George+W.+Bush's+second+Term

George W. Bush's Second Term
Despite a public that was beginning to lose interest, President George W. Bush defeated Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. Bush called his victory a "mandate" to continue the increasingly unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ("George W. Bush"). The wars' enormous cost in both money and American lives, as well as the failure to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, had convinced many Americans that they had run their course. 

media type="youtube" key="yGEDIwbpj_I?fs=1" height="385" width="480" Despite this victory, a host of problems emerged for the Bush administration. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas. The hurricane caused heavy flooding and mass destruction.Tens of thousands of New Orleans residents needed aid desperately. The president's response was to send the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), headed by Michael Brown, to respond. The slow speed of FEMA's response and arrival stirred unrest and disapproval among voters. Bush's stances on Social Security and immigration further decreased his standing in the eyes of the public. The main aim of Bush's domestic agenda was the replacement of Social Security with private retirement savings accounts, which would have created major financial problems for retirees ("George W. Bush Biography"). By the end of his term, Bush had an approval rating of 33%, the lowest of any president in the past 70 years("George W. Bush"). His actions would create a backlash for the Republican party that would shape the political landscape of the following years immensely.