George W. Bush

Business and early political career

In 1978, Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives but lost to a State Senator, Democrat Kent Hance (who has since become a Republican). Ronald Reagan, at the time a former Governor of California, endorsed Bush's opponent in the Republican primary election.

Related Topics:
U.S. House of Representatives - State Senator - Kent Hance - Ronald Reagan - California - Primary election

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Bush began his career in the oil industry in 1979, when he established Arbusto Energy, an oil and gas exploration company he formed with leftover funds from his education trust fund and money from other investors. The 1979 energy crisis hurt Arbusto and, after a name change to Bush Exploration Co., Bush sold the company in 1984 to Spectrum 7, another Texas oil and gas exploration firm. Under the terms of the sale, Spectrum 7 made Bush its CEO (Chief Executive Officer). Spectrum 7 lost revenue and was merged into Harken Energy Corporation in 1986, with Bush becoming a director of Harken.

Related Topics:
Arbusto Energy - 1979 energy crisis - Spectrum 7 - Harken Energy

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After working on his father's successful 1988 presidential campaign, he was told by a friend, William DeWitt, Jr., that another family friend, Eddie Chiles, wanted to sell the Texas Rangers, his Arlington-based Major League Baseball franchise. In April 1989, Bush assembled a group of investors from his father's close friends (including fellow fraternity brother Roland W. Betts); the group bought 86% of the Rangers for $75,000,000 (USD). (Bush later appointed one of these partners, Tom Schieffer, to the post of Ambassador to Australia.) Bush received a 2 % share by investing $606,302 (USD), of which $500,000 (USD) was a bank loan. Bush paid off the loan by selling $848,000 (USD) worth of stock in Harken Energy in 1990. As Harken Energy reported significant financial losses within a year of this sale (as did much of the energy industry due to the recession of the early 1990s), the fact that Bush was advised by his own counsel not to sell his shares later fueled allegations of insider trading. (see

Related Topics:
1988 presidential campaign - William DeWitt, Jr. - Eddie Chiles - Arlington - Major League Baseball - Roland W. Betts - Tom Schieffer - Australia

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George W. Bush insider trading allegations for more information)

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The federal U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded on March 27, 1992, by Assistant Director of the SEC, Herb Janick, that Bush had a "preexisting plan" to sell the Harken stock and that Bush had a "relatively limited role in Harken management", and that they did not believe insider trading took place. http://www.publicintegrity.org/docs/harken/harken_doc5.pdf http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020717-062330-9990r http://www.publicintegrity.org/docs/harken/harken_doc7.pdf http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush073099.htm

Related Topics:
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - March 27 - 1992

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Bush served as managing general partner of the Rangers for five years. He was active in the team's media relations and in securing the construction of a new stadium, which opened in 1994 as The Ballpark in Arlington. http://www.joenickp.com/texas/teamplayer.html

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Bush's prominent role with the Rangers gave him valuable goodwill and name recognition throughout Texas. http://espn.go.com/mlb/bush/friday.html

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In 1994, Bush took a leave of absence from the Rangers to run for Governor of Texas against the popular incumbent, Democrat Ann Richards. On November 8, 1994, he defeated Richards, 53% to 46%. As Governor, Bush forged a legislative alliance with powerful Texas Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, a longtime Democrat. In 1998 Bush went on to win re-election in a landslide victory with close to 69% of the vote, becoming the first Texas governor to be elected for two consecutive four-year terms. http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/governors/texas (Until 1975, Texas governors served two-year terms.) During Bush's terms as Governor, he undertook significant legislative changes in the areas of criminal justice, tort law, and school financing. Bush took a hard line on capital punishment, and received much criticism from advocates wanting to abolish the death penalty. Under Bush, Texas' incarceration rate was 1014 inmates per 100,000 state population in 1999, the second highest in the world (Louisiana was first at 1025 inmates), due mainly to the strict illegal drug laws enforcement in Texas. One of his accomplishments was the Texas Futile Care Law. Bush's transformative agenda, in combination with his political and family pedigree, catapulted him onto the national political radar. As the campaign to succeed Bill Clinton as president began in earnest, Bush emerged as a key figure.

Related Topics:
Governor of Texas - Incumbent - Ann Richards - November 8 - 1994 - Bob Bullock - Landslide victory - Tort - Death penalty - Texas Futile Care Law - Bill Clinton

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