--- title: Jeb Bush Poised to Formally Join 2016 Campaign for the White House description: Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is looking to turn the page on a rocky precampaign period, ready to make official his White House ambitions canonical: https://time.com/3920589/jeb-bush-campaign-launch/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-14T20:15:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T06:51:07.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jeb Bush Gets Into Presidential Campaign After Rocky Prep og:description: He starts his White House run after failing to meet early expectations. og:url: https://time.com/3920589/jeb-bush-campaign-launch/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf55d017c9348eb40/69885485cd1bba75e96fbcfd/jeb-bush-2016.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Jeb Bush Berlin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeb Bush Gets Into Presidential Campaign After Rocky Prep twitter:description: He starts his White House run after failing to meet early expectations. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf55d017c9348eb40/69885485cd1bba75e96fbcfd/jeb-bush-2016.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeb Bush Poised to Formally Join 2016 Campaign > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1af7f70c-f092-4bab-9355-22e37198430f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years [Watch (HLS stream): See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3nRIB78f.m3u8) (2:37)  _Published 2015-06-12. From his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1994 through his decision to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, here are some of the top moments from Jeb Bush's political career._  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:51 AM UTCPublished: Jun 14, 2015 8:15 PM UTC  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:51 AM UTCPublished: Jun 14, 2015 8:15 PM UTC Former Florida governor Jeb Bush was supposed to assemble the strongest roster of aides and donors, spooking would-be rivals for the Republicans’ presidential nomination from the race. His political machine was expected to have $100 million on the first day as a declared candidate. Eventually, no one would ask about his family, which has spawned two Presidents, or his support for Common Core education standards or liberal views on illegal immigrants. None of that has happened. Bush replaced his campaign manager last week as internal fights spilled into public view. His broader campaign-finance orbit is expected to come up short of the nine-figure war chest it wanted to have at the ready. And he continues to be so dogged about the Bush legacy and tremendous distrust among conservative activists that a third member of the dynasty should live in the White House, he ditched the Bush name altogether in his campaign logo and is going for just “Jeb!” For others inside the party, they cannot accept his policy positions on education and immigration that fall squarely outside of orthodoxy. As he prepares to formally join the 2016 contest on Monday near Miami, Bush will need to have a better showing than he enjoyed during the lead-up to the launch. ### See Jeb Bush's Life in Photos  George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, Jan. 1, 1955. Sygma/Corbis  From left to right: Doro, Marvin, Neil, and Jeb Bush, fall 1963. George Bush Presidential Library  From left to right: Doro, George, Jeb, Marvin, George W., Neil, and Barbara Bush, 1966. George Bush Presidential Library  Jeb Bush (center) was the varsity tennis team captain during his senior year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., 1971. Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library  George Bush and his four sons, Neil, Jeb, George W. and Marvin in 1970. Bob E. Daemmrich—Sygma/Corbis  Jeb and Columba Bush on their wedding day, Feb. 23, 1974. George Bush Presidential Library  Jeb Bush loudly applauds his father, Republican presidential hopeful George Bush, at a campaign rally in Concord, N.H. on Feb. 28, 1980. Frank Lorenzo—Bettmann/Corbis  Vice President George Bush holds a fish with his sons George W. and Jeb during a family vacation in Kennebunkport, Maine in Aug. 1983. Cynthia Johnson—Getty Images  From left to right (without children): Neil and Sharon Bush, George W. Bush and wife Laura, Barbara and George Bush, Margaret and Marvin, Bobby Koch and Dorothy, Jeb and Columba, are seen in this Bush family photo taken in Kennebunkport, Maine on Aug. 24, 1986. Dave Valdez—White House/Sygma/Corbis  Jeb Bush plays cards with his son while riding in a recreational vehicle, Nov. 8, 1993. Christopher Little—Corbis  Jeb Bush is interviewed at a Miami Radio Station, WIOD, Mar. 1980\. He went on to become Governor of Florida in 1999. Tim Chapman—Getty Images  George W. Bush and Jeb Bush at the Republican Governors' Convention in New Orleans, 1998. Nina Berman—SIPA  Texas governor George W. Bush celebrates good news with his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, while watching the presidential election returns, prior to being elected as President of the United States, inside the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Nov. 7, 2000. Brooks Kraft—Sygma/Corbis  Republican governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, studies his laptop watching vote returns for his reelection his wife Columba Bush and his parents, former President George Bush and first lady Barbara Bush in Miami on Nov. 5, 2002. Joe Burbank—Orlando Sentinel/MCT/Getty Images  Republican nominee for President, Mitt Romney, campaigns around Florida with Governor Jeb Bush, left, Senator Marco Rubio, right, and Congressman Connie Mack, left back of head, in Coral Gables, Fla. on Oct., 31, 2012. Melina Mara—The Washington Post/Getty Images  Jeb Bush speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015. Mark Peterson—Redux for TIME Take, for instance, Bush’s first week of May. He gave the commencement address at evangelical Liberty University and sat down with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. During his chat with Kelly, he faced questions about the war in Iraq, launched in 2003 by then President George W. Bush. Asked if he would have gone to war, knowing now that the Iraqi government did not possess weapons of mass destruction, he answered in the affirmative. His advisers said he misheard the question, he said he didn’t understand it and then he called such queries “hypotheticals.” His rivals piled on while he tried not to criticize his brother or the war that killed 4,491 Americans. Donors started to phone headquarters with advice to the former governor: “Admit you got it wrong and be done with it,” one fundraiser told a Bush adviser. In the span of a week, Bush watched his campaign in waiting deflate. But Bush’s political machine was built to weather such a beating. Bush started assembling his team last year, tapping longtime adviser Sally Bradshaw as his top lieutenant. She brought together some of the biggest names in the party: media strategist Mike Murphy, Iowa’s most respected operative David Kochel as national campaign manager and a raft of Washington insiders to fill senior jobs. His top aides in New Hampshire are veterans of presidential, Senate and gubernatorial races, and his South Carolina team is about as gold-plated as can be found. “He has assembled a first-rate team,” said former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney told reporters at a retreat this weekend in Deer Valley, Utah. “The people around him are experienced and capable. Many of them I know from my own campaigns and I had high regard for.” But they never really fit together with the candidate, who is a demanding yet out-of-practice boss. As for money, Romney perhaps continued to reinforce expectations that Bush could fail to clear. “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he raised twice as much as all the others combined,” Romney said. “I think it’s going to be a big number, because he’s worked it very hard.” Aides last week conceded the $100 million goal was not going to happen by Monday’s launch. Sensing other troubles ahead, Bush and Bradshaw shook up the campaign at the same time. They shifted Kochel to the role of strategist and brought aboard hard-nosed operative Danny Diaz to fill the top job. The campaign portrayed it as a minor tweak. But it was also a public sign that Bush realizes his preannouncement period had gone poorly and he needs a change. If he is to become the third member of his family to call 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home, he cannot afford a repeat of the past six months. _— With reporting by Zeke J Miller / Deer Valley_ ## Transcript The younger Bush brother did not make the governor's chair in Florida. The older Bush brother, George W. Bush, did make it in Texas. This is a mixed night for the Bush family. I know we can do better. It requires a new style of leadership, commitment to service to others, and an ability to bring people together rather than divide I wanna be the governor that leads us there. And in Florida, Jeb Bush, 56 to 44 over Buddy MacKay, the Democratic candidate. My brother said in one of his speeches, my brother said he's gonna deliver Florida. [ LAUGH ] He did say That he said it more than once. Will he deliver it? He also told it was going to be a cold Thanksgiving dinner if I don't help him out, and then we're going to carry it. We could be in for a long night as voters decide whether Vice President Al Gore or Texas Governor George Bush will be the next president of the United States. It is that close. ABC News is now going to project that Florida goes to Mr. Bush. While the closest elections in American history Bush has won it. The rigor of the common core state standards must be the new minimum in classrooms. And so for those states that are choosing a path other than common core I say this. You should be aiming even higher. And be bolder and raise standards and ask more for our students and the system. The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 Million people. We should give them a path to legal status. Where they work, where they don't receive government benefits, where they don't break the law, where they learn English, and where they make a contribution to our society. Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion? I would of and so would of Hillary Clinton. Just to remind everybody and so would of almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got. By the way guess who thinks that those mistakes took place as well. George W. Bush. Your brother. Yeah. I mean so just for the news flash to the world that they're trying to find places that there's big space between me and my brother, this might not be one of those. I'm running for president in 2016, and the focus is going to be about how we, if I run, how do you create high sustained economic growth where more people have a chance at our success. I don't know if I'd be a good candidate or a bad one. Kinda know how a Republican can win, whether it's me or somebody else. And it has to be much more uplifting, much more positive, much more willing to be practical now in the Washington world. Lose the primary to win the general. 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