Jeb Bush

John Ellis “Jeb” Bush was born on February 11, 1953. He is the son of former President George H.W. Bush and the brother of former President George W. Bush. He received a B.A. in Latin studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1973 and went to work in banking. He spent two years in Caracas opening up a new branch for his bank before coming home to help with his father s 1980 Republican presidential nomination campaign.

After the 1980 election, Bush moved to Miami and started a successful career in real estate. He was also involved in many other entrepreneurial opportunities, including buying a minority stake in the Jacksonville Jaguars. He became a partner in a new real estate development business that turned into one of South Florida s leading firms.

In 1986, Bush helped Bob Martinez in his successful gubernatorial campaign. In return, Martinez appointed Bush to be the state s Secretary of Commerce, a role he served in from 1987 to 1988. Bush left to help his father in his successful run for the White House in 1988.

In 1994, Jeb Bush ran a losing race for Governor of Florida and turned his attention to policy and public service. Bush tried again in 1998 and was elected Governor of Florida.

One of Bush s primary focuses in office was education. He mandated standardized testing, got rid of social promotion of students and established public school funding based on FCAT scores. He also approved three medical schools and put forth a proposal that eliminated affirmative action admissions at state universities. He courted controversy in 2006 by vetoing grants to public libraries and web-based high school texts.

Bush opposed federal plans for oil drilling off the coast of Florida, but eventually reached a compromise with fellow Republicans that allowed drilling 125 miles offshore. He approved legislation that protected the Everglades. He made national news through his involvement in the Terry Schiavo case in 2004, which centered on a woman who had spent 15 years on a feeding tube after suffering massive brain damage. Her husband wished to remove the tube-in effect letting her die-in opposition to the wishes of her parents. Bush intervened on their behalf, pushing for and signing ‘Terry s Law,’ which would allow the Governor to keep her on life support. The Florida Supreme court found the law to be unconstitutional and an appeal to the Supreme Court was declined. Terry Schiavo died in 2005. The fight garnered a great deal criticism on both sides of the issue for Bush s actions.

After his second term as governor ended in January 2007, Bush has been active with a neoconservative think tank, is a member of the board of directors for Tenet Healthcare, and joined Lehman Brothers as private equity advisor. He briefly toyed with the idea of running for Mel Martinez s Senate seat in 2010, but has since announced he has no intention to run.

His name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, but in a July 2009 interview by Tucker Carlson published in Esquire Magazine, Bush stated he was not interested in running for public office.