How the Texas Rangers helped George W Bush become President of the United States

The Texas Rangers secured their first World Series title earlier this month, with former President George W Bush being one of the delighted fans.

Nearly three decades after Bush sold his shares in the Major League Baseball franchise, the Rangers finally won after making the World Series twice ten years earlier.

The former President has been the Rangers' biggest fan and threw out the honorary first pitch to open the World Series in game one.

Since finishing in office in 2009, former President Bush has stayed away from making statements, but for his beloved Rangers, he made an exception.

According to nytimes.com, Bush said: "I congratulate the owners, the managers and coaching staff, the front office, and the entire organization.

"And, of course, I congratulate the players of this awesome team on winning the first World Series in our club's history. This was baseball at its finest, and Laura and I are proud of this team."

Bush first became involved with the Texas Rangers in 1989, recruiting investors to buy the Rangers after he failed in the oil industry, the industry his father, former President George Bush, did so well in.

Bush got the right end of the stick when he became joint owner with the other investors, putting $606,000 as his share of the $86 million purchase fee and becoming the team's managing partner.

As the managing partner of the Rangers, Bush became the public face of the ownership group, sitting in the stands with the fans and not sitting in the owner's box.

As owner, Bush orchestrated many positive changes at the ball club, creating a tax increase to fund a new stadium and taking the Rangers from losers to winners in seven of the next ten seasons.

His success with the Rangers franchise sparked the drive to take on a career in politics again, declaring his candidacy for the Governor of Texas in 1994.

According to nytimes.com, Bush said his ownership success with the Rangers "solved my biggest political problem in Texas," adding, "My problem was, 'What's the boy ever done?'"

As governor of Texas, Bush pushed Texas through their largest tax cut ($2 billion) and funded organizations that helped tackle drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence abuse.

In 1998, Bush won his re-election as governor by a landslide of 69%. That same year, the former president sold his ownership stake in the Rangers for $14.9 million.

From there, Bush's leadership and popularity grew, and he eventually came into power as the president of the United States in 2001, running for two terms.

If it wasn't for his ownership in the Texas Rangers, George W Bush wouldn't have gained the popularity or fame to run for governor or President of the United States! That's how much the Rangers mean to him.