 George Walker Bush ( born July 6 , 1946 ) is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 . The eldest son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush , he was born in New Haven , Connecticut . After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975 . He worked in oil businesses. He married Laura Welch in 1977 and unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-founded the Texas Rangers baseball team , had a career