tx_gov_bush
GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH
Age: 52 Born: July 6, 1946; New Haven, Connecticut Education: Harvard University, M.B.A. (1975); Yale University, B.A. (1968) Military: Texas Air National Guard (1968-73) Family: Married - Laura; Twin daughters Hometown: Austin, Texas Religion: Methodist Career: Governor (1995-present); Managing Partner, Texas Rangers baseball team (1989-94); Senior Adviser, Bush-Quayle '92 (1992); Oil businessman (1975-89) |
• Known as George W, Bush was born in New Haven but grew up in Midland, Texas. Like his father, Bush attended Phillips Academy and Yale University. Bush admits he wasn't the brainiest student at Yale, but he demonstrated people skills as president of his fraternity and membership in Skull and Bones, the elite secret society to which his father belonged.
• Bush graduated in 1968 and moved to Texas just as the Vietnam War began to escalate. He joined the Texas National Air Guard and learned to fly F-102 fighter jets. His program often rotated Guard pilots to Vietnam, but he was never called. In 1973, he was accepted at Harvard Business School, and after receiving his MBA in 1975, he returned to Midland to found an oil and gas company. In 1977, he met a librarian named Laura Welch, and they married three months after their introduction.
• In 1978, at age 32, Bush ran for Congress. He won the GOP primary but narrowly lost in the general to State Senator Kent Hance. The next decade he spent building his oil business, and his company merged with Harken Energy in 1987. When Harken was tapped by the Bahrain government for a lucrative offshore drilling operation in 1990, questions were raised about whether Bush had used his influence at the White House to help win the contract. A Wall treet Journal investigation turned up no evidence, and Bush denied the allegations.
• Bush returned to politics to work for his fatherÂ's 1988 presidential bid. After the campaign he recruited partners and put in $600,000 of his money to buy the Texas Rangers baseball team. He became managing partner, and his frequent presence in the stands made him a celebrity. When the Rangers were sold earlier this year, Bush earned more than $10 million.
• Bush toyed with the idea of running for governor in 1990 but decided the timing wasn't right while his father was still in the White House. But in 1994, the timing was right. He challenged the charismatic Democratic incumbent Governor Ann Richards and defeated her 53% to 46%. Bush became the first offspring of a president to win statewide office since Ohio Republican Robert A. Taft's election to the Senate in 1950. Now Bush is being mentioned as presidential material himself.