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| James R. Bath |
James R. BathJames Reynolds Bath was a former director of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), and part owner of Arbusto Energy with George W. Bush, with whom Bath served as a member of the Texas Air National Guard. Like Bush, Bath was suspended from flying status in 1972 for failing to accomplish his annual medical examination.
Bath got his start in real estate in 1973 by forming a partnership with Lloyd Bentsen's son, Lan Bentsen. The company was named Bath Bentsen Interests.
It has been reported that in 1976 George H. W. Bush recruited Bath into the CIA, a claim that Bath denied in 1991 in an article published in Time magazine.
In 1976 Bath purchased the Houston Gulf Airport on behalf of Salem bin Laden, a Saudi sheik. Bath was the representative of Salem bin Laden, according to this [http://www.michaelmoore.com/_media/images/documents/salem-bath-trust-agreement.jpg document]. In 1990, a Saudi banker named Khalid bin Mahfouz procured a loan of $1.4 million for Bath, allowing him to buy a stake in the Houston Gulf Airport. When bin Laden died in 1988, his interest in the airfield passed to Mahfouz.
In 1978, Bath became a Director of the Main Bank, based in Houston, Texas. His fellow investors were John Connally; Saudi financier Ghaith R. Pharaon; and Mahfouz.
In 1980, Bath was named company president of Cotopax Investments, registered in the Cayman Islands. The name was changed to Skycraft Aircraft Leasing Ltd. The company board then resigned en masse, leaving Bath as a sole director. The company acted as a supplier of large passenger and air cargo jets. At one point, it leased a $10 million Gulfstream II jet to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., which was controlled by Sheikh Zayed, the late first president of the United Arab Emirates. Bath's partners in Skyway and his other companies are unknown.
Bath founded Southwest Airport Services to manage the Houston Gulf Airport, and to provide military fueling services at Ellington Field. He also served as president of the Skyway Aircraft Leasing company.
Bath's discharge from the National Guard and his relationships to the bin Laden family and Arbusto were among the issues explored in the documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11.
External link
- [http://www.modernhistoryproject.org/mhp/EntityDisplay.php?Entity=BathJR James R. Bath entry on the Modern History Project]
- [http://www.michaelmoore.com/_media/images/documents/salem-bath-trust-agreement.jpg Salem-Bath trust agreement ]
Category:American businesspeople
Category:George W. Bush
Bank of Credit and Commerce International and money laundering.]]
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a major international bank founded in Pakistan in 1972. At its peak, it operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and claimed assets of $25 billion.
BCCI became the focus in 1991 of the world's worst financial scandal and what was called a "$20-billion-plus heist" (Beaty & Gwynne 1993). It was found by regulators in the United States and United Kingdom to be involved in money laundering, bribery, support of terrorism, arms trafficking, the sale of nuclear technologies, the commission and facilitation of tax evasion, smuggling, illegal immigration, and the illicit purchases of banks and real estate. The bank was found to be worthless, with at least $13 billion unaccounted for.
Investigators in the U.S. and UK revealed that BCCI had been organized to avoid centralized regulatory review and to commit fraud on a massive scale, with its own intelligence network, diplomatic corps, and shipping and commodities trading companies.
The liquidators, Deloitte & Touche, filed a lawsuit against Price Waterhouse and Ernst & Young, the bank's auditors, which was settled for $175 million in 1998. A further lawsuit against the emir of Abu Dhabi, a major shareholder, was launched in 1999 for around $400 million. BCCI creditors also instituted a $1 billion suit against the Bank of England as a regulatory body. After a nine-year struggle due to the Bank's statutory immunity, the case went to trial in January 2004. However in November 2005 liquidators Deloitte dropped any action against the Bank of England as it was no longer considered in the best interests of the creditors after a High Court ruling.
History
BCCI's founder, Agha Hasan Abedi, started the bank in Pakistan in 1972. Abedi had previously set up the United Bank of Pakistan in 1959. Following the nationalization of United Bank in 1971 he sought to create a new supranational banking entity. BCCI was created with capital from Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, emir of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, the Bank of America (25%) and, allegedly, the CIA. It is claimed that the CIA were seeking a funding route for the mujahideen, similar to the Investors Overseas Service and the Nugen Hand Bank in the 1960s. However, the vast majority of BCCI's assets were initially from Abu Dhabi.
BCCI expanded rapidly in the 1970s, pursuing asset growth over profits, seeking high net-worth individuals and regular large deposits. The company itself divided into BCCI Holdings with the bank under that split into BCCI S.A (Luxembourg) and BCCI Overseas (Grand Cayman). BCCI also acquired parallel banks through acquisitions: buying the Banque de Commerce et Placements (BCP) of Geneva in 1976, and creating KIFCO (Kuwait International Finance Company), Credit & Finance Corporation Ltd, and a series of Cayman-based companies held together as ICIC (International Credit and Investment Company Overseas, International Credit and Commerce [Overseas], etc.). Overall, BCCI expanded from 19 branches in five countries in 1973 to 27 branches in 1974, to 108 branches in 1976, with assets growing from $200 million to $1.6 billion. This growth caused extensive underlying capital problems. The bank was almost certainly insolvent by 1977 in that it was using cash from deposits to fund operating expenses, rather than making investments, taking on the attributes of a Ponzi scheme. Nevertheless BCCI continued to expand, moving into the African markets in 1979, and Asia in the early 1980s. They were among the first foreign banks awarded a license to operate in the Chinese Special Economic Zone Shenzhen. Some of China's largest state banks were depositors in BCCI's Shenzhen branch.
By 1980, BCCI was reported to have assets of over $4 billion with over 150 branches in 46 countries. The Bank of America was "bewildered" with BCCI and reduced its holding in 1980, and the company came to be held by a number of groups, with ICIC owning 70%. By 1989, ICIC's shareholding was reduced to 11% with Abu Dhabi groups holding almost 40%, however large numbers of shares were held by BCCI nominees. The internal structure of the bank was unusual. There was rigid compartmentalization and there were 248 managers and general managers and only two people above them, Abedi and the CEO Swaleh Naqvi. F Lee Bailey and Florida state prosecutor Richard Gerstein were the directors of CenTrust Federal Savings Bank, a failed satellite of the BCCI.
BCCI had an uncommon annual auditing system: Price Waterhouse were the accountants for BCCI Overseas while Ernst & Young audited BCCI and BCCI Holdings (London and Luxembourg). Other companies such as KIFCO and ICIC were audited by neither. In October 1985, the Bank of England and the Central Bank of Luxembourg ordered BCCI to change to a single accountant, alarmed at reported BCCI losses on the commodity and financial markets. Price Waterhouse became the sole accountants in 1987.
In 1988, BCCI was implicated in a drug money laundering scheme based in Tampa, Florida, the C-Chase case. The BCCI was called the CIA’s money laundering facility. BCCI pleaded guilty in 1990 but only on the grounds of respondeat superior.
In 1990, a Price Waterhouse audit of BCCI revealed an unaccountable loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. The bank approached Sheikh Zayed, who made good the loss in exchange for an increased shareholding of 78%. Much of BCCI's documentation was then also transferred to Abu Dhabi.
Philanthropic Contributions
The bank established the Third World Foundation in London, which published the widely circulated Third World Quarterly and paid special attention to the promotion of Urdu language and literature through the Urdu Markaz located in London.
Sandstorm report
In March 1991, the Bank of England asked Price Waterhouse to carry out an inquiry. On June 24, 1991, using the codename "Sandstorm" for BCCI, Price Waterhouse submitted the Sandstorm report showing that BCCI had engaged in "widespread fraud and manipulation".
Support of terrorism
Sandstorm report branch in London.]]
The Sandstorm report, parts of which were leaked to The Sunday Times, included details of how the Abu Nidal terrorist group had held accounts at BCCI's Sloane Street branch, near Harrods in London. Britain's internal security service, MI5, had signed up two sources inside the branch to hand over copies of all documents relating to Abu Nidal's accounts. One source was the Syrian-born branch manager, Ghassan Qassem, the second a young British employee.
The Abu Nidal link man for the BCCI accounts was an Arab based in Iraq named Samir Najmeddin or Najmedeen. Throughout the 80s, BCCI had set up millions of dollars worth of letters of credit for Najmeddin, largely for arms deals with Iraq. Qassem later swore in an affidavit that Najmeddin was often accompanied by an American, whom Qassem subsequently identified as the financier Marc Rich. Rich was later indicted in the U.S. for tax evasion and racketeering in an apparently unrelated case, fled the country, and was controversially pardoned by Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001.
Qassem also told reporters that he had once escorted Abu Nidal, who was allegedly using the name Shakir Farhan, around town to buy a tie, without realizing who he was. This revelation led in 1991 to one of the London Evening Standard's best-known front-page headlines: "I Took Abu Nidal Shopping."
Closure of the bank
On July 5, 1991, the Bank of England closed down BCCI. Around a million investors were affected.
In 1992, United States Senators John Kerry and Hank Brown co-authored a report on BCCI which was delivered to the Committee on Foreign Relations. The BCCI scandal was one of a number of crimes and disasters that influenced thinking leading to the Public Interest Disclosure Act of 1998.
The British government also set up an independent inquiry, chaired by Lord Justice Bingham, in 1992. Its House of Commons Paper, Inquiry into the Supervision of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International was published in October of that year. Following the report, the bank's liquidators launched the Three Rivers vs. Bank of England case, on behalf of thousands of BCCI creditors who are suing the Bank of England for its failure to properly oversee the bank. The BCCI creditors sought £850m in damages, claiming that the Bank of England was guilty of misfeance in public office. The case collapsed in November 2005, with the Bank of England seeking to re-claim legal bills. The cost of the case to the creditors could be as high as £100m. ([http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4401210.stm BBC News Article])
Former directors
- Alfred Hartman
- James R. Bath
See also
- Bert Lance
References
- [http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/ The BCCI Affair, Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations States Senate; held at FAS]
- [http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0409.sirota.html Recent report in the Washington Monthly]
- Beaty, J. & Gwynne, S.C. The Outlaw Bank : A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. Random House, 1993, ISBN 0679413847
Category:Defunct banks
George W Bush__NOEDITSECTION__
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States since 2001.
From 1995 to 2000, Bush served as Governor of the State of Texas. A lifelong member of the Republican Party, Bush was a businessman before entering politics. He helped found the failed Arbusto Energy and later became a managing partner in the Texas Rangers baseball team. Bush was elected the 46th Governor of Texas in 1994 and was re-elected in 1998. He won the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election and was elected President amid much controversy. He was reelected in the 2004 presidential election.
Education, military service, and early personal life
2004 presidential election
The eldest son of former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush (née Pierce), George Walker Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He identifies himself as a native of Texas, as his family moved there when he was about two years old. He was raised in Midland, Texas and Houston, Texas with his siblings Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy.
After graduating from the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in June 1964, Bush returned to Connecticut and attended Yale University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1968. As a senior, Bush was a member of the secret Skull and Bones society. In May 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, he entered the Texas Air National Guard. He trained in the guard for two years, during which time he learned to fly. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in November 1970 on the recommendation of his commander Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian. He served as an F-102 pilot until 1972.
In 1974, he obtained permission to end his six-year service obligation six months early in order to attend Harvard Business School, from which he earned his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in 1975; he is the first U.S. President to hold an MBA. After graduation Bush returned to Texas to enter the oil business. Two years later, he married Laura Welch, a school librarian originally from Midland. They have twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna Bush, born in 1981. Bush is the only U.S. President to be the father of twins.
Military service controversy
Barbara and Jenna Bush
Bush's military service record has been a point of controversy, especially during the 2004 presidential election. His critics have alleged that he skipped over a waiting list to receive a National Guard slot, was absent from duty from 1972 to 1973, and was suspended from flying after missing a required physical examination and drug screening. These specific issues came to light during the 2004 Presidential campaign as a result of endeavors by the group Texans for Truth. Bush supporters claim that the surviving documentary evidence regarding Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, including pay records and the official honorable discharge papers, indicate that Bush served honorably. Skeptics contend that many of the official records can no longer be found, and that the matter is at best ambiguous. Barring the discovery of additional documents that are either exculpatory or incriminating, the issue is unlikely to be settled conclusively.
Substance abuse controversy
On September 4, 1976, near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, police arrested Bush for driving under the influence of alcohol. He pleaded guilty, was fined $150, and had his driver's license suspended for 30 days within Maine [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/02/bush.dui] [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushdui1.html].
News of the arrest was published five days before the 2000 presidential election. Bush has described his days before his religious conversion in his 40s as his "nomadic" period of "irresponsible youth" and admitted to drinking "too much" in those years. He says he changed to a sober lifestyle shortly after waking up hung-over after his 40th birthday celebration. He attributed the change partly to a 1985 meeting with the Reverend Billy Graham though by his own admission he did still drink as recently as July 1986 [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bushtext072599.htm] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush072599.htm] [http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/02/bush.dui].
In an unfortunate way, Bush is confronted to this day with the problem of alcoholism because his twin daughter Jenna has repeatedly been arrested for alcohol-related offences. [http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/05/31/twins/print.html] [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jenna5.html]
Bush has stated he did not use illegal drugs at any time since 1979. An aide clarified this as being 1974.[http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/19/president.2000/bush.drug]. According to the main article, a phone conversation revealed that Bush had used marijuana and he apparently did not deny using cocaine.
He has denied unsupported allegations by author James Hatfield that family influence was used to expunge the record of an arrest for cocaine possession in 1972, but has refused to discuss whether he used drugs before 1974 [http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1143/a08.html?4588] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4282799.stm] [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6999665].
Religious beliefs and practices
After meeting evangelist Billy Graham in 1985, Bush became much more involved in Christian belief and practice. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24634-2004Sep15_2.html] During this period, he left the Bush family's Episcopalian faith to join his wife's United Methodist Church, a denomination that in part represents a more socially conservative worldview (see United Methodist Church "Diversity Within Methodist Beliefs"). Bush is generally recognized as a born-again Christian.
In one of the televised debates in the 2000 Republican primaries, all participating candidates were asked to name their favorite philosopher. Bush responded by stating "Jesus Christ" — averring that Christ was the philosopher who had "changed his life".
Professional life
Business
Bush began his oil industry career in 1979 when he established Arbusto Energy, an oil and gas exploration company he financed with his education trust fund surplus and money from other investors, including Dorothy Bush, Lewis Lehrman, William Henry Draper III, Bill Gammell, and James R. Bath, the last of whom represented Salim bin Ladin. In 1984, Bush sold the company, hurt in the wake of the 1979 energy crisis and renamed Bush Exploration Co., to Spectrum 7, another Texas oil and gas exploration firm. Under the terms of the sale, Bush became CEO (Chief Executive Officer). Spectrum 7 lost revenue and was merged into Harken Energy Corporation in 1986, with Bush becoming a director of Harken.
After working on his father's successful 1988 presidential campaign, Bush learned from fellow Yale alumnus William DeWitt, Jr., that family friend Eddie Chiles wanted to sell the Texas Rangers baseball franchise. In April 1989, Bush assembled a group of investors from his father's close friends, including fellow fraternity brother Roland W. Betts; the group bought an 86% share of the Rangers for $75 million. Bush received a 2% share by investing $606,302, of which $500,000 was a bank loan. Against the advice of his counsel, Bush repaid the loan by selling $848,000 worth of stock in Harken Energy. Harken reported significant financial losses within a year of this sale, triggering allegations of insider trading. On March 27, 1992, the Securities and Exchange Commission concluded that Bush had a "preexisting plan" to sell, that Bush had a "relatively limited role in Harken management", and that it had not seen evidence of insider trading. [http://www.publicintegrity.org/docs/harken/harken_doc5.pdf] [http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020717-062330-9990r] [http://www.publicintegrity.org/docs/harken/harken_doc7.pdf] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush073099.htm]
As managing general partner of the Rangers, Bush assisted the team's media relations and the construction of a new stadium. [http://www.joenickp.com/texas/teamplayer.html] His public role generated valuable goodwill and reinforced name recognition throughout Texas that was already high as he had the identical name as his father who was President during this era. [http://espn.go.com/mlb/bush/friday.html]
Political career
Securities and Exchange Commission
Bush started his political career assisting his father's 1964 and 1970 campaigns for the U.S Senate neither of which were successful. After a United States National Guard transfer in 1972, he served as political director for an Alabama senate campaign. In 1978, Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives but lost to a State Senator, Democrat Kent Hance (now Republican). Ronald Reagan endorsed Bush's opponent in the Republican primary.
In 1994, Bush ran for Governor of Texas against the popular incumbent, Democrat Ann Richards. On November 8, 1994, he defeated Richards by a margin of 53% to 46%. That same year, he and his partners sold the Texas Rangers, with Bush realizing a profit of more than $14 million. As Governor, Bush forged a legislative alliance with powerful Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, a longtime Democrat. In 1998 Bush went on to win re-election in a landslide victory with nearly 69% of the vote, becoming the first Texas governor to be elected for two consecutive four-year terms (before 1975, the gubernatorial term of office was two years). [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/governors/texas] During Bush's governorship, he undertook significant legislative changes in criminal justice, tort law, and school financing. Bush took a hard line on capital punishment and received much criticism from advocates who wanted to abolish the death penalty and also those who argued that there were tangible imperfections in the Texas legal system that required a more cautious approach to carrying out the death penalty. Under Bush, Texas's incarceration rate was 1014 inmates per 100,000 in 1999, the second-highest in the nation, owing mainly to lengthy sentences for drug offences. In September 1999, Bush signed the Advance Directives Act which allows a health care facility to discontinue life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of the patient ten days after giving notice. Bush's transformative agenda and family pedigree now provided an opportunity to advance his political career to the national level.
Presidential campaigns
2000 campaign
Advisers convinced George W. Bush that 2000 would be the right time to run for president. He had more than enough money, and the Republican Party lacked any single strong candidate. Before he had even committed to the race, he was the clear favorite in the polls. During Bush's 2000 presidential election campaign, he declared himself a "compassionate conservative", a term coined by University of Texas professor Marvin Olasky. In the general election, Bush's political campaign promised to "restore honor and dignity to the White House" and pledged a huge tax cut intended to return a large part of the projected budget surplus back to the taxpayers. Among other issues, he also advocated allowing religious charity to participate in federally funded programs, promoting the use of education vouchers, supporting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a balanced budget, and restructuring the United States armed forces.
United States armed forces
Bush lost the New Hampshire primary to Senator John McCain of Arizona, but rebounded to capture 9 of 13 Super Tuesday states, effectively clinching the nomination. Bush then chose Dick Cheney, a former U.S. Representative and Secretary of Defense for Bush's father, as his running mate. After months of campaigning, election night, held November 7, 2000, turned out closer than anticipated. Television networks called the close race first for Gore, then for Bush, and finally too close to call. Al Gore, who had conceded the election in a phone call to Bush, rescinded that concession less than one hour later. When the race was finally adjudicated, Bush was declared to have defeated Democratic candidate Vice President Al Gore, winning 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266, carrying 30 of the 50 states. Gore had received a plurality of the national popular vote of the roughly 105,000,000 votes cast, with Bush receiving 50,456,002 votes (47.9%) and Gore 50,999,897 (48.4%), but this fact is not relevant in deciding U.S. presidential elections. Notable third-party candidates included Green Party candidate Ralph Nader (2,695,696 votes/2.7%), Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, (449,895/0.4%), and Libertarian candidate Harry Browne (386,024 votes/0.4%).
The 2000 election was the first since Benjamin Harrison's 1888 election to produce a winner that did not receive a plurality of the popular vote. It was the first since Rutherford Hayes was elected in 1876 in which the Supreme Court affected the decision. The Florida vote count, which favored Bush in preliminary tallies, was contested over allegations of irregularities in the voting and tabulation processes. Allegations of confusing ballots, defective voting machines, faulty absentee ballots from the military, and the alleged illegal barring of many voters threw the process into chaos.
A series of court cases ensued over the legality of county-specific and statewide recounts. After machine and manual recounts in four counties, and with Bush still prevailing, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide manual recount of all counties. The U.S. Supreme Court, upon appeal from the Bush campaign (Bush v. Gore), overturned the decision and halted all recounts. After the ruling, Gore reinstated his concession. Several months later the statewide manual recount of all counties was completed by a group of newspapers and it was determined that Al Gore had won in Florida under four counting standards and had lost to Bush under the other four counting standards. [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/89693365.html?did=89693365&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Nov+13%2C+2001&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Ballot-Count+Scenarios+in+Bush-Gore+2000][http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/florida.ballots/stories/main.html] Since the Florida Supreme Court did not precisely define the ballot counting standard to be used in the statewide manual recount of all counties, it remains disputed who would have won the state if the manual recount had not been halted by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the final official count, Bush had won Florida by only 537 votes (2,912,790 for Bush to 2,912,253 for Gore) [http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm], earning the needed 25 electoral votes and the presidency. Bush was inaugurated January 20, 2001.
2004 campaign
2001
In the 2004 election, Bush carried 31 of 50 states for 286 Electoral College votes. A record voter turnout gave him more popular votes than any previous presidential candidate (62,040,610 votes/50.7%). This was the first time since 1988 that a President received a popular majority. Challenger, Senator John Kerry (Democrat), carried 19 states and the District of Columbia, earning him 251 Electoral College votes (59,028,111 votes/48.3%). A faithless elector, pledged to Kerry, voted for Democratic Vice Presidential running mate, John Edwards, giving him one Electoral College vote. No other candidate won College votes. Notable third-party candidates included Independent Ralph Nader (463,653 votes / 0.4%), and Libertarian Michael Badnarik (397,265 votes/0.3%). Congress debated potential election irregularities, including allegations of voting irregularities in Ohio and electronic voting machine fraud.
Bush was inaugurated for his second term on January 20, 2005. The oath of office was administered by Then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Bush's inaugural address centered mainly on a theme of spreading freedom and democracy around the world.
Important people in Bush's life and career
George W. Bush is a member of a prominent political family. His father, George H. W. Bush, served as U.S. President for one term and twice as Ronald Reagan's Vice President. His younger brother, Jeb Bush, is the current Governor of Florida. His grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a United States Senator. He also has two other younger brothers, Marvin Bush and Neil Bush, both businessmen. He and John Quincy Adams are the only sons of former Presidents to become President themselves.
Bush is very close to his wife Laura, father George H. W. Bush, and mother Barbara Bush. He is also close to his sister Dorothy Bush Koch and brother Marvin Bush. Loyalty to family is an important cornerstone of Bush's attitude to his family relationships, and despite some differences in policy and attitudes, and independent of each other, Bush and his brother Jeb Bush have worked closely to help each other's political career.
In his career, Bush values loyalty as the greatest asset, and has developed a close band of advisors deeply loyal to him. In his second term, he has elevated them from personal political jobs to top government positions.
Some of the closest and most trusted advisors to Bush in affairs of policy and politics are women. Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. Secretary of State was Bush's close confidant in the first term as National Security Advisor, and a Bush loyalist. Margaret Spellings was Bush's chief domestic policy advisor from his days as Governor of Texas, and now runs the U.S. Department of Education. Moreover, Karen Hughes was one of Bush's most trusted political advisors, playing important roles in all his campaigns from 1994 to 2004. She was briefly White House Counsel, and now is undersecretary of state for public diplomacy — responsible for the specific mission of improving America's image in the world, and particularly with Muslim countries. Harriet Miers was legal counsel and a close loyalist to Bush in Texas and, since Bush's second term commenced, she has served as White House counsel. Bush nominated Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court on October 3, 2005 to fill the shoes of retiring associate justice Sandra Day O'Connor, yet she withdrew her nomination 24 days later after peculiar criticism of Miers via Bush's own conservative base, due to her possession of no prior written legal opinions or any judicial experience whatsoever.
Karl Rove has played perhaps the greatest influence on Bush's life and career. Ever since meeting in 1972, Rove built Bush's political campaign machine when he decided to run for Texas's governorship in 1994, and was his closest political advisor. When elected President in 2001, Bush asked Rove to give up his direct mail business and join him full-time in Washington. Officially designated White House political advisor, Rove designed the political strategy to enact Bush's legislative agenda, and guide the political strategy on important national issues of both the White House and the Republican Party, in view to the 2004 re-election campaign. After winning re-election Bush called Rove The Architect of his campaign, and Rove now serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, for domestic policy and national security. Rove is also responsible for the elevation of Bush loyalist Republicans like Ken Mehlman, Bush's campaign manager and now Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Alberto Gonzales was the Governor's legal counsel in Texas, and later Attorney General. He joined Bush in 2001 in Washington, and in 2005, was appointed U.S. Attorney General, the first Hispanic American ever to run the U.S. Justice Department.
Presidency of the United States
U.S. Justice Department, United States President George W. Bush, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after reading statement to the press during the closing moments of the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, on June 4, 2003]]
First Term
Bush's first 100 days were considered less bipartisan than he pledged during the campaign. His most controversial appointment was John Ashcroft as Attorney General. Democrats vigorously opposed Ashcroft for his strong, socially conservative positions on issues like abortion and capital punishment, though they eventually confirmed him. On his first day in office, Bush moved to block federal aid to foreign groups that offered counseling or any other assistance to women in obtaining abortions. Days later, he announced his commitment to channeling more federal aid to faith-based service organizations that critics feared would dissolve the traditional separation of church and state.
Republicans lost control of the Senate in June, when Vermont's James Jeffords quit the Republican party to become an independent, but not before five Senate Democrats crossed party lines to approve Bush's $1.35 billion tax cut. Less than three months later, however, the administration released budget projections that showed the projected budget surplus decreasing to nothing over the next years.
Political ideology
During the 2000 election campaign Bush started to use the phrase compassionate conservatism to describe his beliefs. Some conservatives have questioned Bush's commitment to traditional conservative ideals for his willingness to incur large budget deficits by permitting substantial spending increases. Democrats and liberals have claimed that the prefixing of the word "conservative" with the adjective "compassionate" was less a new ideology and more a way of making conservatism seem palatable to independent and swing voters. In his 2005 inaugural address he outlined his vision of foreign policy and claimed plan for democracy promotion, [http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.pdf National Security Strategy of the United States of America (pdf)].
Foreign policy and security
foreign policy.]]
During his first presidential visit to Europe in June 2001, European leaders criticized Bush for his rejection of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global warming. In 2002, Bush rejected the treaty as harmful to economic growth in the United States, stating: "My approach recognizes that economic growth is the solution, not the problem." [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/20020214-5.html]
The administration also disputed the scientific basis of the treaty. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010611-2.html] In November 2004, Russia ratified the treaty, meeting the quota of nations required to enforce it without ratification by the United States.
Bush's foreign policy campaign platform supported a stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especially Mexico, and reduced involvement in "nation-building" and other minor military engagements indirectly related to U.S. interests. However, after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks (9/11 attacks), the State Department focused primarily on the Middle East.
Terrorism
Middle East, September 14, 2001: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."]]
On October 7, 2001, the United States, with international support, launched a war against the Afghani Taliban regime, charged with harboring Osama bin Laden. Subsequent nation-building efforts with the United Nations and Afghan president Hamid Karzai have had mixed results; bin Laden (as of 2005) is still at large. Democratic elections were held on October 9, 2004. Even though international observers called the elections "fairly democratic" at the "overall majority" of polling centers, 15 of the 18 presidential candidates nevertheless threatened to withdraw, alleging flawed registration and validation. [http://fpc.state.gov/fpc/37133.htm]
Days after taking office, Bush stated "I am going to go forward with... plans for a missile defense system."[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/20010126-7.html] To accomplish this deployment, Bush announced on May 1, 2001 his desire to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and deploy a missile defense system with the ability to shield against a limited attack by a rogue state. [http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/abmt/news/010501bush.html] The American Physical Society criticized this policy change, citing doubts about the system's effectiveness. [http://www.aps.org/public_affairs/popa/reports/nmd03.cfm] Bush argued this was justified as the treaty's Cold War benefits were no longer relevant. The official notification of withdrawal from the treaty was announced on 13 December 2001, citing the need to protect against terrorism. While there is past precedent for a President to cancel a treaty, most past cases have involved Congressional authorization. [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/article02/11.html#2]
Iraq
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration promoted urgent action in Iraq, stating that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein once again had weapons of mass destruction (WMD), even though Hussein claimed that he destroyed all the chemical and biological weapons he had pre-1991 (he used them on the Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988). Bush also said that Hussein was a threat to U.S. security, destabilized the Middle East, inflamed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and financed terrorists. CIA reports asserted that Saddam Hussein had tried to acquire nuclear material, had not properly accounted for Iraqi biological weapons and chemical weapons material in violation of U.N. sanctions, and that some Iraqi missiles had a range greater than allowed by the UN sanctions. It had been, since 1998, U.S. policy for the president to plan for the removal of Saddam Hussein by a law (the Iraq Liberation Act) passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate and later signed by President Bill Clinton. [http://www.cia.gov/cia/reports/iraq_wmd/Iraq_Oct_2002.htm] [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html]
President Bill Clinton
Asserting that Saddam Hussein could provide terrorists with WMD, Bush urged the United Nations to enforce Iraqi disarmament mandates, precipitating a diplomatic crisis. On November 13, 2002, under UN Security Council Resolution 1441, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei led UN weapons inspectors in Iraq. Lapses in Iraqi cooperation triggered intense debate over the efficacy of inspections. UN inspection teams departed Iraq upon U.S. advisement given four days prior to full-scale hostilities. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-03-17-inspectors-iraq_x.htm]
Secretary of State Colin Powell urged his colleagues in the Bush administration to avoid a war without clear UN approval. The Bush administration initially sought a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the military force pursuant to [http://www.worldpress.org/specials/iraq/chapterVII.htm Chapter VII] of the United Nations Charter but, facing vigorous opposition from key nations including the public threat of an embarrassing French veto, dropped the bid for UN approval and, with a few other nations designated the "coalition of the willing", prepared for war. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2862343.stm]
coalition of the willing, where he delivers his controversial Mission Accomplished! speech to declare victory and the end of major combat operations in Iraq, May 1, 2003.]]
Military hostilities commenced on March 20, 2003 to preempt Iraqi WMD deployment and remove Hussein from power. Casus belli included Hussein's hindering weapons inspections, an alleged 1991 assassination attempt on Bush's father George H. W. Bush, breach of a 1991 ceasefire, and violation of numerous Security Council resolutions. Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan and other world leaders questioned the war's legality. Bush declared victory on May 1, 2003, but U.S. deployment and casualties have continued through 2005 despite the capture of Hussein, because of ongoing Iraqi insurgencies.
On September 30, 2004, the U.S. Iraq Survey Group Final Report concluded, "ISG has not found evidence that Saddam Husayn (sic) possessed WMD stocks in 2003, but the available evidence from its investigation — including detainee interviews and document exploitation — leaves open the possibility that some weapons existed in Iraq although not of a militarily significant capability." [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/2004/isg-final-report/isg-final-report_vol1_rsi-06.htm] The 9/11 Commission report found no credible evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD, although the report did conclude that Hussein's government was actively attempting to acquire technology that would allow Iraq to produce WMD as soon as U.N. sanctions were lifted. [http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf] In addition, the 9/11 commission found that despite contacts between Iraq and Al-Qaeda in 1996, "no collaborative relationship" emerged in regards to the attacks on 9/11. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html]
Immigration
Bush proposed an immigration bill that would have greatly expanded the use of guest worker visas. His proposal would match employers with foreign workers for a period up to six years; however, workers would not be eligible for permanent residency ("green cards") or citizenship. The bill is opposed by some Democratic Senators, including Barbara Boxer and Edward M. Kennedy.
Bush has also publicly stated he would like to tighten security at the U.S.-Mexico border, which includes speeding up the deportation process, building more jail cells to hold illegal immigrants, and installing more equipment and immigration officers at the border. He does agree with "increasing the number of annual green cards that can lead to citizenship" but does not support giving amnesty to those who are already in the country illegally, ceding that it would only serve as incentive for increased illegal immigration. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/29/bush.immigration/]
Health
In the State of the Union message in January, 2003, Bush outlined a five-year strategy for global emergency AIDS relief. Bush requested $15 billion for this effort and Congress supported the president's proposal. The emergency relief effort is led by U.S. Ambassador Randall L. Tobias, the Global AIDS Coordinator at the Department of State. $9 billion is allocated for new programs in AIDS relief for 15 countries most affected by HIV/AIDS. Another $5 billion will go to continuing support of AIDS relief in 100 countries where the U.S. already has bilateral programs established. And $1 billion will go to support The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This budget represents more money contributed to fight AIDS globally than all other donor countries combined.
Trade
Bush's imposition of a tariff on imported steel and on Canadian softwood lumber was controversial in light of his advocacy of free market policies in other areas, and attracted criticism both from his fellow conservatives and from nations affected. The steel tariff was later rescinded under pressure from the World Trade Organization. The softwood lumber dispute is still ongoing.
Development Assistance
The U.S. State Department and Agency for International Development (USAID) published a strategic plan for the 2004-2009 period. The principal aims are established in President Bush’s National Security Strategy: diplomacy, development and defense. President Bush's new policy would increase assistance by 50 percent for countries that take responsibility for their own development “by ruling justly, investing wisely in their people, and encouraging economic freedom.” Development assistance must also be aligned with U.S. foreign policy which means the USAID would support those “countries that are committed to democratic governance, open economies, and wise investment in their people’s education, health, and potential.” [http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/dosstrat/2004/23503.htm]
Domestic Policy
Faith-based initiatives
In early 2001, Bush worked with Republicans and social conservatives in Congress to pass legislation changing the way the federal government regulated, taxed and funded charities and non-profit initiatives run by religious organizations. Although prior to the legislation it was possible for these organizations to receive federal assistance, the new legislation removed reporting requirements that required the organizations to separate their charitable functions from their religious functions. Bush also created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/]
Several organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized Bush's faith-based initiative program, arguing that it involves government entanglement with religion and favoritism to religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Diversity and civil rights
Bush is opposed to the legal recognition of gender-neutral marriage, but supports the establishment of civil unions ("I don't think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement" — ABC News October 26, 2004). He has endorsed the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would define marriage as being the union of one man and one woman. Bush reiterated his disagreement with the Republican Party platform that opposed civil unions, and said that the issue of civil unions should be left up to individual states. In his February 2, 2005, State of the Union address he repeated his support for the constitutional amendment.
Bush is the first Republican president to appoint an openly gay man to serve in his administration [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/10/MN198145.DTL] (Scott Evertz as director of the Office of National AIDS Policy), and the first president to see one such (succesful) appointment, that of openly gay Ambassador to Romania Michael E. Guest. Bush has claimed to support the executive order issued by President Bill Clinton banning employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but Scott Bloch, whom Bush chose as Special Counsel in 2003, does not feel he has the legal authority to enforce the ban. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/24/AR2005052401496.html] During his 2000 campaign trail he met with the Log Cabin Republicans, a first for a Republican Presidential candidate. The organization endorsed him in 2000 but not in 2004.
Bush obtained a statistically significant increase in support from African-Americans for a republican candidate during his presidency. Although he only got 9% of the black vote in 2000, he received nearly 12% in 2004, with the increased black vote in Ohio giving the victory to Bush over Kerry.
Although Bush expressed appreciation for the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the selection of college applicants for purposes of diversity, his Administration filed briefs against it. Bush has said he opposes government sanctioned and enforced quotas and racial preferences, but that the private and public sector should be encouraged to reach out to accomplished minorities to increase employment diversity.
An August 2005 report by the United States Commission on Civil Rights states that "the government fails to seriously consider race-neutral alternatives as the Constitution requires." [http://www.usccr.gov/press/2005/0818list.htm] Chairman Gerald A. Reynolds explained, "Federal agencies do not independently evaluate, conduct research, collect data, or periodically review programs to determine whether race-neutral strategies will provide an adequate alternative to race-conscious programs." Civil rights groups have expressed concern that this report is an attack on affirmative action inconsistent with Grutter v. Bollinger.
In his first term, Bush appointed Colin Powell as Secretary of State. Powell was the first African-American man to serve in that position, and was succeeded by Condoleezza Rice: Rice became the first African-American woman to hold the post. In 2005, he appointed Alberto Gonzalez as the United States Attorney General, the first Hispanic to hold that position. In total, Bush has appointed more women and minorities to high-level positions within his administration than any other U.S. President.
Economy
During his first term Bush sought and obtained Congressional approval for three major tax cuts, which increased the standard income tax deduction for married couples, eliminated the estate tax, and reduced marginal tax rates. The cuts are currently scheduled to expire a decade after passage. Bush has asked Congress to make the tax cuts permanent. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the economy suffered from a recession that lasted from March 2001 to November 2001.
Federal spending in constant dollars increased under Bush by 26% in his first 4 and a half years. Non-defense spending increased 18% in that time. [http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=102&FirstYear=2003&LastYear=2005&Freq=Qtr]
The tax cuts, recession, and increases in outlays all contributed to record budget deficits during the Bush administration. The annual deficit reached record current-dollar levels of $374,000,000,000 in 2003 and $413,000,000,000 in 2004. National debt, the cumulative total of yearly deficits, rose from $5.7 trillion (58% of GDP) to $[http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm 7.9 trillion] (68% of GDP) under Bush, as compared to the $2.7 trillion total debt owed when Ronald Reagan left office, which was [http://www.bea.gov/ 52%] of the GDP.
According to the "baseline" forecast of federal revenue and spending by the Congressional Budget Office (in its January 2005 Baseline Budget Projections [http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=6060&sequence=2], the budget deficits will decrease over the next several years. In this projection the deficit will fall to 368,000,000,000 (USD) in 2005, 261,000,000,000 (USD) in 2007, and 207,000,000,000 (USD) in 2009, with a small surplus by 2012. The CBO noted, however, that this projection "omits a significant amount of spending that will occur this year -- and possibly for some time to come -- for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and for other activities related to the global War on Terrorism." The projection also assumes that the Bush tax cuts "will expire as scheduled on December 31, 2010". If, as Bush has urged, the tax cuts were to be extended, then "the budget outlook for 2015 would change from a surplus of 141,000,000,000 (USD) to a deficit of 282,000,000,000 (USD)".
Inflation under Bush has remained near historic lows at about 2-3% per year. The recession and a drop in some prices led to concern about deflation from mid-2001 to late-2003. More recently, high oil prices have caused concern about increasing inflation.
high oil prices
Private employment(seasonally adjusted) decreased under Bush from a peak of 111,680,000 in December 2000 to 108,250,000 in mid-2003. The percentage drop in jobs was the largest since 1981-1983. The economy then added private jobs for 25 consecutive months from (July 2003 to August 2005), but the private employment level remained below the pre-Bush level until June 2005 when it reached 111,828,000. Considering population growth, that still represents a 4.6% decrease in employment since Bush took office. The administration and many economists have suggested that the growth in employment resulted from the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA), which President George W. Bush signed into law on May 27, 2003.[http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/]
June 2005
The Current Population Survey (aka Household Survey) measures the percentage of the population that is employed and unemployed. The result can be multiplied by population estimates to get total employment estimates. This survey has the advantage over the Payroll survey in that it includes self-employed. The Household Survey is less accurate in producing total numbers (since it requires population estimates) an
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG) is part of the United States National Guard and a reserve component of the United States Air Force (USAF). Like the Army National Guard, the ANG is administered by the National Guard Bureau and an ANG unit may be activated by both the President of the United States and the governor of the state in which it resides.
Although the ANG was not established as a separate component of the USAF until 1947, throughout the twentieth century National Guard aviators have played significant roles in all wars involving the United States and in most of its major contingencies. Whereas entire ANG units were activated for the Korean War, ANG aviators saw service in the Vietnam War as individuals attached to USAF units.
The ANG is often described as a "reserve" force of "part-time airmen", although the demands of maintaining modern aircraft mean many ANG members work full-time. Many ANG aviators work for commercial airlines, but in the ANG they may train to fly any of the aircraft in the USAF inventory, with the exception of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the B-1B Lancer bomber, the MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, the AC-130 Gunship and the F/A-22 Raptor and F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters.
Since the 1991 Gulf War, ANG pilots have patrolled Iraq's no-fly zones. During the 9/11 terrorist attacks the first unit to provide air cover was the Happy Hooligans, a North Dakota ANG F-16 unit diverted from flight training over Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. Another ANG F-16 unit from Vermont later patrolled the skies over New York City.
See also
- Air National Guard Units
-
1973
1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday.
Events
January
- January 1 - United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, now known as the European Union.
- January 3 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner.
- January 15 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
- January 17 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines.
- January 22 - Supreme Court of the United States rules on Roe v. Wade.
- January 22 - George Foreman breaks Joe Frazier's professional career undefeated heavyweight world boxing champion status.
- January 22 - Nigerian Airlines passenger plane from Mecca crashes in Kano, Nigeria - 176 dead.
- January 23 - The eruption of Eldfell on the Icelandic island of Heimaey begins.
- January 23 - President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
- January 25 - Derren Nesbitt convicted of assaulting Anne Aubrey
- January 27 - U.S. involvement in Vietnam War ends with the signing of peace pacts. See Paris Peace Accords.
February
- February 11 - Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
- February 12 - Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to post distance in metric on signs. (See: Metric system in the United States)
- February 21 - Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down a Libyan Arab Airlines jet killing 100.
- February 22 - Sino-American relations: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to mainland China, the United States and the People's Republic of China agree to establish liaison offices.
- February 27 - The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
March
- March 1 - The New York Joffrey Ballet's Deuce Coupe Ballet opens. The ballet is set entirely around music by The Beach Boys.
- March 7 - Comet Kohoutek is discovered.
- March 8 - IRA bombs explode in the Whitehall and the Old Bailey.
- March 16 - Queen Elizabeth II opens the New London Bridge.
- March 29 - The last United States soldiers leave Vietnam.
- March 31 - Paramount's Carowinds opens for the first time.
April
- April 2 - Launch of LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
- April 4 - World Trade Center officially opens in New York with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
- April 6 - Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft.
- April 17 -German GSG-9 group formed officially
May
- May 5 - Shambu Tamang becomes the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.
- May 8 - A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement who were occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, ends with the surrender of the militants.
- May 10 - Polisario formed.
- May 14 - Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.
- May 17 - Watergate scandal: Hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.
- May 27 - By the virtue of non-retroactiveness of the copyright laws of the USSR, all works published before this date are public domain. This applies worldwide.
June
- June 1 - Greek military junta abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a republic.
- June 3 - Tupolev Tu-144 crashes at the Paris air show - 15 dead.
- June 4 - patent for the ATM granted to Don Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain.
- June 9 - Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes becoming the first Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winner since 1948.
- June 10 - Grandson of J. Paul Getty is kidnapped in Rome.
- June 22 - William Mark Felt retires from the FBI.
- June 25 - Erskine Hamilton Childers is elected the fourth President of Ireland.
- June 26 - On Plesetsk Cosmodrome 9 persons were killed at an explosion of a Cosmos 3-M rocket.
- June 30 - Very long total solar eclipse. During the entire Second Millennium, only seven total solar eclipses exceeded seven minutes of totality.
July
- July 1 - US Drug Enforcement Agency founded.
- July 5 - Isle of Man begins to issue its own postage stamps
- July 10 - The Bahamas gain full independence within the British Commonwealth.
- July 12 - A major fire destroys the entire 6th floor of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The disaster comes to be known as the 1973 National Archives Fire.
- July 16 - Watergate Scandal: Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield informs the United States Senate committee investigating the scandal that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.
- July 20 - France resumes nuclear bomb tests in Mururoa Atoll over protestations of Australia and New Zealand.
- July 25 - Soviet Mars 5 space probe launched.
- July 28 - Watkins Glen Summer Jam, a massive rock festival featuring The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band and The Band attracts over 600,000 music fans.
- July 30 - An 11-year legal action for the victims of Thalidomide ends.
- July 31 - Militant protesters of Ian Paisley disrupt the first sitting of the Northern Ireland Assembly
August
- August 2 - Flash fire kills 51 at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.
- August 5 - Black September members open fire at Athens airport - 3 dead, 55 injured.
- August 8 - 1973 Kidnapping of Kim Dae-Jung
- August 13 - The film of Jesus Christ Superstar is released.
- August 15 - The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, marking the official halt to 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia.
- September 22 - Henry Kissinger, United States National Security Advisor, starts his term as Secretary of State.
September
- September 11 - Chile's democratically-elected government is overthrown in a military coup after serious instability. President Salvador Allende dies, and General Augusto Pinochet heads a military junta that will govern Chile for the next 16 years.
- September 15 - Sweden's king Gustav VI Adolf dies. Carl XVI Gustav becomes king.
- September 18 - The two German Republics, the BRD and the DDR, are admitted to the United Nations.
- September 20 - Billed as The Battle of the Sexes, Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
- September 28 - ITT was bombed in New York City as a protest of their involvement with the Coup in Chile.
October
- October 6 - Yom Kippur War - Fourth and largest Arab-Israeli conflict begins as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israel as Jews mark Yom Kippur.
- October 10 - Spiro T. Agnew resigns as vice president of the United States and then, in federal court in Baltimore, pleads no contest to charges of evasion of income taxes on $29,500 he received in 1967 while he was governor of Maryland. He is fined $10,000 and put on three years' probation.
- October 17 - Arab Oil Embargo against several countries which gave support to Israel, triggerring the 1973 energy crisis.
- October 20 - The Saturday Night Massacre.
- October 20 - Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II.
- October 26 - Yom Kippur War ends.
- October 27 - The Canyon City meteorite, a 1.4 kg chondrite type meteorite struck earth in Fremont County, Colorado.
November
- November 1: Watergate scandal, acting Attorney General Robert Bork appointed Leon Jaworski as the new Watergate Special Prosecutor.
- November 3 - Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 10 toward Mercury (on March 29, 1974 it became the first space probe to reach that planet).
- November 7 - The U.S. Congress overrides President Richard M. Nixon's veto of the War Powers Resolution, which limits presidential power to wage war without congressional approval.
- November 11 - Egypt and Israel sign a United States-sponsored cease-fire accord.
- November 14 - In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne marries a commoner, Captain Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey (they divorced in 1992).
- November 16 - Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.
- November 16 - US President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
- November 17 - Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, US President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."
- November 17 - Student uprising against the military regime in Athens, Greece.
- November 21 - President Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Bushardt, revealed the existence of an 18-and-a-half-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.
- November 25 - Greek Dictator George Papadopoulos is ousted in military coup led by Lieutenant General Phaidon Gizikis.
- November 27 - The United States Senate votes 92 to 3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on December 6, the House confirmed him 387 to 35).
December
- December - Chile breaks diplomatic contacts with Sweden.
- December 1 - Papua New Guinea gains self government from Australia.
- December 3 - Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.
- December 15 - Gay rights: The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its DSM-II.
- December 23 - The OPEC doubles the price of crude oil.
- December 30 - Terrorist Carlos fails in his attempt to assassinate British businessman Joseph Sieff.
- December 31 - In the UK, as a result of high coal and oil prices, the Three-Day Week officially comes into force.
Unknown dates
- The National House Building Council was formed in the United Kingdom.
- The COSC The Swiss Official Chronometer testing Institute was founded in Switzerland by 5 Watch Cantons & FH, Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
- Title Queen of Australia created
Fictional events
- December 6 - Susie Salmon murdered, in Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones.
Births
January
- January 1 - Danny Lloyd, American actor
- January 8 - Sean Paul, Jamaican singer
- January 11 - Rahul Dravid, Indian cricketer
- January 13 - Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian hockey player
- January 14 - Giancarlo Fisichella, Italian race car driver
- January 15 - Tomás Galásek, Czech football player
- January 17 - Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican football player
- January 18 - Crispian Mills, British musician (The Jeevas and Kula Shaker)
- January 19 - Karen Lancaume, French actress (d. 2005)
- January 29 - Jason Schmidt, baseball player
February
- February 4 - Oscar De La Hoya, American boxer
- February 11 - Varg Vikernes, Norwegian musician (Burzum)
- February 14 - Steve McNair, American football player
- February 16 - Cathy Freeman, Australian athlete
- February 17 - Amy Van Dyken, American swimmer
- February 20 - Kimberley Davies, Australian actress
- February 22 - Shota Arveladze, Georgian football player
- February 24 - Jordan Jovtchev, Bulgarian gymnast
- February 26 - Marshall Faulk, American football player
- February 26 - Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
- February 28 - Eric Lindros, Canadian hockey player
March
- March 1 - Ryan Peake, Canadian guitarist (Nickelback)
- March 9 - Aaron Boone, baseball player
- March 13 - Edgar Davids, Dutch football player
- March 17 - Caroline Corr, Irish musician (The Corrs)
- March 23 - Jason Kidd, American basketball player
- March 29 - Marc Overmars, Dutch football player
- March 30 - Adam Goldstein, American DJ
April
- April 1 - Stephen Fleming, New Zealand cricket captains
- April 4 - David Blaine, American magician
- April 5 - Pharrell Williams, American musician and producer (The Neptunes)
- April 6 - Rie Miyazawa, Japanese actress and singer
- April 8 - Bobby Ologun, Nigerian television performer and martial artist
- April 10 - Roberto Carlos, Brazilian football player
- April 11 - Jennifer Esposito, American actress
- April 24 - Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
- April 28 - Elisabeth Röhm, American actress
May
- May 1 - Oliver Neuville, German football player
- May 3 - Michael Reiziger, Dutch football player
- May 10 - Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
- May 14 - Natalie Appleton, Canadian singer (All Saints)
- May 16 - Tori Spelling, American actress
- May 30 - Leigh Francis, British comedian
- May 31 - Dominique van Roost, Belgian tennis player
June
- June 1 - Fred Deburghgraeve, Belgian swimmer
- June 1 - Heidi Klum, German model
- June 1 - Derek Lowe, baseball player
- June 8 - Lexa Doig, Canadian actress
- June 9 - Tedy Bruschi, American football player
- June 9 - Iain Lee, British comedian and radio and television presenter
- June 10 - Faith Evans, American singer
- June 12 - Darryl White, Australian footballer
- June 13 - Sam Adams, American football player
- June 22 - Carson Daly, American talk show host
- June 26 - Gretchen Wilson, American singer
- June 28 - Adrian Annus, Hungarian athlete
- June 30 - Chan Ho Park, Korean Major League Baseball player
July
- July 4 - Gackt, Japanese singer
- July 9 - Kelly Holcomb, American football player
- July 11 - Konstantinos Kenteris, Greek athlete
- July 15 - John Dolmayan, Lebanese-born drummer (System of a Down)
- July 17 - Eric Moulds, American football player
- July 20 - Peter Forsberg, Swedish hocke | | |
