Jeb Bush

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Jeb Bush : biography

February 11, 1953 –

As Governor, Bush proposed and passed into law major reform to the medical liability system. The Florida Senate, a majority of which were Republican, sided with the trial lawyers against caps on non-economic damages. Bush insisted, and called the legislature into five special sessions. The contentious debate even included a senior Bush staffer calling for primary opposition to Republicans who disagreed with the Governor on the reforms. Eventually, the legislature agreed to the caps and Bush’s reforms passed. Bush also passed a massive reform to Florida’s Medicaid system. At the time, this reform was referred to as the most sweeping reform to Medicaid in its 45 year history. Also, Florida was the first state in the nation to publish hospital outcomes on the Internet, including cost and information on quality, infections and complications.

International trade

Bush said one of the most important goals of his final two years as Governor was to secure the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Secretariat for Miami.

Vetoes

Bush vetoed a 2004 bill about court-appointed parenting coordinators because of his concern that the bill would not adequately protect families as they try to resolve their conflicts.

2002 gubernatorial election

Before Bush’s re-election, no Republican in Florida had ever been re-elected to serve a second term as the state’s Governor. In addition, there was likely no precedent for any Governor to be branded by the opposition as its "Number One Target" for removal from office, as Bush was ranked in 2002. This was not merely a statewide effort to oust the Republican Governor, but a much-publicized goal of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and its highest leadership during the 2002 election cycle.

Results

In the closely watched Florida Governor’s race that attracted national attention, Bush was re-elected in November 2002. He defeated Democratic challenger Bill McBride with 56% to 43%, a greater margin of victory than in Bush’s 1998 campaign for Governor. Bush also increased the number of counties in his victory column, winning several Florida counties for the first time. He campaigned throughout North West Florida, in Pensacola and Milton.

Bush won 80 percent of the Cuban vote in 2002 and 56 percent among non-Cuban Hispanics in 2002. As a longtime supporter of Israel,Associated Press. , St. Petersburg Times, April 27, 2004. Retrieved June 14, 2008. he was endorsed in his two winning Governor races by a national Jewish publication, and won 44 percent of the state’s Jewish vote in the 2002 race.Stewart, Russ. , Russ Stewart, April 16, 2003. Retrieved June 14, 2008. Bush also surprised critics by winning the white female vote in the swing-voting battleground of Central Florida’s I-4 corridor. However, Bush wasn’t able to replicate the same success with African American voters (like he had earlier in 1998), he won only 8 percent of the African American vote in which many analysts felt was due to the controversial One Florida policy abolishing affirmative action and the 2000 Florida voting controversy.

However, in 2006, Charlie Crist would surpass Bush’s unsurprisingly weak showing among African American voters from 2002, receiving 18 percent of the African American vote.

In January 2007, Bush became the second Florida Governor to complete two full four-year terms in office, the first being Democrat Reubin O’Donovan Askew.

Early years

Jeb Bush was born in Midland, Texas. When he was six years old, the family relocated to Houston, Texas.

Jeb initially attended Grady Elementary School in Houston."." The Miami Herald. September 22, 2002. Retrieved on October 15, 2012. "Bush attended public Grady Elementary School in Houston for several years[…]" Following in the footsteps of older brother, George, Jeb Bush attended high school at the private Massachusetts boarding school, Phillips Academy Andover. At the age of 17, he taught English as a second language in León, Guanajuato, Mexico, as part of Phillips Academy’s student exchange program. While in Mexico, he met his future wife, Columba Garnica Gallo.