The Encyclopedia of Presidents offers authoritative biographies of each president since 1789, when George Washington was first sworn in. The stories of these key figures and historic events paint a full and lively picture of our nation. Each biography includes color illustrations, a timeline, boxed features on events and people of special interest, and lively text introducing the featured president and the times in which he lived. George W. Bush, the son of the 41st president, is only the second son of a former president to gain election as president himself. After a business career in Texas, he served as an aide in his father's campaign for the presidency in 1988. He was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and re-elected in 1998. In 2000, the Republican party nominated him for president, and he defeated Democrat Al Gore in a close and contentious election. Eight months after he took office, on September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the United States. Bush announced a "War on Terror," and gained broad support for an invasion of Afghanistan, where terrorist leaders were in hiding. In April 2002, U.S. forces invaded Iraq, extending the "War on Terror." The invasion succeeded in overthrowing the regime of dictator Saddam Hussein, but the administration struggled to maintain support for its actions at home and overseas. The Iraq war and rising oil prices at home were major issues in Bush's re-election campaign in 2004.