He proceeded to also launch the Iraq War in 2003. Signature legislation passed during his presidency included broad tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the Medicare Modernization Act, and funding for the AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR. He proceeded to also launch the Iraq War in 2003. Signature legislation passed during his presidency included broad tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the Medicare Modernization Act, and funding for the AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR. In the 2004 presidential race, Bush defeated Democratic Senator John Kerry in a close election. Bush was among the most popular, as well as unpopular, U.S. presidents in history; he received the highest recorded approval ratings in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, but one of the lowest such ratings during the 2008 financial crisis. Bush finished his second term in office in 2009 and returned to Texas.