Following in his Family’s Footsteps

by Anthony Chianese, staff reporter

John Ellis Bush (Jeb Bush), is the son of former President George H.W. Bush, and brother of former President George W. Bush. Jeb Bush was born February 11, 1953 in Midland, Texas which is the hometown of many of his close family members. He followed in his brother’s and father’s footsteps by attending Phillips Academy Andover high school in Andover, Massachusetts. By his senior year he made it on the honor role and was captain of the tennis team.

At the age of 17, Bush joined Andover’s student exchange program and was sent to a small village in Guanajuato, Mexico. There he aided in the building of a school and taught English to people as a second language. While in Mexico he met his future wife, Columba Garnica Gallo. Instead of going to Yale like most of his family, he attended the University of Texas at Austin and he graduated with a B.A degree in Latin American Studies.

Bush became the Republican Secretary of Commerce for the state of Florida on January 6,1987, until his resignation in 1988 to support his father’s presidential campaign. In 1994 Bush wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and decided it was time to run for office. He was defeated by Lawton Chiles, a Democrat who was criticized by Bush for opposing the death penalty. Chiles won the election and became Governor. Bush didn’t give up and tried again in 1998 to run against Lieutenant Governor Buddy MacKay, who took office after the death of Chiles. He won with 55 percent of the vote, becoming the 43rd governor of Florida. When his four years were done in 2002, he ran for reelection and won becoming Florida’s only two term Governor, serving from 1998 to 2007.

Now in 2016 Jeb Bush has decided to run for President of the United States under the Republican party. According to the RCP average as of September 17th, Bush is in fourth place with 9.8 falling behind Trump’s 24.0, Carson’s 16.3, and Carly Fiorina’s 11.8.

“Jeb Bush is a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination. I think he could win.” junior Rocco Pascalli said.

         Bush is now facing a lot of criticism due to his last name and his brother’s controversies during the September 11th attacks. When Bush announced his candidacy for president on June 15, he promised immigration reforms and spoke fluent Spanish.

“I don’t know if I want another Bush in office, we’ve seen what happened in the past with his brother and father. I don’t want another war in the middle east,” junior Justin Raclaw said.