George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. George W. Bush is the eldest son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the second president to have been the son of a former president, the first having been John Quincy Adams. Eight months into Bush's first term as president, the September 11 terrorist attacks occurred. Bush successfully ran for re-election against Democratic Senator John Kerry in 2004, in another relatively close election.