George W. Bush administration

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The Bush administration includes President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Bush's Cabinet, and other select officials and advisors. The Bush administration took office on January 20th 2001, and continues through to the present day.

Image:Us cabinet mtg.jpg

There is one non-Republican present in Bush's cabinet: Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, the first Asian American cabinet secretary, who had previously served as Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton, is a Democrat.

His cabinet included figures prominent in past administrations, notably former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had served as United States National Security Advisor under Ronald Reagan, until his resignation and the subsequent appointment of Condoleezza Rice, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George H. W. Bush and Clinton, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who had served as White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford. Vice President Richard Cheney served as Secretary of Defense under George H. W. Bush.

Bush places a high value on personal loyalty and, as a result, his administration has high message discipline. He maintains a "hands-off" style of management that he believes prevents him from being tangled by intricacies that hinder sound decision-making. "I'm confident in my management style. I'm a delegator because I trust the people I've asked to join the team. I'm willing to delegate. That makes it easier to be President," he said in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC in December of 2003. However, critics allege that Bush is willing to overlook mistakes [1][2] made by loyal subordinates, and that Bush has surrounded himself with "yes men". [3]

Bush's presidency has been characterized by a vigorous defense of executive privilege, evidenced in such acts as signing Executive Order 13233, which suspends the release of presidential papers, tight control of Congressional inquiries into White House officers such as in the 9/11 Commission's interviews with Condoleezza Rice, Bush and Richard B. Cheney, and the generally high level of coordination between the White House, Congressional Republicans and Senate Republicans in both of Bush's terms. Many commentators have claimed that deference to executive privilege was one of the principal considerations Bush's administration considered when he proposed his three nominations for the Supreme Court, and appointed John R. Bolton to the United Nations [4] [5].

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Cabinet

Office	Name	Term
President	George W. Bush	2001—
Vice President	Richard B. Cheney	2001—

Sec. of State	Colin L. Powell	2001–2005
	Condoleezza Rice	2005—
Sec. of Defense	Donald H. Rumsfeld	2001—
Sec. of the Treasury	Paul H. O'Neill	2001–2003
	John W. Snow	2003—
Attorney General	John D. Ashcroft	2001–2005
	Alberto R. Gonzales	2005—
Sec. of the Interior	Gale A. Norton	2001–2006
	Dirk Kempthorne	2006—
Sec. of Agriculture	Ann M. Veneman	2001–2005
	Michael O. Johanns	2005—
Sec. of Commerce	Donald L. Evans	2001–2005
	Carlos M. Gutierrez	2005—
Sec. of Labor	Elaine L. Chao	2001—
Sec. of HHS	Tommy G. Thompson	2001–2005
	Michael O. Leavitt	2005—
Sec. of HUD	Melquiades R. Martinez	2001–2003
	Alphonso R. Jackson	2004—
Sec. of Transportation	Norman Y. Mineta	2001—
Sec. of Energy	E. Spencer Abraham	2001–2005
	Samuel W. Bodman	2005—
Sec. of Education	Roderick R. Paige	2001–2005
	Margaret Spellings	2005—
Sec. of Veterans Affairs	Anthony J. Principi	2001–2005
	R. James Nicholson	2005—
Sec. of Homeland Security	Thomas J. Ridge	2003–2005
	Michael Chertoff	2005—