--- title: Jeb Bush Floats Idea of Picking A Woman For Vice President description: A Republican makes a point about gender progress canonical: https://time.com/4132151/jeb-bush-vice-president-woman/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-02T02:01:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:01:42.312Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jeb Bush Floats Idea of Picking A Woman For Vice President og:description: A Republican makes a point about gender progress og:url: https://time.com/4132151/jeb-bush-vice-president-woman/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f6714ff7dbf7086/6988711df887dc7716e9351a/paris-attacks-2016-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during the Sunshine Summit conference being held at the Rosen Shingle Creek on November 13, 2015 in Orlando, Florida. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeb Bush Floats Idea of Picking A Woman For Vice President twitter:description: A Republican makes a point about gender progress twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f6714ff7dbf7086/6988711df887dc7716e9351a/paris-attacks-2016-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeb Bush on his VP: “She Will Be A Great Partner”  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 2, 2015 2:01 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during the Sunshine Summit conference being held at the Rosen Shingle Creek on November 13, 2015 in Orlando, Florida. Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during the Sunshine Summit conference being held at the Rosen Shingle Creek on November 13, 2015 in Orlando, Florida.Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 2, 2015 2:01 AM UTC Jeb Bush made a point Tuesday night to refer to his as yet unnamed potential Vice President pick as woman. “Should I be elected president, I would have my vice president — I think she will be a great partner,” the former Florida governor said, during an appearance in Waterloo, Iowa. It seemed to be an intentional feint at a slip of the tongue. “I mean, did I say that out loud?” Bush immediately joked. “We always talk about this with one gender in mind,” he continued. “I think we’ve reached the point I think in our country where maybe we should be a little less gender-specific about this. He or she should be an integral part of the team. And frankly, the one important element of selecting a vice presidential candidate is whether he or she is qualified to be president. Everything else is secondary.” Bush is currently struggling in the middle of the field in Iowa, and the state’s caucuses are scheduled for February 1\. Several Republican women are potential 2016 vice presidential candidates, including South Carolina Gov. Nicki Haley, New Mexico Gov. Susanna Martinez and New Hampshire Sen. 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