George W. Bush: Difference between revisions

Line 5:

The 43rd President of the United States, in office from 2001-09. He succeeded [[Bill Clinton]], and was succeeded by [[Barack Obama]].

George W. "Dubya" Bush is a Republican and the son of former President [[George HW Bush|George Herbert Walker Bush]]. He was an owner of the [[Baseball|Texas Rangers baseball team]] and the Governor of Texas prior to reaching the White House. [[Fountain of Memes|Famous]] for his frequent [[Malaproper|malapropisms]] (known as Bushisms), such as "I know how hard it is to put food on your family". Ushered in a veritable ''golden age'' of political satire in America. Also "starred" in not one, but ''two'' [[Sitcom|sitcoms]] (''[[That's My Bush]]'' and ''[[Lil' Bush]]'', both on Comedy Central), which pushed satirical boundaries in doing so.

George W. "Dubya" Bush is a Republican and the son of former President [[George H. W. Bush|George Herbert Walker Bush]]. He was an owner of the [[Baseball|Texas Rangers baseball team]] and the Governor of Texas prior to reaching the White House. [[Fountain of Memes|Famous]] for his frequent [[Malaproper|malapropisms]] (known as Bushisms), such as "I know how hard it is to put food on your family". Ushered in a veritable ''golden age'' of political satire in America. Also "starred" in not one, but ''two'' [[Sitcom|sitcoms]] (''[[That's My Bush]]'' and ''[[Lil' Bush]]'', both on Comedy Central), which pushed satirical boundaries in doing so.

Got elected by a very narrow margin (leaving him as only the fourth person to be elected president despite not securing the highest number of votes), complete with controversy and demands for recounts; won his second election more traditionally with far less controversy (although there were several disputes over voter fraud/voter disenfranchisement). A brief policy overview: President during the September 11 terrorist attacks, ordered the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan and achieved highest recorded approval ratings in the aftermath; decided to invade and occupy Iraq on grounds that proved dubious at best, the length and cost of the occupation resulted in historic low approval ratings as his second term drew to a close; invested in AIDS awareness programs in Africa, and the fledgling science of nanotechnology; signed the US out of the Kyoto accords; promoted the [[American Educational System|No Child Left Behind Act]]; signed the PATRIOT Act into law; oversaw tax cuts for the rich and bailouts<ref>And yes, "bailout" is the technical term. It's occasionally confused with "stimulus"; however, that term refers to the Keynesian policy of "priming the pump": increasing government spending or loosening the money supply to get money flowing and jumpstart a failing economy. While monetary stimulus--loosening the money supply--was applied during the Bush Administration, that is at the discretion of the Federal Reserve, not the President or Congress; fiscal stimulus--increasing government spending--was discussed under Bush, but it was deemed to be politically necessary to leave that to his successor (whether that was [[John Mc Cain]] or [[Barack Obama]]), as Bush by this point was a highly unpopular lame duck.</ref> for the big banks. Some editors would probably have some triumphant line of argument to add here in support or opposition of any of those, but [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|they should know better]].

Line 14:

Had a memoir released in November 2010.

Bush is one of two sons of Presidents to become President (the other being [[John Quincy Adams]]), and he is a fifth cousin four times removed of former president [[Franklin Pierce]]. He is also the first descendant of a former president to serve two terms ([[John Quincy Adams]] and [[Benjamin Harrison]] both served one). Bush endured one assassination attempt: a guy lobbed a grenade at him while making a speech with [[Georgia|Georgian]] President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tblisi, but the grenade was a dud, and Dubya was completely unharmed. This makes him the first president since [[James Monroe]] elected in a year divisible by ten neither to [[William Henry Harrison|die]] [[Zachary Taylor|while]] [[Warren G Harding|in]] [[Franklin D Roosevelt|office]] nor to be [[Ronald Reagan|severely injured in assassination attempt]] (or, you know, [[Abraham Lincoln|actually]] [[James Garfield|be]] [[William McKinley|successfully]] [[John F Kennedy|assassinated]]).

Bush is one of two sons of Presidents to become President (the other being [[John Quincy Adams]]), and he is a fifth cousin four times removed of former president [[Franklin Pierce]]. He is also the first descendant of a former president to serve two terms ([[John Quincy Adams]] and [[Benjamin Harrison]] both served one). Bush endured one assassination attempt: a guy lobbed a grenade at him while making a speech with [[Georgia|Georgian]] President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tblisi, but the grenade was a dud, and Dubya was completely unharmed. This makes him the first president since [[James Monroe]] elected in a year divisible by ten neither to [[William Henry Harrison|die]] [[Zachary Taylor|while]] [[Warren G Harding|in]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|office]] nor to be [[Ronald Reagan|severely injured in assassination attempt]] (or, you know, [[Abraham Lincoln|actually]] [[James Garfield|be]] [[William McKinley|successfully]] [[John F. Kennedy|assassinated]]).

Please exercise the [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement]] when editing this page.

Line 45:

** It was once observed that his GPA at Yale was roughly equal to Al Gore's at Harvard. Later it was observed he actually got BETTER grades than John Kerry, who was more commonly depicted as [[The Smart Guy]] in his attempt to beat Bush.

** He's also the only President to have an MBA from Harvard Business school.

* [[Generation Xerox]]: He is the son of 41st President [[George HW Bush]].

* [[Generation Xerox]]: He is the son of 41st President [[George H. W. Bush]].

* [[Happily Married]]: To his wife, Laura.

* [[Hate Dumb]]: Not necessarily applied to his low approval ratings, but to a few particular criticisms of him.

Line 52:

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: When an aide whispered into his ear what was happening on 9/11 while he was reading a book to schoolchildren, he understandably froze up for a few moments.

* [[Hidden Depths]]: A recent interview with Condoleezza Rice in which she was questioned about several Republican candidate's lack of knowledge in foreign affairs revealed that when George W. Bush was running for president he was already an expert in Latin American geopolitics and spent a significant amount of time trying to catch up in the current events and history of other parts of the world of interest to the US. He is also fluent in Spanish, to the point it is joked that he can speak his second language better than his native one.

* [[History Repeats]]: [[George HW Bush|George Bush is elected to replace a popular President who has reached his term limit. Almost immediately into his Presidency, major events in foreign policy happen in quick succession, which he handles skillfully to success and high approval ratings. However, people start questioning his handling of the war in Iraq and Saddam Hussein, and when the events in foreign policy calm down and attention turns back to domestic issues, which Bush fumbles and handles lacklusterly, his popularity declines sharply. He leaves office with low approval ratings and is replaced by a young Democrat who won over the people with a skilled campaign.]]

* [[History Repeats]]: [[George H. W. Bush|George Bush is elected to replace a popular President who has reached his term limit. Almost immediately into his Presidency, major events in foreign policy happen in quick succession, which he handles skillfully to success and high approval ratings. However, people start questioning his handling of the war in Iraq and Saddam Hussein, and when the events in foreign policy calm down and attention turns back to domestic issues, which Bush fumbles and handles lacklusterly, his popularity declines sharply. He leaves office with low approval ratings and is replaced by a young Democrat who won over the people with a skilled campaign.]]

* [[Insistent Terminology]]: it's ''[[Enhanced Interrogation Techniques]]''.

* [[Internet Backdraft]]: Say anything about him online, if you want to start one of these.

Line 94:

* ''[[That's My Bush]]''

* ''[[Lil' Bush]]'' (featuring [[The Wild Thornberrys|Flea]] as [[The Unintelligible|Lil' Dick Cheney!]])

* ''W.'' (Dubya), a critical (yet surprisingly sympathetic) biopic by Oliver Stone starring Josh Brolin (''[[American Gangster]], [[No Country for Old Men]]'', ''[[The Goonies]]'') as Dubya and James Cromwell (''[[Babe]], [[The Green Mile]]'') as [[George HW Bush]] (AKA [["Well Done, Son" Guy|"Poppy"]]).

* ''W.'' (Dubya), a critical (yet surprisingly sympathetic) biopic by Oliver Stone starring Josh Brolin (''[[American Gangster]], [[No Country for Old Men]]'', ''[[The Goonies]]'') as Dubya and James Cromwell (''[[Babe]], [[The Green Mile]]'') as [[George H. W. Bush]] (AKA [["Well Done, Son" Guy|"Poppy"]]).

* Understandably, he's prominently featured in [[Michael Moore]]'s documentary ''Fahrenheit 9/11''.

* ''You're Welcome, America'', a satirical Broadway play starring [[Will Ferrell]] as Dubya. Featuring a rather suggestive interpretation of [[UST|Dubya and Condie Rice's relationship]] and [[Audience Participation]] in the form of [[The Nicknamer|Dubya giving people nicknames]].