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43rd POTUS - George W. Bush Mystery Cache

Hidden : 2/21/2015
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Please note:This series of caches is by no means meant to provoke political commentary, but a fun trip through history. Please do not turn the logging of these caches into a political ‘flame war.’


43rd POTUS - George W. Bush

Cache is not at the posted coordinates. To figure out where the cache is located, you must first solve the puzzle below. As always, enjoy.

George Walker Bush is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. The eldest son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, Bush worked in oil businesses. He married Laura Welch in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. Bush was elected president in 2000 after a close and controversial election, becoming the fourth president to be elected while receiving fewer popular votes nationwide than his opponent. Bush is the second president to have been the son of a former president, the first having been John Quincy Adams. He is also the brother of Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida.

Eight months into Bush's first term as president, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred. In response, Bush launched the War on Terror, an international military campaign which included the war in Afghanistan, launched in 2001 and the war in Iraq, launched in 2003.

In addition to national security issues, Bush also promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, social security reform, and amending the Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. He signed into law broad tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors, and funding for the AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR. His tenure saw national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance, and torture.

Bush successfully ran for re-election against Democratic Senator John Kerry in 2004, in another relatively close election. After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across the political spectrum for his handling of the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, and numerous other challenges. Amid this criticism, the Democratic Party regained control of Congress in the 2006 elections. In December 2007, the United States entered its longest post-World War II recession, often referred to as the "Great Recession", prompting the Bush Administration to enact multiple economic programs intended to preserve the country's financial system. Nationally, Bush was both one of the most popular and unpopular presidents in history, having received the highest recorded presidential approval ratings in the wake of the September 11 attacks, as well as one of the lowest approval ratings during the 2008 financial crisis. He was met with public protests even occurring during visits to the United Kingdom.

Bush left office in 2009. Since then, he has returned to Texas and purchased a home in a suburban area of Dallas. He is currently a public speaker, has written a memoir titled Decision Points, and his presidential library was opened in 2013. His presidency has been ranked among the worst in recent surveys of presidential scholars, although Bush has been viewed more favorably by the public since leaving office.

N38 28.ABC

A. 2000 General Election:When the election returns came in on November 7, Bush won 29 states, including Florida. The closeness of the Florida outcome led to a recount. The initial recount also went to Bush, but the outcome was tied up in courts for a month until reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. On December 9, in the controversial Bush v. Gore ruling, the Court reversed a Florida Supreme Court decision ordering a third count, and stopped an ordered statewide hand recount based on the argument that the use of different standards among Florida's counties violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The machine recount showed that Bush had won the Florida vote by a margin of (A)37 votes out of six million cast. Although he received 543,895 fewer individual votes than Gore nationwide, Bush won the election, receiving 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266.

B. Number of children = (B).

C. 46th Governor of Texas, 7th digit = (C).

W121 10.DEF

D. Governor of Texas: After easily winning the Republican primary, Bush faced popular Democratic incumbent Governor Ann Richards. Bush won the general election with 53.(D)% -2 against Richards' 45.9%.

E. Birth, 1st digit = (E).

F. On June (F)5, 2006, President Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, creating the largest marine reserve to date. The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument comprises 84 million acres (340,000 km2) and is home to 7,000 species of fish, birds, and other marine animals, many of which are specific to only those islands. The move was hailed by conservationists for "its foresight and leadership in protecting this incredible area".


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Additional Hints (Decrypt)

V unir znatyrq gur chmmyr rabhtu. Gur nafjre gb Dhrfgvba Q vf 3.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)