George W. Bush

Election of 2000 The election of 2000 pitted Al Gore against George W. Bush Gore focused on the environment and improving education Bush, calling himself a compassionate conservative, supported education reform and a grassroots effort to help the disadvantaged without large & costly government programs

Election of 2000 Ralph Nader was the Green Party candidate stating that Gore & Bush were to similar The election was very close and wasn’t decided for 5 weeks after election day Al Gore received more popular vote but Bush received more electoral votes, giving him the presidency

Bush Presidency Bush surrounded himself with people from various career paths Condoleezza Rice became the 1 st woman to hold the job of national security advisor

Domestic Policies Bush’s domestic goals were to cut taxes, improve education, reform Social Security and Medicare, & strengthen the nations defense Bush tries to reform education with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act which requires yearly testing of all students from 3 rd -8 th grade

Foreign Policy In foreign affairs he pushes for new military programs He wanted to build a National Missile Defense System that would shoot down any incoming missiles The terrorist attacks of 9/11 changed America: President Bush proved to be a very powerful leader after the attacks The U.S. will declare a War on Terrorism and will get involved in both Afghanistan and Iraq

Bush’s Second Term Many people were frustrated with the war in Iraq & a growing national debt. Bush defeats John Kerry in 2004 election to win a second term in office

Security & Civil Liberties Captured terrorist were held at a prison at a U.S. military based in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba The rights of these prisoners was hotly debated Many people feared that the government was given to much power to monitor or spy on citizens through phone calls & s

Supreme Court Appointments John G. Roberts named new Chief Justice Samuel Alito jr. fills Sandra Day O’Connor’s position after her retirement.