.html |url-status=live |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] |archive-date=May 7, 2013 }}; {{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-3.html |title=Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Alabama |date=August 28, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507105626/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-3.html |url-status=live |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] |archive-date=May 7, 2013 }}</ref> The eye of the hurricane made landfall on August 29, and New Orleans began to flood due to [[levee]] breaches; later that day, Bush declared a major disaster in Louisiana,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050829-2.html |title=Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance for Louisiana |date=August 29, 2005 |archive-date=May 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507075411/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050829-2.html |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] |url-status=live }}</ref> officially authorizing FEMA to start using federal funds to assist in the recovery effort.

On August 30, DHS Secretary [[Michael Chertoff]] declared it "an incident of national significance",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050831-2.html |title=Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan |date=August 31, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225062850/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050831-2.html |archive-date=February 25, 2008 |access-date=February 14, 2008 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] }}</ref> triggering the first use of the newly created [[National Response Plan]]. Three days later, on September 2, National Guard troops first entered the city of New Orleans.<ref name="tpm">{{cite web|url=http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/katrina-timeline.php|title=TPM Hurricane Katrina Timeline|date=September 20, 2005|website=Talking Points Memo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225062850/http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/katrina-timeline.php|archive-date=February 25, 2008|access-date=June 23, 2009}}</ref> The same day, Bush toured parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and declared that the success of the recovery effort up to that point was "not enough".<ref name="USAToday-Katrina">{{cite news |title=National Guard descends on New Orleans, giving evacuees hope |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-02-katrina_x.htm |newspaper=USA Today |date=September 3, 2005 |access-date=September 1, 2008 |archive-date=April 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430033232/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-02-katrina_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

As the disaster in New Orleans intensified, Bush received [[Criticism of the government response to Hurricane Katrina|widespread criticism]] for downplaying his administration's role in the inadequate response. Leaders attacked Bush for having appointed incompetent leaders to positions of power at FEMA, notably [[Michael D. Brown]];<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hsu |first1=Spencer S. |author2=Susan B. Glasser |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090501590.html |title=FEMA Director Singled Out by Response Critics |date=September 6, 2005 |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=August 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806034739/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090501590.html |url-status=live }}</ref> federal resources to respond were also limited as a result of being allocated to the [[Iraq War]],<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Ismael|last1=Hossein-zadeh|title=Social vs. Military Spending: How the Escalating Pentagon Budget Crowds out Public Infrastructure and Aggravates Natural Disasters – the Case of Hurricane Katrina|journal=Review of Social Economy|date=June 1, 2009|issn=0034-6764|pages=149–173|volume=67|issue=2|doi=10.1080/00346760801932718|s2cid=153747265}}</ref> and Bush himself did not act upon warnings of floods.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/katrinatranscript-0828.pdf|title=Transcript, Presidential Videoconference Briefing|date=August 28, 2005|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=May 3, 2010|pages=5–6|archive-date=June 24, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624111057/http://www.usatoday.com/news/katrinatranscript-0828.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." George W. Bush to [[Diane Sawyer]], ''[[Good Morning America]]'', September 1, 2005.</ref> Bush responded to mounting criticism by claiming to accept full responsibility for the federal government's failures in its handling of the emergency.<ref name=tpm /> It has been argued that with Katrina, Bush passed a political tipping point from which he would not recover.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/12/31/katrina_called_bushs_biggest_blunder/|title=Katrina called Bush's biggest blunder|date=May 31, 2012|newspaper=The Boston Globe|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104091649/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/12/31/katrina_called_bushs_biggest_blunder/|archive-date=November 4, 2012|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>