The Presidency of George W. Bush

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The Presidency of George W. Bush

Presidential Transition. Memorable moments, a history of the Presidency of George W. Bush.

Wars. Recession. Bailouts. Debt. Gloom. The unvarnished review of George W. Bush's presidency reveals a portrait of America he never would have imagined. Take a look at some of his more memorable moments while in office.

In June 2001, President Bush signed an historic tax cut bill that had cleared Congress at the end of May, fulfilling one of his central campaign promises. The package of tax cuts, which was projected to cost $1.35 trillion over the next decade, was the most extensive tax relief legislation in a generation.

In June 2001, Bush took his first overseas trip as president, traveling to five European nations. On the trip, Bush discussed his desire to pull out of the 1972 Antiballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, as the agreement stood in the way of his administration's plans to build a missile defense system. Protests emergred during his visits. In Sweeden, an effigy of President Bush towers over demonstrators protesting against his visit .

On Sept. 2001, hijacked jets destroyed the World Trade Center and hit the Pentagon killing nearly 3,000 people. Here, Bush puts his arms around firefighter Bob Beckwith during the recovery effort at the WTC.

On Oct. 7, 2001 the U.S. and Britain launched a barrage of airstrikes against the Al Qaeda terrorist network. Eight months later, Bush announced a proposal to create a new cabinet department: The Department of Homeland Security. In this Oct. 11, 2001 photo, President Bush waves the American Flag at the Pentagon.

In January 2002, Bush signed an education reform bill, known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The bill included Bush's proposals to mandate yearly standardized test, provide aid to schools with substandard student performance and penalize schools whose scores failed to improve with such aid. Here, an unidentified student from a Bronx school tells Bush a secret after he spoke about the bill.

President Bush and political activist and entertainer Bono shake hands after Bono spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2006. Bono has praised Bush for his efforts to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

In March 2003, U.S. forces launched the first strikes of the Iraq War. Here, a pair of U.S. Marines F/A-18 Hornets embark on a mission during the 'Shock and Awe' phase, which featured heavy bombing from the air.

On May 1, 2003, Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The announcement came 43 days after the war began.

On May 28, 2003, Bush signed a package of $330 billion in tax cuts that he said was an "aggressive action to strengthen the foundation of our economy."

In June 2003, Bush met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, right, and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (seen in this 2005 photo) to discuss the first steps of a road map to peace.

On Dec. 13, U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein (seen in this 2004 photo in a courtroom) in a small underground hideout about nine miles north of Tikrit.

On April 28, 2004, CBS News published its first report on Abu Ghraib, documenting the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

On Nov. 2, 2004, Bush was reelected to a second term as he defeated Sen. John Kerry.

On Jan. 20, 2005, Bush was sworn in for a second term. Addressing about 100,000 spectators gathered at the Capitol, Bush said it was the calling of the U.S. to eradicate tyranny and spread freedom across the world.

On March 21, 2005, Bush signed a law, passed by Congress less than an hour earlier, that narrowly allowed the parents of Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged woman, to challenge the removal of her life-sustaining feeding tube in federal court.

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana and Mississppi, killing more than 1,800 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Bush visited the disaster area, seeking to blunt accusations that he had initially failed to attend to the crisis. Criticism focused on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its head, Michael Brown, who had little experience in the field.

On Nov. 30, 2005, at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Bush outlined his administration's plan for winning the Iraq war, and attempted to refute critics of the conflict while acknowledging that U.S. forces had suffered "some setbacks."

In 2005, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito (left) and Chief Justice John Roberts (right) joined the High Court.

July 19, 2006 -- President George W. Bush issued the first veto of his administration to reject a bill that would have ended federal funding constraints on human embryonic stem cell research. Bush holds fourteen month old Jack Lewis "Trey" Jones, one of the "snowflake babies" born from adopted frozen embryos.

September 6, 2006 -- U.S. President George W. Bush announced that 14 top-ranking terrorist suspects would be transferred from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) custody to a U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (seen here), and called for Congress to immediately pass legislation allowing the government to try them using military tribunals. The speech marked the first time that Bush had confirmed the existence of secret overseas prisons for terrorism suspects run by the CIA.

November 7, 2006 -- The Democratic Party, led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, won control of the U.S. House and Senate in midterm congressional elections overshadowed by the war in Iraq. The Democrats ousted a Republican majority that had ruled the House since the 1994 elections, and the Senate as well except for a period in 2001-02, handing Republican President George W. Bush a defeat that would shape his final two years in office.

July 2 , 2007 -- President George W. Bush commuted the 30-month prison sentence of I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. A federal jury in March had convicted Libby, 56, of four felony counts, including perjury, lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and obstruction of justice during a probe of the leak of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer's name by Bush administration officials.

Jan. 9, 2008 -- Bush visited Israel for the fist time as President (he visited as Governor of Texas in 1998) and on Jan. 10 visited the West Bank for the first time.

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Wars. Recession. Bailouts. Debt. Gloom. The unvarnished review of George W. Bush's presidency reveals a portrait of America he never would have imagined. Take a look at some of his more memorable moments while in office.

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