Bush received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1975 and began a career in the energy business. After working on his father's 1988 presidential campaign, he became managing general partner of the Texas Rangers baseball franchise. Bush was elected Governor of Texas in 1994 and defeated Al Gore in the bid for president in 2000.

In 2004, Bush became the target of filmmaker Michael Moore's controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which criticized the administration's handling of events after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Later that year, Bush defeated John Kerry in the presidential election.