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| Pig faced fat Nazi. | |||
| {{Infobox_Governor | |||
| |name= Jeb Bush | |||
| |image= Jeb Bush.jpg | |||
| |caption= | |||
| |order=43<sup>rd</sup> | |||
| |office= Governor of Florida | |||
| |term_start= ], ] | |||
| |term_end=present (retiring 2007 due to term limits) | |||
| |lieutenant= ] (]–present) | |||
| |predecessor= ] | |||
| |successor=''incumbent'' | |||
| |birth_date= ], ] | |||
| |birth_place= ] | |||
| |death_date= | |||
| |death_place= | |||
| |spouse= ] | |||
| |religion= ] | |||
| |profession= ], ] | |||
| |party= ] | |||
| |footnotes= | |||
| }} | |||
| '''John Ellis "Jeb" Bush''' (born ] ]), a ], is the forty-third and current ]. He is a prominent member of the ], the younger brother of ] ] and the second son of former President ] and ]. | |||
| ==Early years== | |||
| John Ellis Bush was born in ], where his father was running an oil drilling company. He has been known as Jeb (taken from his initials, "JEB") since childhood. | |||
| When Bush was six years old, the family moved to ], ]. He was a childhood athlete, enjoying ] and ]. He went to a public elementary school, but later transferred to a private school. When he was in eighth grade, his father won a seat in Congress and moved to ]. Bush stayed in Houston with another family to finish the school year, and spent most summers and holidays at the family estate, known as the ]. | |||
| He then enrolled at ], a private ] in ] already attended by his brother George. Bush made the honor roll in his first semester. He has described himself in his time there as "a cynical little turd in a cynical little school". Friends recall him as disciplined and focused, neither drinking nor gambling during a trip to Las Vegas. He did, however, enjoy an Elvis Presley concert. | |||
| When Bush was seventeen, he went to ], ], as part of his school's student exchange program. He spent his time there teaching ]. While attending a motorcycle race, he met a local girl named ], whom he eventually married. Bush converted to his wife's religion, Catholicism. | |||
| Bush attended the ], where he graduated ] with a ] in ]n Studies in 1973, taking only two and a half years to complete his work, and obtaining generally excellent grades. He registered for the ], but the ] ended before his number came up. | |||
| After his early graduation, Bush married the first and only woman he had ever dated, Columba Garnica Gallo, on ], ]. Their three children are ] (recently married), ] and ]. | |||
| ==Early career== | |||
| ===Business experience in Texas and abroad=== | |||
| After earning his degree, Bush went to work in an entry level position in the international division of ], which was run by Ben Love, a job he received through ], a long time family friend and chairman of the board of Texas Commerce Bank. Love hired the new college graduate for his office, where Bush assisted in drafting much of Love's communications. ] | |||
| In November 1977 he was sent to the ]n capital of ], in South America, to open a new operation for the bank. Bush moved his family to the foreign city and spent about two years there, working in international finance. In so doing, he earned his way into the executive program at the bank. | |||
| Bush attracted a lot of new business to the bank as a result of his effective networking in Venezuela while maintaining credit quality in an emerging market. | |||
| Bush returned to the United States to work without salary on his father's campaign for the Republican ] in 1980, explaining: | |||
| :"I wasn't motivated for politics, I wasn't motivated because of ideology or anything. My dad's the greatest man I've ever met or will meet; I can predict that fairly confidently. It was payback time, simple as that." | |||
| His father ultimately lost the Republican nomination for President that year, but ] chose George H. W. Bush to be his running mate. That fall, Bush's father was elected ], and won reelection in 1984. In 1988, George H.W. Bush won the Republican Party's presidential nomination, and the election, becoming the nation's 41st president. | |||
| ===Business and lobbying experience in Miami, Florida=== | |||
| Following the 1980 presidential election, Bush and his family moved to ]. He took a job in real estate with ], a 32-year-old ]n immigrant and self-made American millionaire. Codina had made a fortune in a computer business, and then formed a new company, IntrAmerica Investments Inc., to pursue opportunities in real estate. | |||
| In 1981, his first year with Codina's new real estate venture, Bush earned $41,508. He soon became a valuable real estate salesman for Codina and helped Codina build a very successful property business in Florida. | |||
| During Bush's years in ], he was involved in many different entrepreneurial pursuits, including working for a mobile phone company, serving on the board of a ]-owned company that sold fire equipment to the ], becoming a minority owner of the ], buying a shoe company that sold footwear in ], and getting involved in a questionable scheme to sell water pumps in ]. | |||
| Because of Bush's effectiveness in Codina's property business, Codina eventually agreed to take him on as a partner in a new development business. It quickly became one of South Florida's leading real estate development firms. As a partner, Bush received 40% of the firm's profits. | |||
| Bush was also on the payroll of Cuban exile Miguel Recarey, who had earlier assisted the CIA in attempts to assassinate President Castro. Recarey, who ran International Medical Centres (IMC), employed Bush as a real estate consultant and paid him a $75,000 fee for finding the company a new location, although the move never took place, which raised questions at the time. Jeb Bush did, however, lobby the Reagan/Bush administration vigorously and successfully on behalf of Recarey and IMC. "I want to be very wealthy," Jeb Bush told the Miami News when questioned during that period. | |||
| In 1990, Bush interceded with father, the president, to pardon ], a Cuban exile whom Attorney General ] called an "unrepentant terrorist." Bosch was released from prison and granted residency in the U.S. | |||
| ===Civic and charitable activities=== | |||
| After losing a 1994 election for Governor of Florida against ], Bush pursued policy and charitable interests. He started a non-profit organization called "The Foundation For Florida’s Future" which was described by some as a "think tank". Its stated mission was to influence public policy at the grassroots level. He also "volunteered time to assist the Miami Children's Hospital, the ] of Dade County and the Dade County Homeless Trust". | |||
| ] | |||
| In 1996, The Foundation For Florida’s Future published a book that Bush had co-written, ''Profiles in Character'' (ISBN 0-9650912-0-1), a clear parallel to ]'s 1955 book '']''. The book highlighted a number of ordinary people, detailing their true stories of uncommon courage. The foundation also published and distributed policy papers, such as "A New Lease on Learning: Florida's First Charter School", co-written by Bush. (PDF) Bush subsequently wrote the foreword to another book, shown at right, published by the ] ] and written by Nina Shokraii Rees, ''School Choice 2000: What’s Happening in the States'' (ISBN 0-89195-089-3). | |||
| Bush co-founded the first ] in the State of Florida: ], a grades K-6 elementary school. The school is situated in Liberty City, a Miami neighborhood that was the site, in 1980, of the first major race riot since the Civil Rights era. The school's co-founder, working alongside Bush as a partner, was ], a well-known local black activist and head of the Greater Miami Urban League. The Liberty City Charter School still operates today as a charter school. | |||
| ===Personal transformation=== | |||
| In addition to his business, civic and charitable activities, Bush underwent a religious conversion during his early career years. At the urging of his wife, Columba, a devout Mexican Catholic, the ] Bush became a ]. He and his wife belonged to the Epiphany Catholic Church in Miami for many years. Bush is also a Third Degree ] according to an ], ] speech his brother President George W. Bush made at the 122nd Knights of Columbus Convention in Dallas. The following is an excerpt from the speech: | |||
| :"I'm proud to say that my family has contributed to your ranks. A few years ago, Governor Jeb became a Knight. And he-yes-and he recently took his Third Degree. I'll see him this weekend. His son is getting married. I'll pass on the word, aim for the Fourth." | |||
| Rather than fade into the annals of political history after his 1994 defeat for the governorship, Bush refocused and worked hard to re-establish himself. This self-described cynic's religious conversion and substantial civic involvement added different dimensions to his business background. Four years down the road, at 45 years of age, a new Jeb Bush emerged, and in 1998 became Governor of Florida. | |||
| ==Political career== | |||
| Bush speaks ] fluently, in addition to ]. He regularly delivers speeches in both English and Spanish due to the large number of Spanish speaking residents of ]. | |||
| ===Early campaigns=== | |||
| Bush got his start in Florida politics as the Chairman of the Dade County Republican Party. Dade County played an important role in the 1986 election of ] to the Governor's office. In return, Martinez appointed Bush as Florida's Secretary of Commerce. He served in that role in 1987 and 1988, before resigning once again to work on his father's presidential campaign. In 1989 he served as the campaign manager of ], the first Cuban-American to serve in Congress. He launched an unsuccessful bid for the governor's office in 1994 against incumbent ] Governor ], losing 51% to 49%. | |||
| ===Governor of Florida=== | |||
| ] | |||
| In 1998, Bush defeated Democratic opponent Lt. Governor ] (55% to 45%) to become ], after courting the state's moderate voters and Hispanics. Simultaneously, his brother George W. Bush won a landslide re-election victory for a second term as ], and the Bush brothers became the first siblings to govern two states at the same time since ] and ] governed ] and ] from 1967 to 1971. | |||
| ====Education==== | |||
| Bush's administration has been marked by a focus on public education reform. His "A+ Plan" mandated standardized testing in Florida's public schools, eliminated social promotion and established a system of funding public schools based on a statewide grading system using the FCAT test. Bush has been a proponent of ]s and ]s, especially in areas of the state with failing public schools, although to date very few schools have received failing grades from the state. One program that has seen fruition is the ], a ] program that allows students in rural areas of the state to take ] classes for college credit. However, his policies have also been driven by a firm refusal to raise taxes for education, which led Bush to oppose a ballot initiative to amend the Florida Constitution to cap growing school class sizes. Bush said he had "a couple of devious plans if this thing passes." Despite his opposition, the amendment passed; Bush's subsequent suggestions that the amendment be repealed have contributed to criticisms that he has failed to implement it in good faith. A similar concern about new expenditures has led to controversy over whether Florida has provided adequate resources to implement a subsequent voter-approved state constitutional amendment that requires a universal state-financed pre-Kindergarten program. | |||
| ====Environment==== | |||
| Bush signed legislation to protect the ] and opposed federal plans to drill for oil off the coast of Florida. In early October, 2005 Bush attempted to strike a compromise with fellow Republicans that would allow offshore drilling in an area that stretches 125 miles off Florida's coastline and give the state legislature the power to permit drilling closer to the state's coastlines. The compromise was warmly received by some Florida Republicans and U.S. Congressmen, such as bill sponsor ], but has yet to be agreed upon; others including Republican U.S. Senator ], objected to any backtracking on the drilling moratorium. | |||
| ====]==== | |||
| {{main|Florida Central Voter File|Florida election recount}} | |||
| Some observers have questioned whether he or Secretary of State ] attempted to help his brother in the ] by tampering with the voter rolls and then certifying a controversial election, though there is little evidence to back this. Questions have been raised about Bush's involvement in the notorious "Florida Felons List" affair in which primarily black and Democratic voters who were not in fact felons erroneously were listed as ineligible to vote. Bush ignored at least one direct warning from a state computer expert that the list was flawed and should not be used. | |||
| Questions were also raised about the conduct of the vote count itself, which was chaotic at best--- although it should be pointed out that there were ] who arguably contributed to the confusion as well. | |||
| ====]==== | |||
| Governor Bush was involved in the case of ], a woman with massive and irreversible ], who was on a feeding tube for over 15 years, and whose husband and legal guardian, ], wished to remove the tube. This move was opposed by Terry Schiavo's parents in the courts. Bush, who is ], signed "]," a law passed by the Florida legislature that permitted the Governor to keep Schiavo alive. The law was ruled unconstitutional by the ] on ] ]. That decision was appealed to the federal courts, but on ] ], the ] declined to hear the case, thus allowing the Florida court's ruling to stand. Bush took heated criticism from conservatives who were disappointed that he did not take further action to prevent Schiavo from having her feeding tube removed. | |||
| ====Popularity==== | |||
| Despite these critics, Bush has consistently remained popular overall in Florida — a state with more registered Democratic than Republican voters, and an influential and diverse number of independent swing voters, who are broadly recognized as determining the final outcome of every state election. | |||
| ====International trade==== | |||
| One of the most important goals of Bush's final two years as governor is to secure the ] Secretariat for Miami. Supporters of the governor believe he intends Miami to become the "Brussels of the Americas." | |||
| ====Lieutenant Governor==== | |||
| <!-- Should this section be here? Seems there's too much material for a Bush article here, none of it more than marginally relevant to Bush--> | |||
| Lt. Gov. ], a former fifth-grade teacher, principal, and superintendent, served only one term with Bush. After Brogan became a widower and then remarried, he was eager to start a new life with his second wife, so he opted not to serve a second term. Brogan was reelected to a second term in 2002 with Bush and then resigned in March of 2003. He and his new wife moved to ], where he serves as president of ]. Back in Tallahassee, a museum was named in honor of Brogan's late wife, Mary, who died ] ] of breast cancer and, like her husband, was a Florida school teacher. | |||
| Following Brogan's resignation, Bush appointed former ] President and ] resident ] as lieutenant governor. While serving as Senate President during Bush's first term, she had disagreed with Bush on a number of issues and people were surprised when she was appointed to the number two post. | |||
| ====Florida Cabinet==== | |||
| As governor, Bush serves as the chairman of the ], a unique governmental body which provides collective governance over part of state government. | |||
| ====Other Organizations==== | |||
| Bush is a member of the ] and the ]. | |||
| ==2002 gubernatorial election== | |||
| Before Bush's re-election, no Republican in Florida had ever been re-elected to serve a second term as the state's governor. In addition, there was likely no precedent for any governor to be branded by the opposition as its "Number One Target" for removal from office, as Bush was ranked in 2002. This was not merely a statewide effort to oust the Republican governor, but a much-publicized goal of the ] and its highest leadership during the 2002 election cycle. | |||
| ====The Democratic primary race==== | |||
| Bush almost faced a female candidate, ], in the 2002 Florida governor's race. Reno, a well-known Florida native, experienced politician, and former US Attorney General, was a favorite candidate to Florida's most liberal voters. However, a number of other Democratic candidates also wanted to become Florida's next governor, including ]. A promient litigator with ], and a novice candidate, McBride was favored by national Democratic Party leaders in part because of his military background — and perceived ability to attract Florida's conservative voters. Neither McBride nor Reno had any expertise in what polls showed was the top issue to Florida voters: Education. | |||
| In the ensuing Democratic primary contest (where only Democratic voters could vote, pursuant to state primary laws), circumstances surrounding the razor-thin win by Bill McBride outraged many liberal Democratic voters in South Florida. Several pundits claimed what happened was actually than any previously alleged voting irregularities in the state's history. Some voting venues – located in Reno's urban strongholds of Broward County and Dade County, and operated by Democrats elected as county election officials – reportedly opened hours late, and then Bush's Executive Order, issued at Reno's request, to stay open later to accommodate all voters. As a result of this situation, Bush subsequently used his legal authority as governor to remove Broward County's Election Supervisor, ], from office. | |||
| ====The 2002 election results==== | |||
| In the closely watched Florida governor's race that attracted national attention, Bush was re-elected in November, 2002, becoming the first ] in the state's history to be re-elected as governor. Bush defeated Democratic challenger ] with 56% to 43%, a greater margin of victory than in Bush's 1998 campaign for the governor's office. Bush also increased the number of counties in his victory column, winning several Florida counties for the very first time. | |||
| If Bush completes his term, due to expire in January 2007, he will become only the second Florida governor to complete two full four-year terms in office, the first being Democrat ]. | |||
| Bush made political history not only by becoming the first Republican governor to ever win re-election in Florida, but also by being the first Florida governor to select a woman, ], to serve as Florida's lieutenant governor. No woman had ever been appointed or elected to that high office in Florida's executive branch. | |||
| Bush is also the first state governor to hold office while having a brother simultaneously serve as the nation's president. | |||
| ==Political future== | |||
| Bush is unable, due to ]s under state law, to seek a third term as Governor. | |||
| Some guessed that Bush would run against Florida's current Democratic senator, ], in the ], but it is now confirmed that he will not enter the campaign, leaving the Republican challenge to ].{{cn}} | |||
| There was some speculation that he might run for President himself in 2008. However, on ] ], he denied interest in running in the ]. A website selling "Jeb 2008" presidential bumper stickers and pins opened up in 2005. | |||
| , and in May ], President George Bush stated his younger brother would make a "great president." Bush has consistently denied plans to run, has not established a national ] or traveled to ] or ].{{cn}} | |||
| ===Bush's appeal to Florida voters=== | |||
| Bush is very popular among ]ns in ] (winning 80% of the Cuban vote in 2002), and popular among non-Cuban ] (56% in 2002, equaling the 56% he won statewide). As a longtime , Bush also maintains a significant connection to Florida's Jewish voters. He was endorsed in his two winning governor races by a national Jewish publication, and . Many black voters support his focus on public education and parental choice in education, and a number of have risen in Florida. In his re-election in 2002, Bush surprised critics by the white female vote in the swing-voting battleground of Central Florida's I-4 corridor. Most recently, he has reached out extensively to Florida's Haitian community. | |||
| ===Bush's impact on his political party=== | |||
| Bush's appeal to Florida's highly diverse group of voters, along with his groundbreaking second term and success in expanding the so-called "big tent" of the Florida Republican Party, appear to have propelled him into a commanding political position. Nationwide, American conservatives appear to be positive about Bush, seeing him as to upholding core conservative principles. Bush strives to personally keep in touch with his base, such as when to his most devoted supporters on a conservative web site within 24 hours after winning the 2002 governor's race. Throughout his two administrations, Bush's office has touted his record of non–discrimination and rewarding merit, claiming he employs highly qualified women, blacks and other minorities more often in top-level government positions than any previous Florida governor. | |||
| Republican candidates in Florida seem to have likewise benefited from Bush's leadership, turning the state's Senate and House of Representatives into solid Republican majorities during his time in office. Outside of Florida, fellow Republican leaders throughout the country have sought Bush's aid both on and off the campaign trail. Bush's out-of-state campaign visits include ], where Republican challenger ] and won that state's governorship in 2003, ending a 32-year streak of Democratic governors. On the West Coast, after Democratic Governor ] was ousted in a California recall vote, Bush to that state to lead an independent audit of California's budget, at the request of the state's newly elected Republican governor, ]. | |||
| ===Bush's on-going interests=== | |||
| Bush has also been active in the neo-conservative think-tank ], whose stated goal is to promote ] global leadership. | |||
| In addition, since 2004 he has been serving a four-year term as a Board Member for the . | |||
| Created by Congress, this board’s purpose is to establish policy on reports examining K-12 students’ academic progress in America’s public and private schools. In 2008 Bush will be serving on the NAGB educational committee focused on Standards, Design and Methodology. | |||
| ===Bush as NFL commissioner=== | |||
| In May 2006, ] reported that Bush was privately approached to become the next commissioner of the ]. This is said to be an interest of his, but it was unknown whether or not he would take the position. The former commissioner, ], announced that his tenure would soon be over and he is searching for replacements. "I'm flattered," Jeb Bush said May 24, 2006 of the NFL's interest, "but I'm governor of the state of Florida and I intend to be governor until I leave -- which is January 2007. And I'm not going to consider any other options other than being governor until I finish." ] eventually became the new NFL commissioner. | |||
| ==Electoral history== | |||
| *'''2002 Race for Governor''' | |||
| **Jeb Bush (R) (inc.), 56% | |||
| **] (D), 43% | |||
| *'''1998 Race for Governor''' | |||
| **Jeb Bush (R), 55% | |||
| **] (D), 45% | |||
| *'''1994 Race for Governor''' | |||
| **] (D) (inc.), 51% | |||
| **Jeb Bush (R), 49% | |||
| == References == | |||
| *Freedberg, Syndey P. "Jeb Bush: The Son Rises Away from Dad's Shadow." '']'', ], ]. | |||
| * ]. . ], ], ]. | |||
| * Viglucci, Andres and Alfonso Chardy. . ''The Miami Herald'', ], ]. | |||
| * Yardley, William. ''The Miami Herald'', ], ]. | |||
| * Barnes, Fred. ''The Weekly Standard'', ], ]. | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{Wikiquote}} | |||
| {{Commons|Jeb Bush}} | |||
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Revision as of 00:22, 5 November 2006
Pig faced fat Nazi.