Bush's Legacy

Future presidents, father and son - Future U.S. Presidents George Bush (right) and George W. Bush wearing matching Yale University jerseys in New Haven, Connecticut in 1946.

First election campaign in 2000 - Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush and his wife Laura wave to the delegates after his acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention at the First Union Center in Philadelphia on August 3, 2000.

September 11, 2001 - U.S. President George W. Bush has his early morning school reading event interupted by his chief of staff, Andrew Card (left), shortly after news of the New York City airplane crashes was available in Sarasota, Florida.

The day after - U.S. President George W. Bush (left) speaks through a megaphone beside retired firefighter Bob Beckwith, 69, to firemen and other workers on September 14, 2001, at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center in New York.

Guantanamo Bay detention center - Detainees in orange jumpsuits sit in a holding area under the eye of U.S. military police at Guantanamo Bay detention center (Camp X-Ray), released on January 18, 2002.

Authorizing military operations against Iraq - U.S. President George W. Bush (center) meets with his national security and communications advisers on March 19, 2003, at the White House in Washington, D.C., after authorizing military operations against Iraq. From left are: Steve Hadley, deputy national security adviser; Karen Hughes, special adviser to the president; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard B. Myers; Dan Bartlett, communications director; Vice President Dick Cheney; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; national security adviser Condoleezza Rice; and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Major fighting over in Iraq - U.S. President George W. Bush addresses the nation aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier "USS Abraham Lincoln" on May 1, 2003, as it sails for Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California. Bush declared major fighting over in Iraq, calling it "one victory in a war on terror," which he said would continue until terrorists are defeated. "In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed," Bush said. Bush touted Saddam Hussein's ouster as "a crucial advance" toward stamping out extremist violence.

Middle East peace efforts - U.S. President George W. Bush (center) Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, (left) and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas talk during a meeting on June 4, 2003, in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba.

Afghanistan and Karzai - U.S. President George W. Bush (left) walks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai after speaking to reporters in the Rose Garden at the White House on June 15, 2004, in Washington, D.C.

Bush's staff - U.S. President George W. Bush (center), Vice President Dick Cheney (2nd-left), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (2nd-right), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers (right) and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (left) walk out to address reporters on August 23, 2004, at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. The group was at the ranch for Bush's Defense Policy and Program Teams meeting held annually at the ranch.

Election campaign 2004 - U.S. President George W. Bush looks out the window along the road in Waukesha County on July 14, 2004, as he kicks off a one-day campaign bus trip through Wisconsin.

Hurricane Katrina, 2005 - U.S. President George W. Bush (center) tours with Mayor Ray Nagin (right), Lousiana Governor Blanco (2nd left) and Vice Admiral Thad Allen (left) through New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 12, 2005.

'No Child Left Behind' education law - U.S. President George W. Bush sits with students Khadijah McCainn (left), Damien Goolsby (center), and Darlet Horton (right) as he talks to students on the anniversary of the "No Child Left Behind Act" on January 5, 2004, at Pierre Laclede Elementary School in St. Louis, Missouri.

U.S.-Russia relations - U.S. President George W. Bush (left) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin watch the sunset at the Bocharov Ruchei residence at the Black Sea.

World leaders - Group of Eight meeting in Japan -- (left to right) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, U.S. President George W. Bush, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at summit in Tokyo, July 9, 2008

Bush's family - Official White House photograph released on May 11, 2008, shows U.S. President George W. Bush and Laura Bush posing with daughters Jenna (right) and Barbara (left) on May 10, 2008, at Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas, prior to the wedding of Jenna and Henry Hager.

Human rights - U.S. President George W. Bush met with with famous human rights activists and fighters for freedom from different countries, including Belarusian opposition leader Alyaksandr Kazulin; one of the most famous critics of the Kremlin, United Civil Front leader and world chess champion Garry Kasparov; Myanmar monk U Kovida; former Soviet political prisoner and Israeli politician Natan Sharansky; Cuban journalist Omar Pernet Hernandez; and special envoy of the Dalai Lama, Lodi Gyari.

Bush and U.S. President-elect Barack Obama - U.S. President George W. Bush (left) and President-elect Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office of the White House on November 10, 2008.

Last trip to Iraq - U.S. President George W. Bush (left) ducks to avoid a shoe thrown at him by an Iraqi reporter during a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad on December 14, 2008. Bush made an unannounced farewell visit to Baghdad, just weeks before he leaves his office to President-elect Barack Obama.

Final press conference - U.S. President George W. Bush departs the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after holding his final press conference on January 12, 2009, in Washington, D.C. Bush said that he wanted a "sustainable cease-fire" in the Gaza Strip, but said it was up to Hamas to choose to end its rocket fire on Israel.