At age 40, George Walker Bush (born 1946) had a drinking problem and ran for Congress and lost. Many said he was washed up. He knew he wasn’t.

Loss has a way of clarifying what matters. As innovator Henry Ford once said, “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

George W. took that reckoning seriously. He reassessed his life, stopped drinking, and turned to his faith. His investment in baseball’s Rangers turned to gold, and Texans elected him governor twice, the second time by a 69% margin.

From there, his path widened. The Presidency followed in 2001, shaped by a national vision of “compassionate conservatism.” Bush won the electoral college by a five-vote margin, becoming the first President since Benjamin Harrison in 1888 to be elected without the popular vote.

Upon his 2004 victory over John Kerry for a second White House term, Bush spoke of renewal. “A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to a nation.” Voters turned out in record numbers, delivering what he called a historic victory.

The second Republican Bush elected to the White House, he often spoke with tenderness about family. He called his father “the most decent man I have ever known.” Of his beloved mother, Barbara, he said, “Growing up, she gave me love and lots of advice. I gave her white hair.”

Many believe his wife Laura, a former teacher and an advocate for education, provided the steady presence that supported his midlife transformation. He married her in 1977, just three months after they met, and later reflected with gratitude, “No matter what else I do in life, asking Laura to marry me was the best decision I ever made.”

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