Jeb Bush

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11 1953), a Republican, is the forty-third and current Governor of Florida. He is a prominent member of the Bush family, the younger brother of President George W. Bush and the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Pierce.

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 Texas Commerce Bank, which was run by Ben Love. Love hired the new college graduate for his office, where Bush assisted in drafting much of Love's communications.

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In November 1977 he was sent to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, 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.

Related Topics:
1977 - Venezuela - Caracas

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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.

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Bush returned to the United States to work without salary on his father's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 1980, explaining:

Related Topics:
Presidential nomination - 1980

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:"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."

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His father ultimately lost the Republican nomination for President that year, but Ronald Reagan chose George H. W. Bush to be his running mate. Bush's father was soon elected in that year the Vice President of the United States, 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.

Related Topics:
Ronald Reagan - Vice President of the United States

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Business experience in Miami, Florida

Following the 1980 presidential election, Bush and his family moved to Miami-Dade County, Florida. He took a job in real estate with Armando Codina, a 32-year-old Cuban 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.

Related Topics:
Miami-Dade County, Florida - Armando Codina - Cuba

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In 1981, his first year with Codina's new real estate venture, Bush earned $41,508. He soon became a valuable salesman and realtor for Codina, and helped Codina build a very successful property business in Florida.

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During Bush's years in Miami, he was involved in many different entrepreneurial pursuits, including working for a mobile phone company, serving on the board of a Norwegian-owned company that sold fire equipment to the Alaska oil pipeline, becoming a minority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, buying a shoe company that sold footwear in Panama and getting involved in a scheme to sell water pumps in Nigeria.

Related Topics:
Miami - Norwegian - Alaska oil pipeline - Jacksonville Jaguars - Panama - Nigeria

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Because of Bush's effectiveness in Cordina'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 a handsome 40% of the firm's profits.

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In June 1993, Bush sold his share of the company he and Codina had built for over one million dollars to pursue public service.

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Civic and charitable activities

After losing a 1994 election for Governor of the State of Florida, 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 United Way of Dade County and the Dade County Homeless Trust". http://www.oneflorida.org/myflorida/government/governorinitiatives/one_florida/bushmore.html

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In 1996, The Foundation For Florida?s Future published a book that Bush had co-written, Profiles in Character (ISBN 0965091201). 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.http://www.heartland.org/pdf/21111f.pdf (PDF) Bush subsequently wrote the foreword to another book, shown at right, published by the conservative Heritage Foundation and written by Nina Shokraii Rees, School Choice 2000: What?s Happening in the States (ISBN 0891950893).

Related Topics:
Conservative - Heritage Foundation

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Bush co-founded the first charter school in the State of Florida: Liberty City Charter School, a grades K-6 elementary school. Situated in Liberty City, Florida|Liberty City, Dade County, the school is located just outside of greater Miami, in an area plagued by poverty. The co-founder, working alongside Bush as a partner, was T. Williard Fair, 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.

Related Topics:
Charter school - Liberty City Charter School

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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 Protestant Bush became a Roman Catholic. He and his wife belonged to the Epiphany Catholic Church in Miami for many years.

Related Topics:
Protestant - Roman Catholic

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Rather than fade into the annals of political history after his 1994 defeat for the governorship at the age of 41, Bush then 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.

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