George W. Bush

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George W. Bush

He has a dog named Spot and likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The Republican nominee for president, George W. Bush, is viewed by friends and foes alike as affable, if not intellectual. And Bush's charm could go a long way toward propelling him to the White House.

Bush is the son of a former president and grew up in relative wealth in Texas. He attended a private boarding school and went to college at Yale. Bush was a former managing general partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team and was elected governor of Texas in 1994 -- despite having never held political office.

At the Phillips School in Andover, Massachusetts, the popular Bush was head cheerleader and commissioner of stickball.

At Yale, Bush was president of the Delta Kappa Espilon fraternity and known as a prankster. Bush was also a member of Yale's famous Skull and Bones secret society, the inspiration for the movie, "Skulls." He later earned a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University.

In an effort to attract more mainstream voters to the Republican Party, Bush has campaigned on the theme of "compassionate conservatism." Bush has used the phrase to define the connection between his traditional values and a more caring stance toward underprivileged people.

He promotes using $1.3 trillion of an expected federal budget surplus for tax cuts and thinks retirees should be able to use a portion of their Social Security for private investments.

Bush, 54, has a wife, Laura, and twin daughters. Former defense secretary Dick Cheney is his running mate.