A Biographical Sketch of President George W Bush

George W. Bush: A Biographical Sketch

George W. Bush had been the 43rd President of the United States of America. His term lasted from 2001 to 2009. Bush, who was the eldest son of George H. Bush, the 41st President of the US, was the Republican Governor for Texas for two terms. George W. Bush attended Harvard Business School and Yale University. George took part in both private ventures and public activities. He owned the Texas Rangers baseball team and also rendered his services to the Texas Oil Industry. He participated in the latter two engagements before he became the Texas Governor. George W. Bush narrowly won presidential elections in 2001 after beating his closest rival, Al Gore. The September 11 terrorist attack shaped George W. Bush\\\\\\\'s presidency. Following the attack, President Bush, the 2nd declared war on terrorism. He introduced the Department of Homeland Security and allowed the US to launch spirited attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan (History.com Editors, 2009).

Bush was born in a family of six of George H. Bush and Barbara Bush. On July 6, 1946, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut. George W. Bush\\\\\\\'s father worked with the navy during WWII. He was a student at Yale. Bush, the senior, worked as an executive in the industry in Texas. George Bush attended Philips Academy in Andover in Massachusetts. Bush also attended Yale, the Alma Mater of his dad and even his grandfather, and earned his degree in 1968 (History.com Editors, 2009).

George W. Bush got a wife who observers say was his perfect balance. Laura is a thoughtful and reserved woman. Bush, the man on his part, is an outgoing individual. Thus Laura Welch\\\\\\\'s personality strongly complemented his. The couple had twins named Barbara and Jenna, who they named after the children\\\\\\\'s grandmothers. During Bush\\\\\\\'s term, his children were in college. Barbara was attending Yale while Jenna was at the University of Texas. Inevitably, the mere fact that the girls\\\\\\\' father was President when they were in college attracted undue attention to them. Both of the girls helped their father campaign for a second term in 2004. They started by responding to calls at the campaign headquarters. They later gathered the confidence to give speeches for their father (History.com Editors, 2009).

Five Exemplary Practices of Leaders

When he was in office, President Bush showed leadership skills that impressed many. Bush managed to overcome the poor mandate rating he held after the elections in the year 2000. He managed to talk the senate into passing the tax cut legislation. He went on to push for his policies even after the September 11 Terrorist attack (Pfiffner, 2004).

He succeeded in the execution of the war on terrorism in Afghanistan. He managed to bring down the Taliban forces and flushed out Al Qaeda. However, the wider success as far as the war was concerned was a pack of mixed fortunes. He did not manage to capture Osama Bin Laden in the summer of 2003. Therefore, it was clear that the threat of terrorism was not exactly eliminated. Afghanistan also remained an unstable jurisdiction (Pfiffner, 2004).

In displaying political leadership skills, the President overcame the disenfranchisement and skepticism that the elite military forces held about facing opposition from most of the world and lack of support from the UNSC war with Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power. The war only lasted three weeks, even though installing a legitimate leader to replace Saddam stretched for months on end. In his period of presidency, President Bush exhibited several behavior patterns. These patterns guide observers to why he made the decisions he made.

Bush has demonstrated an inclination towards moral consideration over strategic calculation. This means that he tends to react viscerally as opposed to reflection. He preferred clarity over complexity. He was drawn more to action, as opposed to deliberation. Bush also seems to prefer personal preference over structural guidelines. He radiated confidence and high moral standing. Bush was never indecisive. He was ever certain about his decisions (Pfiffner, 2004).

George W. Bush was never hesitant in making decisions when he was President. He was in stark contrast with President Clinton in their style of working. Clinton, on his part, always wanted t extensively analyze every detail before he made a decision. These analyses would often take place in protracted meetings with stakeholders. Bush preferred acting intuitively and decisively (Pfiffner, 2004).

He held the view that part of his mandate and the President of the US was to push the implementation of decisions. He made sure that everyone knew the direction government policy was headed. After the terrorist attack of 9-11, President Bush was agitated to lead his administration to design and implement the US response plan. While he often acknowledged the military\\\\\\\'s responsibility to his command was often slow, he also appreciated the conservative instincts of the leadership in the military (Pfiffner, 2004).

The bias for action by Bush also demonstrated his view on political capital. Bush thought that his dad had not used the political capital at his disposal when he ended the Gulf War. At the time, his fathers\\\\\\\' approval rating was at an all-time high. Therefore, Bush decided to take a different road. Bush the Second wanted to utilize his political capital to achieve major goals. If he did not use his time optimally, he thought that history would judge him harshly. The fact that Bush had a bias for action and that he was often impatient does not mean that he could not persevere or was not determined when pursuing the tax cut and administrative initiatives (Pfiffner, 2004).

The moral standpoints of George W Bush had a positive effect on the way he US and the world looked at some issues. Indeed, it influenced the policy developers and the processes in the US. His leadership drew lots of energy from his certainty and conviction when America engaged in the war against terrorism. The shortcomings in glorifying the principles that informed the war on terrorism, such as preemption to the overt US policy, are that the principles highlighted cannot apply well to the various nation-states worldwide.

The application of the principles could not be consistent hence making the process difficult. Apart from President Bush\\\\\\\'s interpersonal skills, he also viewed the world from a personal viewpoint. President Bush\\\\\\\'s decision after meeting severally with the Russian Premier, Vladimir Putin, that he could trust him is a classic case that demonstrates such a trait. In the summer of 2001, Putin narrated to Bush about his mother\\\\\\\'s cross that he had many sentiments. President Bush was highly touched by the gesture and religious overtones that the symbol came with. When Putin showed Bush the symbol later, Bush decided that Putin could be trusted (Pfiffner, 2004).

In 2001, President Bush sought to reassure President Musharaf by telling him to relay a message to the Pakistani people that the US President looked him in the eye and reassured him that America would not forget them after the Afghanistan war was over. In the spring of 2002, US policy shifted significantly when President Bush concluded that Yasser Arafat was responsible for the never-ending suicide bombings and that he had to get out of the way for any meaningful peace deals to take root.

Thus, Bush decided to discontinue pressuring the Israeli premier regarding their West Bank settlement. He even referred to Ariel Sharon as a peaceful man (Pfiffner, 2004).

DISC Profile

Bush did not seem to notice the role of presidential public communication early in his term. However, after the 9-11 attack, he started addressing the public regularly. He did it forcefully and eloquently. However, he was not effective on all occasions after that, but he was quite effective in his addresses to the public when he had time to rehearse. He also evolved his personable punch and style in his campaign in 2004. His inaugural address for the second term came with eloquence and confidence. The speech was in sharp contrast to his inaugural speech for the first time.

Indeed, the organization was one of the high points of the first US president with an MBA. Indeed, Bush chose associates who would effectively anchor him against storms. He is great at mobilizing his subordinates. Since he was keen on avoiding disagreements in public, the internal forces that drove matters in his regime are not documented. However, Bob Woodward tries to reconstruct such dynamics and offers a clue through the military administration interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan during his tenure. According to Woodward, there are cases when Bush\\\\\\\'s deliberations were rated as off the mark (Greenstein, 2005).

The success of George W. Bush cannot be discussed if his PEPFAR, AIDS initiative, is not put in perspective. Bush was determined to fight the epidemic. He managed to convince Congress to approve the largest AIDS budget ever; indeed, the initiative has saved thousands of lives in Africa. He understood well that Medicare needed reform. The reforms initiated in Medicare by Bush enabled many seniors to have access to prescription drugs.

There is a raft of legislative successes that are credited to former President George W Bush. Some of the successful initiatives include tax cuts and education reforms. The latter reforms were seen to follow his conservative demeanor but were criticized for policy gaps. Bush also accomplished his mission to create faith-based programs, which was part of his campaign promises. Bush decided to take a moral position concerning stem cell research. He is said to have kept his promises throughout.