Jeb Bush is the 43rd governor of the state of Florida, serving from 1999 through 2007. He was the third Republican elected to the state’s highest office and the only Republican in the state’s history to be reelected.
Governor Bush remained true to his conservative principles throughout his two terms – cutting $20 billion in taxes, vetoing more than $2.3 billion in earmarks and reducing the state government workforce by more than 13,000. His limited government approach helped create 1.4 million net new jobs and improve the state’s credit ratings on Wall Street.
During his two terms, Bush championed major reform of government programs. In education, Florida raised academic standards, required accountability in public schools and created the most ambitious school choice program in the nation. After gaining permission from the federal government, Florida also launched Medicaid Reform to improve quality and control the rising cost of the $16 billion state-federal partnership that pays for the healthcare of 2.2 million poor, disabled and elderly citizens.
Since leaving office, he maintains his passion for education reform as chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education and the Foundation for Florida’s Future. He is honorary chairman of Volunteer USA, and serves on the National Civic Leaders Advisory Board of America’s Promise Alliance, the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, the George W. Bush Institute Board and the Bloomberg Family Foundation Board. Bush is also the President of the consulting firm Jeb Bush and Associates and a Senior Advisor to Barclays Capital.
Bush earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to Florida in 1981, where he started a real estate development company with partner Armando Codina. He and his wife Columba live in Miami and have three grown children. Bush is the son of President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush.
