The 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, served as president from January 21, 2001 to January 20, 2009. The Bush administration's principal foreign policy advisors were Secretary of State Colin Powell (2001-2005) and Condoleezza Rice (2005-2009), Vice President Dick Cheney (2001-2009) and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley (2005-2009) (Miller Center, 2017). During Bush's presidency his foreign policy expanded to parts of Africa, Europe and the Middle East. However, early in his term, the nation faced one of the greatest terrorist events of all time: September 11, which changed foreign policy forever. In this essay I will discuss the strategy adopted by Bush during his administration regarding foreign policy and describe his biggest decisions and their impact. I will conclude by analyzing his successes during his term as President. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Unlike other presidents, there was no grace period for Bush; Less than eight months after he was sworn into office during his inauguration, the tragedy of September 11 occurred. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, Bush was visiting a school in Sarasota, Florida to share his new education reform policy (History, 2009). This is when he was told that a small plane had hit the World Trade Center. Bush perceived it, at the time, as a terrible accident or error on the part of the pilot (History, 2009). That was until his cabinet was informed that it was not an accident and that a second airliner had hit the second tower. After leaving school, on Air Force One, he was informed that a third plane had crashed into the Pentagon (History, 2009). Shortly thereafter all commercial flights were grounded and all planes in the air were ordered to be shot down. Air Force One, after making brief stops in Louisiana and Nebraska to ensure the president's safety, then landed in the nation's capital, Washington D.C., where the presidential cabinet and the president began deliberating the incident (History , 2009). After meeting with members of his cabinet, Bush addressed the media and addressed the nation. This is where his foreign policy position changed forever, this is where he stated, “We will make no distinction between those who committed these acts and those who conceal them” (US Department of Defense, 2001). Bush then established strategies for the future: 1 Prevent terrorists from striking again; 2. Make it clear to the other country that the United States has undertaken a fight against terrorism; 3. Help affected areas recover and ensure that terrorists do not succeed in shutting down the economy or dividing society. These strategies were put into action immediately and the United States led the NATO invasion of Afghanistan, beginning the “War on Terror.” The War on Terror was the name of the United States' campaign against terrorism. This includes the al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen, NATO-led international involvement in Afghanistan, the Iraq conflict, the insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the international campaign against ISIL. During this period, the American people were inclined to trust Bush because they believed in his ability to maintain their security. In the two weeks following the 9/11 attacks, Bush's approval rating rose to 90%, which is still the highest peak in approval ratings since the rating system was introduced.of presidential approval (Gallup, 2001). One of Bush's biggest foreign affairs decisions as president was choosing to engage in the Iraq War as a response to global terrorism. This was a plan presented to Bush to solve two problems; the growing tension between the Iraqi government's actions towards its people and surrounding nations, as well as that of ensuring national security as the Bush administration was convinced that the Iraqi government was working with terrorist groups and developing weapons of mass destruction (Richelson, 2004). This began with President Bush's January 2002 State of the Union statement, in which he addressed Iraq as a member of the "Axis of Evil," stating that the United States will not allow the most dangerous regime in the world to threaten others with the most destructive weapons in the world (The White House, 2002). Subsequently, Bush would begin to appeal to the international community to join the war effort. Unfortunately, the UN found that American intelligence was not strong enough to justify this type of involvement. Allied nations such as the United Kingdom agreed with the United States while France and Germany were skeptical of the plans. In March 2003, UN inspectors found no significant information indicating that the nation had used or possessed weapons of mass destruction. Contrary to the UN's claims that no significant intelligence has been found against Iraq, the US Congress passed the "Iraq Resolution" allowing the President to use all necessary means against Iraq. However, the international community did not deviate from its positions. To further justify the actions taken by the Bush administration against Iraq; Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the United Nations to establish that Iraq did indeed have weapons of mass destruction. It was a losing effort as a majority of voting members of the United Nations voted for the United States to continue diplomatic talks with the nation to resolve the issue. However, the Bush administration continued with the invasion of Iraq. In March 2003, the military invasion began without a declaration of war or UN support. The objectives of the war were to end Saddam Hussein's regime by eliminating Iraq's (later unrecovered) weapon of mass destruction and capture all of the nation's terrorists. On April 9 of that year, Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, fell to American control, ending Saddam Hussein's rule along with the giant iron statue that was built in his image. This was a symbolic victory for Americans at home who supported the U.S. action. Following this victory, there was a banner on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (aircraft carrier) reading “Mission Accomplished” (NY Times, 2010). Bush also gave a speech declaring that the major fighting in Iraq was over, "a victory in a war on terrorism that began on September 11, 2001, and continues today" (NY Times). However, this was not the end of the major fighting as the insurrection spread across the nation. These actions forced the commander in chief into a bad situation as this forced the US Army to reorganize their forces. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi civilians and police; Bush's assessment of the war was wrong, and the most dangerous part of the war began to manifest itself after March 2004. Subsequently followed by an increase in military involvement in the region and other Middle Eastern countries.. 2010