By Yashwant Raj

Jeb Bush jokes nowadays about being without a job for the first time in his life. Actually, he is between jobs taking the opportunity of a pause to do all the things he missed out rushing from one meeting to another.

He is widely tipped to run for President and follow his father and elder brother into the White House. But there is no word from him yet and the run is already under way, full swing.

“The presidency is out of the question at this point because of Bush fatigue,” said Peter Schweizer, a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford who wrote The Bushes: A Dynasty with his wife, Rochelle.

He told The New York Times, “But the vice presidential slot is something that’s very much in play. He’s a successful governor of an important state, he helps shore up relations with the social conservatives and he has the Bush money machine.”

Jeb Bush’s last job was Florida governor, a position he held for two terms, starting in 1998. When he stepped down in 2007 (Florida state laws prevent governors and legislators from serving more than two terms), a poll found that most constituents — 57 per cent — said he had done a “good” to “great” job.

In an article around the time Jeb Bush was stepping down, The New York Times wrote, “Mr Bush pushed through $19.3 billion in tax cuts, put an unprecedented emphasis on standardized testing in public schools, privatized thousands of government jobs and ended affirmative action in public university admissions.”

Bush is the second son of former US President George HW Bush and the younger brother of the present president, George W Bush. He has been known as Jeb since childhood — initials of his name John Ellis Bush.

He was born on February 11, 1953 in Texas and went to a private school in Massachusetts, like his brother George Bush. As part of a student exchange programme taught English in Mexico where he met his future wife.

Bush took his first steps in politics in 1980 working on the campaign team of his father who was running for the Republican presidential nomination; he didn’t make it but ran with Ronald Reagan for vice president.

Jeb Bush started in Florida poltics as chairman of Dade county Republican Party. And was soon Florida’s secretary of commerce. He opted out to help his father’s presidential campaign. Bush senior won this time.

Jeb ran unsuccessfully for the post of Florida governor in 1994; but didn’t lose too badly. He ran again in 1998 and won. Around the same time, his elder brother George Bush was re-elected governor in Texas.

This was only the second instance of siblings governing two states at the same time – the first pair was of Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller – of the famous Rockefeller family. Nelson went to become Vice President.

If and when Jeb Bush announces he is running for President, that may well be another record – third member from one family to run for the top job. And if he wins, well, that’s going to be
another first.