ABSTRACT
The second term of President George W. Bush in office witnessed a number of social stresses and disaffection. The major rebuke by the Supreme Court to the Bush Administration came in June 2006, when the Court ruled by a 5 to 3 vote that the president had overstepped his power in ordering war criminal trials for Guantanamo detainees without specific authority from Congress. Interestingly, Bush had used the race card in addressing his plan to privatize social security. President Bush even used references to race in dismissing opposition to his policies in Afghanistan and Iraq. Toward the end of Bush's presidency, the United States and the international economy at large faced a serious crisis, which also clearly had an effect on the result of the presidential elections in 2008. The economic crisis affected millions of Americans, with businesses closing and thousands of employees losing their jobs.
