Jeb Bush

He met Columba Garnica Gallo in 1970 while he was teaching English in Mexico as part of a foreign exchange program. The couple got married in 1974 and became parents to three children. He also has four grandchildren.

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush was born on February 11, 1953, in Midland, Texas, to George H. W. Bush and Lady Barbara Bush. His father, a prominent politician went on to become the U.S. President one day. He has three brothers and one sister. Former President George W. Bush is his elder brother.

He attended high school at the Andover, Massachusetts boarding school Phillips Academy, Andover, just like his father and brother before him. He excelled in his studies and was also the captain of the tennis team.

Interested in public service from a young age, he went to Mexico as part of Andover's student exchange summer program. He taught English as a second language there.

He went to the University of Texas at Austin, in 1971, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude with a B.A. in Latin American studies after two and a half years.

In 1974, Jeb Bush took up an entry-level position in the international division of Texas Commerce Bank. He soon became the branch manager and vice president of the bank’s division in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

In 1980 he stared working in real estate with Armando Codina, a highly successful businessman. Bush’s career flourished with Codina’s company and before long Codina made Bush his partner in a new development business. This business thrived and made Bush a very wealthy individual.

He moved to Miami because of his business dealings and became involved in many different entrepreneurial pursuits. He became a minority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, an American professional football franchise based in Jacksonville, Florida, and was involved in a project selling water pumps in Nigeria.

During 1980 he volunteered for his father’s presidential campaign though he would himself join politics only after a few more years. Jeb Bush was made the Chairman of the Dade County Republican Party in the mid-1980s and played a major role in the 1986 election of Bob Martinez to the Governor's office. Martinez then appointed Bush as Florida's Secretary of Commerce.

In 1989, Bush became the campaign manager of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Cuban-American to serve in Congress. Over the ensuing years he made an unsuccessful attempt for the governor’s office in Florida and continued to work with Codina Partners.

Jeb Bush implemented major reforms during his eight years as governor. He supported the ambitious Everglades conservation plan, the most expensive and comprehensive environmental repair attempt in history. He also launched a Medicaid privatization pilot program and initiated reforms to the state education system.