Neil Bush
Encyclopedia
Neil Mallon Bush is the fourth of six children of former President George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Bush (Barbara Lane Pierce). His five siblings are George Walker Bush
, the former President of the United States; Jeb Bush
, the former governor of Florida; Robin Bush
, who died of leukemia
in 1953 at the age of four; Marvin; and Dorothy
. Bush is currently a businessman based in Texas
.
. He was named after a good friend of the family, Henry Neil Mallon
, chairman of Dresser Industries
, George H. W. Bush
's employer. As a child Bush spent some summers and holidays at his family's estate in Maine
, the Bush Compound
.
At age 11, he entered the exclusive St. Albans School
in Washington, DC. He struggled through school; a counselor told his mother that it was doubtful the boy had the potential to graduate. He was later diagnosed as having dyslexia
, and his mother spent much time coaching him through his learning disability
. Eventually his grades improved and he graduated from St. Albans in 1973.
After St. Albans, Bush attended Tulane University
, where he earned an economics degree in 1977. He earned an MBA in 1979.
-based Silverado Savings and Loan during the 1980s' larger Savings and Loan crisis
. As his father, George H.W. Bush, was Vice President of the United States
, his role in Silverado's failure was a focal point of publicity. According to a piece in Salon, Silverado's collapse cost taxpayers $1.3 billion.
The US Office of Thrift Supervision investigated Silverado's failure and determined that Bush had engaged in numerous "breaches of his fiduciary duties involving multiple conflicts of interest." Although Bush was not indicted
on criminal charges, a civil action
was brought against him and the other Silverado directors by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
; it was eventually settled out of court, with Bush paying $50,000 as part of the settlement, as reported in the Style section of the Washington Post.
A Republican fundraiser set up a fund to help defer costs Neil incurred in his S&L
dealings.
, an educational software corporation. Bush has said he started Austin
-based Ignite! Learning because of his learning difficulties in middle school and those of his son, Pierce. The software uses multiple intelligence methods to provide varying types of content to appeal to multiple learning styles.
To fund Ignite!, Bush raised $23 million from U.S. investors, including his parents, as well as businessmen from Taiwan
, Japan
, Kuwait
, the British Virgin Islands
and the United Arab Emirates
, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Documented investors include Russian billionaire expatriate Boris Berezovsky, Berezovsky's partner Badri Patarkatsishvili, Kuwaiti company head Mohammed Al Saddah, and Chinese
computer executive Winston Wong.
In 2002, Neil Bush commended his brother, George, for his efforts on education as President, but he questioned the emphasis on constant testing to keep federal aid coming to public schools: “I share the concerns of many that if our system is driven around assessments, pencil-and-paper tests that test a kid's ability to memorize stuff, I would say that reliance threatens to institutionalize bad teaching practices.”
As of October 2006, over 13 U.S. school districts (out of over 14,000 school districts nation-wide) have used federal funds made available through the No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001 in order to buy Ignite's products at $3,800 apiece.
A December 2003 Style section article in the Washington Post reported that Bush's salary from Ignite! was $180,000 per year.
Bush's relationship with the controversial oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a political enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin
currently under indictment for fraud
in Russia and an applicant for asylum
in the United Kingdom
, has been noted in the media. Berezovsky has been an investor in Bush's Ignite! program since at least 2003. Bush met with Berezovsky in Latvia
. The meeting caused tension between that country and Russia due to Berezovsky's fugitive status. Bush was also seen in Berezovsky's box at an Arsenal's Emirates stadium for a game in 2006, which prompted some stateside criticism. There has also been speculation in the English language
Moscow Times that the relationship may cause tension in U.S.-Russian bilateral relations, "especially since Putin has taken pains to build a personal relationship with the U.S. president."
, announced on the same day good news about a new Asia
n client that sent its stock value soaring. Bush stated that he had no inside knowledge and that his financial advisor had recommended the trades. He said, "any increase in the price of the stock on that day was purely coincidental, meaning that I did not have any improper information."
When asked in January 2004 about the stock trades, Bush contrasted the capital gains he reported in 1999 and 2000 with the capital losses on Kopin stock he reported ($287,722 in all) in 2001. In 2001 Kopin joined a broad decline in high-tech stock valuations.
(then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), of the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD)
. The foundation promotes ecumenical understanding and publishes religious texts and was founded in 1999. Bush is no longer on the board of the foundation.
, the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin
, plus $10,000 for every board meeting he attends.
Bush serves as co-chairman of a company called Crest Investment. Crest pays him $60,000 a year to provide miscellaneous consulting services.
Bush frequently travels to the Middle East, Europe and Asia to negotiate deals and raise capital for various businesses. According to court filings from his divorce, in 2000 he was paid $1.3 million for such work. This includes $642,500 as a commission for introducing an Asian investor to the owners of an American high-tech company.
that he "endured his own Ritalin hell seven years ago when educators in a Houston private school diagnosed his son, Pierce, (then) 16, with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and pushed medication."
In a September 26, 2002, episode of CNN Interview, Bush told Connie Chung
:
Bush spent years researching the issue and found that "the educators were wrong" about his son. "There is a systemic problem in this country, where schools are often forcing parents to turn to Ritalin," he said. "It's obvious to me that we have a crisis."
Also that year, Bush testified before a hearing of the United States Congress
to speak out against over-medicating children for learning disorders.
He has suggested that many parents believe the ADD and ADHD diagnoses and subsequent medicating of their children because it explains why they aren't doing well in school, saying "it's the system that is failing to engage children in the classroom. My heart goes out to any parents who are being led to believe their kids have a disorder or are disabled."
Neil Bush (along with filmmaker Michael Moore
) is credited in the cast of a 2005 documentary called The Drugging of Our Children directed by Gary Null
. In the film's trailer Bush says: "Just because it is easy to drug a kid and get them to be compliant doesn't make it right to do it".
d in April 2003.
Bush's divorce deposition gained public attention when he admitted to several sexual encounters with high-priced escorts/prostitutes in Thailand
and Hong Kong
in which he admitted to catching the STD
herpes. Among other divorce testimony aired in the press, Bush's friend John Spalding announced that Sharon had extracted hair samples from her estranged husband in order to place a voodoo curse on him. Sharon Bush later confirmed the forcible hair removal, but she stated that she took the hair to be tested for evidence of drug use. At various times, she publicly spoke of her fear of retribution by Bush, or by the Bush family.
Bush remarried in Houston, Texas
, on March 6, 2004, to Maria Andrews. Andrews spent time volunteering with charitable organizations with Bush's mother, Barbara. Robert Andrews, Andrews' ex-husband, sued Sharon Bush in September 2003 for defamation after she alleged that her ex-husband was the father of Andrews' two-year-old son.
. "Oftentimes because of my father's goodwill, and because of the president being who he is, people might extend an invitation, and it's enjoyable for me," Bush said. "Some of these folks are family friends."
Speaking at a Saudi Arabian economic forum in January 2002, Bush referred to growing anti-American sentiment in Arab countries and said the two peoples must communicate better. He said the Arab P.R. machine is not as good as Israel's.
The Bush-era White House
appeared unfazed by his world travel. "The president knows his brother will always do the right thing," press secretary Ari Fleischer
said."
In Asia, Bush accompanied Sun Myung Moon
, the founder of the Unification Church
, on his world peace tour. In 2009 Bush congratulated Moon on the publication of his autobiography at a Unification Church sponsored event. He was quoted as saying: "Rev. Moon is presenting a very simple concept. We are all children of God."
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, the former President of the United States; Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
, the former governor of Florida; Robin Bush
Bush family
The Bush family is a prominent American family. Along with many members who have been successful bankers and businessmen, across three generations the family includes two U.S. Senators, one Supreme Court Justice, two Governors, one Vice President and two Presidents...
, who died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
in 1953 at the age of four; Marvin; and Dorothy
Dorothy Bush Koch
Dorothy Walker Bush Koch, often called "Doro", , is the daughter of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, and the youngest sibling of George W. Bush, the 43rd President...
. Bush is currently a businessman based in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Early years
Bush was born in Midland, TexasMidland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
. He was named after a good friend of the family, Henry Neil Mallon
Henry Neil Mallon
Henry Neil Mallon was Chairman of the Board, President and Director 29-, Dresser Industries , President 31-, Dresser Manufacturing Limited ; Chairman of the Board, Director, Bryant Heater Company ; Factory Manager, General Manager, Director 20-29, US Can Company ; 19-20 w/Continental...
, chairman of Dresser Industries
Dresser Industries
Dresser Industries was a multinational corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas, United States, which provided a wide range of technology, products, and services used for developing energy and natural resources...
, George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
's employer. As a child Bush spent some summers and holidays at his family's estate in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, the Bush Compound
Bush compound
The Bush compound , is the summer home of 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush. Located adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean in southern Maine, in the town of Kennebunkport, the property has been a family retreat for more than a century.The estate was purchased in the late 19th century...
.
At age 11, he entered the exclusive St. Albans School
St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.)
St. Albans School is an independent college preparatory school for boys in grades 4–12, located in Washington, D.C. The school is named after Saint Alban, traditionally regarded as the first British martyr. Within the St...
in Washington, DC. He struggled through school; a counselor told his mother that it was doubtful the boy had the potential to graduate. He was later diagnosed as having dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, and his mother spent much time coaching him through his learning disability
Learning disability
Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
. Eventually his grades improved and he graduated from St. Albans in 1973.
After St. Albans, Bush attended Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, where he earned an economics degree in 1977. He earned an MBA in 1979.
Philanthropist and Charity Involvement
Neil Bush is the Chairman of the Points of Light Institute; a foundation that works to increase volunteer-ism in the world.Silverado Savings & Loan
Neil Bush was a member of the board of directors of DenverDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
-based Silverado Savings and Loan during the 1980s' larger Savings and Loan crisis
Savings and Loan crisis
The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s was the failure of about 747 out of the 3,234 savings and loan associations in the United States...
. As his father, George H.W. Bush, was Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, his role in Silverado's failure was a focal point of publicity. According to a piece in Salon, Silverado's collapse cost taxpayers $1.3 billion.
The US Office of Thrift Supervision investigated Silverado's failure and determined that Bush had engaged in numerous "breaches of his fiduciary duties involving multiple conflicts of interest." Although Bush was not indicted
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
on criminal charges, a civil action
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
was brought against him and the other Silverado directors by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. , the FDIC insures deposits at...
; it was eventually settled out of court, with Bush paying $50,000 as part of the settlement, as reported in the Style section of the Washington Post.
A Republican fundraiser set up a fund to help defer costs Neil incurred in his S&L
dealings.
Ignite! Learning
In 1999, Bush co-founded Ignite! LearningIgnite!
Ignite! Learning, Inc. is an educational software and hardware company co-founded in 1999 by Texas businessman Neil Bush and Ken Leonard. Neil is a brother of Former President George W. Bush and Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush. Alan Davis...
, an educational software corporation. Bush has said he started Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
-based Ignite! Learning because of his learning difficulties in middle school and those of his son, Pierce. The software uses multiple intelligence methods to provide varying types of content to appeal to multiple learning styles.
To fund Ignite!, Bush raised $23 million from U.S. investors, including his parents, as well as businessmen from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
and the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Documented investors include Russian billionaire expatriate Boris Berezovsky, Berezovsky's partner Badri Patarkatsishvili, Kuwaiti company head Mohammed Al Saddah, and Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
computer executive Winston Wong.
In 2002, Neil Bush commended his brother, George, for his efforts on education as President, but he questioned the emphasis on constant testing to keep federal aid coming to public schools: “I share the concerns of many that if our system is driven around assessments, pencil-and-paper tests that test a kid's ability to memorize stuff, I would say that reliance threatens to institutionalize bad teaching practices.”
As of October 2006, over 13 U.S. school districts (out of over 14,000 school districts nation-wide) have used federal funds made available through the No Child Left Behind Act
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...
of 2001 in order to buy Ignite's products at $3,800 apiece.
A December 2003 Style section article in the Washington Post reported that Bush's salary from Ignite! was $180,000 per year.
Bush's relationship with the controversial oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a political enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
currently under indictment for fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
in Russia and an applicant for asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, has been noted in the media. Berezovsky has been an investor in Bush's Ignite! program since at least 2003. Bush met with Berezovsky in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. The meeting caused tension between that country and Russia due to Berezovsky's fugitive status. Bush was also seen in Berezovsky's box at an Arsenal's Emirates stadium for a game in 2006, which prompted some stateside criticism. There has also been speculation in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Moscow Times that the relationship may cause tension in U.S.-Russian bilateral relations, "especially since Putin has taken pains to build a personal relationship with the U.S. president."
Kopin stock trades
In July 1999, Bush made at least $798,000 on three stock trades in a single day of a company where he had been employed as a consultant. The company, Kopin Corporation of Taunton, MassachusettsTaunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County and the hub of the Greater Taunton Area. The city is located south of Boston, east of Providence, north of Fall River and west of Plymouth. The City of Taunton is situated on the Taunton River...
, announced on the same day good news about a new Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n client that sent its stock value soaring. Bush stated that he had no inside knowledge and that his financial advisor had recommended the trades. He said, "any increase in the price of the stock on that day was purely coincidental, meaning that I did not have any improper information."
When asked in January 2004 about the stock trades, Bush contrasted the capital gains he reported in 1999 and 2000 with the capital losses on Kopin stock he reported ($287,722 in all) in 2001. In 2001 Kopin joined a broad decline in high-tech stock valuations.
Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue
Bush was a founding director, along with Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
(then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), of the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD)
Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD)
The Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue was founded in 1999, sponsored by the Levant Foundation with the University of Geneva in Switzerland to pursue its scholarly and humanistic goals with the main objective of fostering understanding of the three monotheistic...
. The foundation promotes ecumenical understanding and publishes religious texts and was founded in 1999. Bush is no longer on the board of the foundation.
Other business engagements
In 2002, Bush signed a consulting contract that paid $2 million dollars in stock over five years to work for Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a firm backed by Jiang MianhengJiang Mianheng
Jiang Mianheng is the son of Jiang Zemin, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of the People's Republic of China. Jiang is one of the co-founders of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation , located in Shanghai. He holds a PhD in Electrical...
, the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin is a former Chinese politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2005...
, plus $10,000 for every board meeting he attends.
Bush serves as co-chairman of a company called Crest Investment. Crest pays him $60,000 a year to provide miscellaneous consulting services.
Bush frequently travels to the Middle East, Europe and Asia to negotiate deals and raise capital for various businesses. According to court filings from his divorce, in 2000 he was paid $1.3 million for such work. This includes $642,500 as a commission for introducing an Asian investor to the owners of an American high-tech company.
Anti-Ritalin campaign
In 2002, Neil Bush told the New York PostNew York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
that he "endured his own Ritalin hell seven years ago when educators in a Houston private school diagnosed his son, Pierce, (then) 16, with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and pushed medication."
In a September 26, 2002, episode of CNN Interview, Bush told Connie Chung
Connie Chung
Connie Chung, full name: Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich is an American journalist who has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S...
:
Bush spent years researching the issue and found that "the educators were wrong" about his son. "There is a systemic problem in this country, where schools are often forcing parents to turn to Ritalin," he said. "It's obvious to me that we have a crisis."
Also that year, Bush testified before a hearing of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to speak out against over-medicating children for learning disorders.
He has suggested that many parents believe the ADD and ADHD diagnoses and subsequent medicating of their children because it explains why they aren't doing well in school, saying "it's the system that is failing to engage children in the classroom. My heart goes out to any parents who are being led to believe their kids have a disorder or are disabled."
Neil Bush (along with filmmaker Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
) is credited in the cast of a 2005 documentary called The Drugging of Our Children directed by Gary Null
Gary Null
Gary Michael Null is an American talk radio host and author on alternative and complementary medicine and nutrition. On his talk radio show and in his books and self-produced movies, Null has criticized the medical community, promoted a range of alternative cancer treatments and dietary...
. In the film's trailer Bush says: "Just because it is easy to drug a kid and get them to be compliant doesn't make it right to do it".
Marriage, divorce, and remarriage
Bush and his former wife for 23 years, Sharon Smith, are the parents of three children, including Lauren. The couple divorceDivorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d in April 2003.
Bush's divorce deposition gained public attention when he admitted to several sexual encounters with high-priced escorts/prostitutes in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
in which he admitted to catching the STD
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
herpes. Among other divorce testimony aired in the press, Bush's friend John Spalding announced that Sharon had extracted hair samples from her estranged husband in order to place a voodoo curse on him. Sharon Bush later confirmed the forcible hair removal, but she stated that she took the hair to be tested for evidence of drug use. At various times, she publicly spoke of her fear of retribution by Bush, or by the Bush family.
Bush remarried in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, on March 6, 2004, to Maria Andrews. Andrews spent time volunteering with charitable organizations with Bush's mother, Barbara. Robert Andrews, Andrews' ex-husband, sued Sharon Bush in September 2003 for defamation after she alleged that her ex-husband was the father of Andrews' two-year-old son.
Speaking engagements
Bush has often been invited to speak to audiences overseas. Bush says he has courtesy visits with world leaders but has no plans to wade into foreign policyForeign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
. "Oftentimes because of my father's goodwill, and because of the president being who he is, people might extend an invitation, and it's enjoyable for me," Bush said. "Some of these folks are family friends."
Speaking at a Saudi Arabian economic forum in January 2002, Bush referred to growing anti-American sentiment in Arab countries and said the two peoples must communicate better. He said the Arab P.R. machine is not as good as Israel's.
The Bush-era White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
appeared unfazed by his world travel. "The president knows his brother will always do the right thing," press secretary Ari Fleischer
Ari Fleischer
On May 19, 2003, he announced that he would resign during the summer, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife and to work in the private sector...
said."
In Asia, Bush accompanied Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon is the Korean founder and leader of the worldwide Unification Church. He is also the founder of many other organizations and projects...
, the founder of the Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
, on his world peace tour. In 2009 Bush congratulated Moon on the publication of his autobiography at a Unification Church sponsored event. He was quoted as saying: "Rev. Moon is presenting a very simple concept. We are all children of God."
External links
- Excerpt from "George Bush--the unauthorized biography"
- The Relatively Charmed Life Of Neil Bush, Washington Post, December 28, 2003
- Steven Wilmsen, Silverado: Neil Bush and the Savings and Loan Scandal National Press Books, August 1991, ISBN 0-915765-89-6
- Ignite! Learning Webpage
- Neil Bush's political donations