In pictures: George W Bush's life

After Phillips Academy Bush followed in his father's footsteps and went to Yale University, where he studied history.

While there he was the president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and was well-known around campus as a party boy and binge drinker.

Like his father, and his political rival John Kerry, Bush was picked for the university's exclusive Skull and Bones Club.

Each year the club selects as its members a handful of young men said to be marked out for future greatness.