Jeb Bush has launched his bid to become the Republican nominee for president.
In a video released hours ahead of his official launch in Miami, the former Florida governor has pledged to fix America.
Jeb Bush, 62, declared: “I’m ready to lead.”
The brother of ex-President George W. Bush and son of ex-President George H.W. Bush also promised to protect America’s most vulnerable and remove the barriers to social mobility.
However, doubts persist among conservatives in his party.
Early polling suggests that Jeb Bush has yet to dominate a wide field of Republican candidates.
In his latest video, entitled The Greatest Century, Jeb Bush strikes a very optimistic note, saying: “I see a great country on the verge of its greatest century, and I’m ready to lead.”
Although his campaign becomes official on June 15, it’s been no secret for many months and his team is well on the way to raising a $100 million war chest.
During a tour of Europe last week, Jeb Bush warned he would not waver from his core beliefs, even if some are unpopular in his party.
He said: “I’m not going to change who I am.
“I respect people who may not agree with me, but I’m not going to change my views because today someone has a view that’s different.”
In a separate video, called Making A Difference, Jeb Bush champions the rights of women, ethnic minorities and the disabled.
He says: “My core beliefs start with the premise that the most vulnerable in our society should be in the front of the line and not the back.
“What we need is new leadership that takes conservative principles and applies them so that people can rise up.”
Jeb Bush becomes the 11th Republican to declare, with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Florida Senator Marco Rubio among his biggest rivals.
Jeb Bush has said he admires his father and brother’s presidencies but he is his “own man” on foreign policy.
In a speech in Chicago, the former Florida governor outlined a broad strategy of projecting American power and addressing “the shortfalls in our defense spending”.
Jeb Bush also criticized President Barack Obama for an “inconsistent and indecisive” foreign policy.
He is one of several Republicans expected to run for president in 2016.
Jeb Bush is the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush.
He has developed campaign infrastructure but has not officially said he is running.
In the speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Jeb Bush says he has been “lucky” to have family who “shaped America’s foreign policy from the Oval Office”.
Photo Reuters
“I recognize that as a result, my views will often be held up in comparison to theirs,” Jeb Bush said.
“But I am my own man – and my views are shaped by my own thinking and own experiences.”
The Washington Post reported 19 of 21 Jeb Bush’s foreign policy advisors are pulled from his brother and father’s administrations, although many were also considered as advisors to Mitt Romney before he backed out of a run.
Jeb Bush has demurred from answering whether he believes his brother’s choice to go to war in Iraq was appropriate.
During the speech, he criticized Barack Obama as someone who “has left America less influential in the world”.
“I believe fundamentally that weakness invites war … and strength encourages peace,” Jeb Bush said.
Jeb Bush also expressed concern over negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme and backed the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of telephone metadata records of Americans.
George W. Bush’s younger brother, Jeb Bush, has reportedly scaled back his business commitments as he thinks seriously about a 2016 White House run.
One of the Republican’s aides told the Washington Post the former Florida governor had ended his board memberships and resigned as a paid adviser to an education company.
Jeb Bush last month announced he was “exploring” running for president.
A 2016 bid could bring him up against the former first lady, Hillary Clinton.
Photo AP
Jeb Bush’s father, former President George H.W, Bush, was defeated by Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton, in the 1992 election.
Hillary Clinton is the Democratic frontrunner and widely expected to run, although she says she will make a decision in 2015.
Jeb Bush’s spokeswoman Kristy Campbell told the Post his decision to shed a large number of his business commitments, effective from New Year’s Day, meant he could focus on a “potential” run for president.
The Post reported that Jeb Bush has even stepped down from the board of his education foundation.
He recently terminated a consulting deal with Barclays, the British investment bank that reportedly paid him more than $1 million a year.
When he announced he was thinking about a presidential run, Jeb Bush said he would set up a political action committee in January to gauge support among donors and supporters.
Although he became the immediate frontrunner among the Republican candidates, Jeb Bush’s pro-immigration views have enraged some conservatives in his party.
Jeb Bush, a moderate conservative, has a Mexican-born wife, Columba, and three children. He speaks excellent Spanish and spent eight years as Florida governor, until 2007.
Reubin Askew, the former Florida governor who guided the state through a period of school busing to achieve integration in the 1970s, died early Thursday at the age of 85.
Reubin Askew died surrounded by family members at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, Ron Sachs, a former aide and family spokesman, told The Associated Press.
He was admitted to the hospital Saturday, his family said. Over the past three months, he has suffered from aspiration pneumonia, hip surgery and, most recently, a stroke.
Reubin Askew rose from obscurity in the Florida Legislature to become the Democrats’ surprise gubernatorial nominee in 1970
Reubin Askew rose from obscurity in the Florida Legislature to become the Democrats’ surprise gubernatorial nominee in 1970 and then beat the incumbent Republican, Claude Kirk.
His eight years in office coincided with the end of the Vietnam War, Watergate and dramatic social change across the nation.
Reubin Askew was a liberal on racial issues and crusaded for overhauling the state’s tax laws, open government, environmental protection, ethics legislation and streamlining the courts and other governmental agencies.
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