Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush
43rd Governor of Florida From: January 5, 1999 – January 2, 2007
Predecessor	Buddy MacKay
Successor	Charlie Crist
Information
Party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Columba Bush
Religion	Roman Catholic

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is a businessman and a former governor of the State of Florida. He is the second son of George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. He is also the younger brother of President George W. Bush.

His nickname, "Jeb" (a moniker for his initials) was given to him by his parents. He served two terms as Governor of Florida, ending in January 2007, leaving office with a 60% approval rating. He reportedly planned to join the board of Tenet Healthcare, the biggest publicly traded hospital company in the United States. He announced in December 2008 that he was considering running for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2010. However he later declined to run.

Early Life and Education

Bush was born in Midland, Texas. When he was six years old, the family moved from there (where his father ran an oil drilling company) to Houston, Texas. He was a budding athlete, enjoying baseball and tennis. He went to a public elementary school, and later to a private school. When he was in eighth grade, George H. W. Bush won a seat in Congress and moved to Washington, DC. The Bush boys stayed in Houston with another family to finish the school year, and spent most summers and holidays at the family estate, located at Kennebunkport, Maine. He then enrolled at Phillips Andover Academy, in Massachusetts already attended by his brother, George. Jeb Bush made the honor roll his first year.

Personal Life

Bush met his wife, Columba, while teaching English as part of a university exchange program in Leon, Guanajato, Mexico in 1971. Columba was born in Leon in 1954. The two were married on February 23, 1974, shortly after Bush graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Latin American Affairs. They have three children: George (known as George P., born 1976), Noelle (born 1977) and John (known as Jebby, born 1983). The couple currently resides in Coral Gables, Florida.

Politics

Jeb Bush and family moved to Florida in 1981 and joined the Codina Group, a real estate development company. He became Secretary of Commerce under governor Bob Martinez in 1987 and was the Republican nominee for governor in 1994, losing to incumbent Lawton Chiles. In 1998 he ran again and won, becoming governor of Florida at the same time his brother George W. was governor of Texas. He was re-elected in 2002, defeating Democrat William McBride (who had upset former Attorney General Janet Reno in the Democratic primary election). Bush could not run for re-election to a third term in 2006, because of term limits; another Republican, Charlie Crist, was elected to succeed him. After eight years, Jeb Bush left office as one of the most popular and prominent governors in state history. There is much talk about him running for President in eight years (2016) when he would be only 62 years old.