Jeb Bush facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jeb Bush
Bush in 2015
43rd Governor of Florida
In office January 5, 1999 – January 2, 2007
Lieutenant	Frank Brogan Toni Jennings
Preceded by	Buddy MacKay
Succeeded by	Charlie Crist
Secretary of Commerce of Florida
In office January 6, 1987 – September 9, 1988
Governor	Bob Martinez
Preceded by	Wayne Mixson
Succeeded by	Bill Sutton
Personal details
Born	John Ellis Bush (1953-02-11) February 11, 1953 (age 72) Midland, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Columba Gallo ​ (m. 1974)​
Children	3, including George
Parents	George H. W. Bush Barbara Bush
Relatives	See Bush family
Education	University of Texas, Austin (BA)
Signature

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a member of the famous Bush political family. His father, George H. W. Bush, and older brother, George W. Bush, were both presidents of the United States.

Jeb Bush grew up in Houston, Texas. He studied at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a degree in Latin American affairs. In 1980, he moved to Florida and started a career in real estate development. He later became Florida's Secretary of Commerce in 1987.

In 1994, Bush first ran for governor but lost. He ran again in 1998 and won, becoming governor of Florida. He was re-elected in 2002, making him the first Republican governor of Florida to serve two terms. As governor, he worked on environmental plans, education reforms, and health care changes. In 2015, he ran for president of the United States but ended his campaign in 2016.

Early Life and Education

Bush (front right) with family, early 1960s

Jeb Bush was born on February 11, 1953, in Midland, Texas. When he was six, his family moved to Houston. His nickname "Jeb" comes from his initials: John Ellis Bush.

He has two younger brothers, Neil and Marvin, and one younger sister, Dorothy. His older brother, George W. Bush, is seven years older. Jeb attended Grady Elementary School in Houston. At 14, he went to Phillips Academy, a boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts.

When he was 17, Bush went to Mexico as part of a student exchange program. He taught English and helped build a school in a small village. While there, he met his future wife, Columba Garnica Gallo.

Bush chose to attend the University of Texas at Austin in 1971. He played on the university's tennis team. He finished his studies in two and a half years. He earned a degree in Latin American studies.

Starting His Career

In 1974, Bush began working at Texas Commerce Bank. In 1977, he moved to Caracas, Venezuela, to open a new office for the bank. He worked there as a branch manager and vice president.

After the 1980 presidential election, Bush and his family moved to Miami-Dade County, Florida. He started working in real estate with Armando Codina. Bush focused on finding renters for business buildings. Codina later made Bush a partner in a new development company. This company quickly became a top real estate firm in South Florida.

During his time in Miami, Bush was involved in many business projects. He worked for a mobile phone company and served on the board of a company selling fire equipment. He also became a part-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars football team.

Early Steps in Politics

Bush greeting President Ronald Reagan in 1986

Bush as Florida Secretary of Commerce

Jeb Bush helped with his father's presidential campaigns in 1980 and 1988. In the mid-1980s, he became the chairman of the Republican Party in Dade County, Florida.

In 1986, Bob Martinez was elected Governor of Florida. He then appointed Bush as Florida's Secretary of Commerce. Bush served in this role from 1987 to 1988. He then left to work on his father's presidential campaign.

Bush often talked with his father's staff during the 1980s and early 1990s. He supported Cuban exiles living in South Florida. He also supported the Cuban embargo.

In 1994, Bush ran for Governor of Florida for the first time. He ran as a conservative candidate. He lost the election to the current Democratic Governor, Lawton Chiles, by a small number of votes. In the same year, his older brother, George, was elected Governor of Texas. After his loss, Bush helped start Florida's first charter school.

Governor of Florida

Bush's gubernatorial portraits

Bush ran for governor again in 1998. He won, defeating Democrat Buddy MacKay. He was re-elected in 2002, becoming the first Republican governor of Florida to serve two terms.

During his eight years as governor, Bush worked on many important issues. He helped with environmental projects, like conservation in the Everglades. He also supported limits on lawsuits for medical mistakes. He moved some Medicaid health care recipients to private systems. He also made changes to the state's education system. These changes included giving out school vouchers and supporting school choice.

Bush was governor when his brother George won a very close presidential election in Florida in 2000. Bush did not take any official part in the vote recount.

Winning Elections

In 1998, Bush won against his opponent, Buddy MacKay, by over 418,000 votes. He became Governor of Florida. At the same time, his brother George W. Bush won re-election as Governor of Texas. They were the first brothers to govern two states at the same time since the 1970s.

In the 1998 election, Bush received strong support from Hispanic voters. He also received some support from African American voters.

Bush ran for re-election in 2002 without any opponents in his own party. In the main election, he faced Democrat Bill McBride. Bush won by a larger margin than in 1998, with 56 percent of the votes. He became the first Republican governor of Florida to win re-election.

Key Policies as Governor

Economic Changes

As governor, Bush oversaw a state government that lowered taxes by billions of dollars. He also stopped new spending by vetoing bills. The state's money reserves grew from $1.3 billion to $9.8 billion during his time. Florida also received the highest possible credit rating for the first time.

Bush also reduced the number of state government workers by 11 percent.

Education Reforms

Bush's administration focused on improving public education. His "A+ Plan" set higher standards for schools. It also required testing for all students and gave grades to all Florida schools. Reading scores for 4th graders in Florida improved a lot during his time.

Bush supported school vouchers and charter schools. These were especially for areas with struggling public schools. He created the McKay Scholarship Program, which helps students with learning disabilities attend a school of their choice. He also helped create a scholarship program that uses tax credits from companies to help low-income students.

Bush did not want to raise taxes for education. He opposed a plan to limit class sizes in schools, but the plan passed anyway. In higher education, he approved three new medical schools. He also put forward the "One Florida" plan, which ended race-based admissions programs at state universities.

Health Care Policies

As governor, Bush proposed and passed major changes to the medical liability system. This system deals with lawsuits about medical mistakes. He pushed for limits on the amount of money people could receive for non-economic damages in these lawsuits. These limits were later ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court after he left office.

Bush also changed Florida's Medicaid system. He moved people receiving Medicaid into private managed care systems.

Bush was involved in the Terri Schiavo case. This case was about a woman with severe brain damage who was on a feeding tube. Her husband wanted to remove the tube, but her parents disagreed. Bush signed a law that allowed him, as governor, to keep Schiavo on life support. However, the Florida Supreme Court later ruled this law unconstitutional.

Other Important Actions

Bush at Rookery Bay participating in Earth Day activities in 2004

In 2000, Bush signed a law to help restore the Everglades. This was part of a large project with the federal government. He also set aside over one million acres of land for conservation.

In 2001, Bush removed job protections for many state workers. This made it easier to fire employees in those positions. He also issued an order that removed racial preferences in state contracts.

Bush supported more than a dozen new protections for gun owners. In 2005, he signed Florida's stand-your-ground law. This was the first such state law in the United States.

Bush supported the death penalty. During his term, 21 prisoners were executed. After one execution seemed to go wrong, he stopped all executions in Florida for a time in 2006.

High-Speed Rail Veto

Bush often used his power to veto parts of bills to limit state spending. One major veto was for a high-speed rail project. In 1995, Florida had planned to build a high-speed rail system. The project was estimated to cost billions of dollars.

When Bush became governor in 1999, he ended the project. He said it was too risky and costly for Florida taxpayers. State lawmakers then put the project on the 2000 ballot as a constitutional amendment. Voters approved it, telling Bush to start building the railroad by 2003.

However, Bush vetoed funding for the project again. He also led a campaign to get voters to repeal the amendment. Voters eventually repealed the constitutional amendment.

After Being Governor

Bush in Derry, New Hampshire on June 16, 2015

After leaving office, Jeb Bush remained an important figure in the Republican Party. Other Republican leaders often asked for his help in campaigns. For example, he campaigned for Republican governors in Kentucky, New Mexico, and Nevada.

Some people in the Tea Party criticized Bush. They felt he was not conservative enough on issues like immigration and education standards. Bush himself said that the Republican party sometimes had too strict rules for disagreement.

In 2013, Bush called for changes to immigration laws. He said that people who came to the U.S. illegally did so out of "an act of love" for their families. He believed they should pay a price but not be seen as serious criminals.

From 2004 to 2007, Bush served on a board that set policies for student academic progress. His education foundation has supported the Common Core State Standards Initiative. He believes these standards are important for improving American education.

Bush also worked in business after his governorship. He joined the boards of several companies, including a health care company and an investment bank.

2016 Presidential Campaign

Bush speaking at CPAC in Washington D.C., 2015

Many people thought Jeb Bush might run for president in 2016. On December 16, 2014, Bush announced he was "actively exploring" a run for President. He then resigned from several company boards.

Bush speaking in Iowa, 2016

Bush officially announced his candidacy on June 15, 2015. He spoke at a college campus in Miami. He described himself as a moderate Republican with conservative beliefs. He promised to work on immigration reform. He also spoke fluent Spanish and mentioned his wife's Mexican background.

Bush's campaign logo

After getting low results in early primary elections, Bush ended his campaign on February 20, 2016. This was shortly after the South Carolina primary. He then supported Senator Ted Cruz for president. In May 2016, Bush said he would not vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

Political Views

Bush has shared his views on many political issues throughout his career.

Issues in the United States

Bush generally does not agree with the full scientific consensus on climate change. He has said that global warming "may be real" but questioned if it is mostly caused by humans.

He wants to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare"). He believes it should be replaced with a "market-oriented" plan. He has called the current law "flawed."

In 2015, Bush said that people in the United States illegally should be able to gain legal status, but not citizenship. He said they should pay fines, get work permits, pay taxes, learn English, and not commit crimes. He also supports stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

Bush opposes same-sex marriage. He believes that states, not the federal government, should decide this issue. He also thinks businesses should be able to refuse services for same-sex weddings based on religious beliefs. In 2015, he supported allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military if the military was comfortable with it.

Bush supports expanding gun owners' rights. As governor, he adopted a "tough on crime" approach. He supported laws that gave stronger mandatory sentences for crimes involving guns.

Economic Views

Bush supports lowering taxes on investments and property. He believes that Americans do better when the government interferes less. He also supports limits on welfare benefits. He thinks there should be a time limit for benefits and that people should work to receive them.

Bush favors slowly raising the retirement age for collecting Social Security benefits. He is also a critic of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

World Relations

Bush greeting British Prime Minister John Major in 1991, along with his father, President George H. W. Bush

In 2015, Bush said he would not have sent a large number of U.S. troops to Iraq to fight ISIS. However, he did not rule out such a deployment in the future. He suggested building a new U.S. base in Iraq. He also said some U.S. troops should work with Iraqi forces to train them.

Bush supports the continued collection of phone call data by the National Security Agency. He also supports the Patriot Act, saying it has helped keep the country safe. He believes military spending should be increased.

Bush called the 2015 Iran nuclear deal framework a "horrific deal." He said he would likely end any final agreement if he became president. He believes the deal would allow Iran to threaten the Middle East.

Bush supported President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He tweeted that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. He saw this as an important show of support for Israel.

Community and Charity Work

After losing the 1994 election for Governor, Bush focused on policy and charity work. He volunteered for organizations like the Miami Children's Hospital and the United Way.

From 2012 to 2015, Bush was a co-chair for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. He also worked with The James Madison Institute, a public policy research group. In 2008, his Foundation for Excellence in Education held a summit on education reform.

In 1996, Bush co-wrote a book called Profiles in Character. He also helped write and distribute policy papers. He wrote the foreword for another book about school choice.

Bush co-founded the first charter school in Florida, called Liberty City Charter School. This school was in a Miami neighborhood. The school closed in 2008 due to financial problems.

In 2000, Bush started the Points of Light program. This program recognizes volunteers and organizations for their good work.

Bush is the honorary chairman of the Annual AT&T Jeb Bush Florida Golf Classic. This event raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The event has raised over $7.4 million since it started 19 years ago.

Personal Life

Bush with his family, June 2001

In 1970, while teaching English in León, Mexico, Bush met Columba Garnica Gallo. They married on February 23, 1974, in Austin, Texas. As of 2014, their family lives in Coral Gables, Florida. Bush is fluent in Spanish.

Bush at the state funeral for his father in December 2018

The Bushes have three children. Their oldest son, George Prescott, was born in 1976. He studied at Rice University and earned a law degree. In 2014, he was elected Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office. Their daughter, Noelle Lucila, was born in 1977. Their youngest son, Jeb Bush Jr., was born in 1983. He works for a commercial real estate firm in Miami. Bush has four grandchildren.

In 1995, Bush changed his religion from Episcopalianism to Catholicism. In 2004, he became a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus.

In April 2018, Bush gave a speech at his mother Barbara Bush's funeral.

Electoral History

See Also

In Spanish: Jeb Bush para niños