WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (AFP) - Factfile on George W. Bush, the Republican incumbent president seeking re-election on November 2:
-- Bush was born July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut but the family soon moved to Texas which he now considers his home.
-- He is only the second son of a US president to become president. The first was John Quincy Adams, who served as president from 1825 to 1829. He was the son of John Adams, who served as the second US president from 1797 to 1801. George W. Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, served as president from 1989-1993.
-- Bush attended a top private school in Connecticut, Yale University, where he was a member of the elite Skull and Bones secret society, and received a Master's in Business Administration degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
-- During the Vietnam War, Bush joined the Air National Guard in Texas and trained as a fighter pilot. He has faced accusations that his family used its influence to enable him to avoid going to Vietnam.
-- Bush was arrested at age 30 for drunk driving but 10 years later, after a hard-partying 40th birthday, chose to quit drinking. He is a born-again Methodist.
-- In 1975, Bush moved back to Texas to seek his fortune in the oil industry and make his first run for elected office. He eventually led a group of investors that bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in 1989.
-- Bush was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and in 1998 became the first person to win re-election to the post.
-- Bush won the White House in 2000 even though the Democrats' Al Gore won the popular vote. A recount in Florida was halted by the Supreme Court with Bush ahead by 537 votes, giving him the required votes in the Electoral College that decides the presidency.
-- The September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington transformed Bush's presidency and he led the United States into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that are now at the heart of his campaign for re-election. He also forced 1.65-trillion-dollar tax cuts through Congress.
-- Bush met and married Laura Welch in 1977. They have twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna. When not occupied by affairs of state and family matters, Bush looks after his Texas ranch. A one-time fitness fanatic his main sport now is mountain bikes.
10/31/2004 02:33 GMT - AFP