George Bush - 2001-2009
-Elected in 2000, despite losing the popular vote to Al Gore
-Creates the Department of Homeland Security in response to the 9/11 attacks
-The Bush Doctrine, involving the preemptive use of military force, is enacted in 2001
-The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 both introduce large tax cuts, most of which favor the very rich.
-the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are begun in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Iraq is invaded on the specious claim that the nation possesses weapons of mass destruction
-Reports surface in 2004 that the administration authorized waterboarding and other forms of torture at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp
-The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is launched in 2003, increasing HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa by 4000% by the end of Bush's second term
-Responds to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005, with critics claiming gross mismanagement of FEMA
-Vice President Dick Cheney shoots Texas lawyer Harry Whittington in the face on February 11, 2006
-The combination of tax cuts and war expenditures eliminate the budget surplus of the Clinton years
-The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 provides bailout to US banks deemed "too big to fail"