With the State Capitol in the background, Texas Governor George W. Bush and his wife Laura ride in the inaugural parade, January 19, 1999, in Austin, Texas. Governor Bush had been sworn in for his second term of office earlier in the day. (AP/WWP)

A More Prosperous Future "One of my most important jobs is to help create an environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit flourishes, because I believe that the fact that America is a haven for the entrepreneur is one of the real strengths of our country. I know that when the entrepreneur feels confident, when the small business owner invests, it's more likely people will be able to find a job." July 2, 2004

"Rusty didn't like to give speeches or talk with the media," Bush says in A Charge to Keep, "so I became the face and voice for the management of the Texas Rangers. I worked hard to sell tickets. I traveled the Rangers' market, which encompasses a huge part of Texas, speaking to civic groups and chambers of commerce."

In the process, George W. Bush became a prominent figure in Texas in his own right, far more than the son of the man who happened to be president. In 1993, after his father had been defeated in his bid for re-election to the presidency, George W. decided to try again to run for office -- this time for governor of Texas. He challenged the incumbent, Democrat Ann Richards, running on promises to improve public education and to reform the juvenile justice system, welfare, and the state's tort laws -- the system under which an injured person may sue for damages.

"All four are important," he has said, "but education is closest to my heart. As I said in speech after speech, education is for a state what national defense is for the federal government, the first priority and most urgent challenge. If a state doesn't educate children, if the federal government doesn't defend America from foreign threat, whatever important issue comes next seems a very distant second."

In November 1994, Bush was elected governor with 53.5 percent of the vote. Most observers agree that his first year in office was a very successful one. The new governor worked well with the Democrats who controlled both houses of the Texas legislature -- and managed to get bills passed that dealt with the issues he had emphasized in his campaign.

As governor, Bush advocated and signed the two largest tax cuts in Texas history, totaling over $3 billion. During his time in office, legislation emphasized local control of schools, raised standards, and rewrote the state's curriculum to insist on academic basics. Other laws passed while Bush was governor effectively abolished parole for violent adult offenders in Texas, lowered the age at which violent juveniles can be tried as adults, and required automatic jail time for juveniles who carry firearms illegally or commit crimes with a gun. Welfare rolls were reduced by requiring work and limiting how long people can stay on welfare. And legal reforms were enacted to reduce what Governor Bush called "frivolous lawsuits."

As soon as he was elected, Bush had put his interest in the Texas Rangers baseball team into a trust and given up his managerial responsibilities. (The team was later sold to a Dallas businessman.)

On November 3, 1998, George W. Bush became the first governor in Texas history to be elected to consecutive four-year terms when he was reelected with 68.6 percent of the vote. Soon after that, he began thinking about the possibility of running for president of the United States.