After graduating from UT, Bush started working at the Texas Commerce Bank. Three years later, the bank sent him to Caracas, Venezuela, to open a new branch.
In 1980, Bush moved his family to Miami, Florida, and began investing in real estate. He became a partner at The Codina Group, a prominent real estate development firm in South Florida.
Alongside this, he pursued various entrepreneurial ventures and supported his father’s political campaigns.
Entry Into Politics
In the mid-1980s, Bush entered Florida politics as Chairman of the Dade County Republican Party.
His efforts helped Bob Martinez win the 1986 governorship, and Martinez appointed Bush as Florida’s Secretary of Commerce.
Bush held this position until 1988, when he left to aid his father’s presidential campaign.
In 1994, Bush ran for governor of Florida but was unsuccessful. However, he ran again in 1998 and won. Re-elected in 2002, Bush became Florida’s first two-term Republican governor.
During his tenure, Bush focused on reforming the state’s education system, advocating school choice and establishing Florida’s first charter schools.
He also championed conservation efforts in the Everglades and implemented tax cuts and reduced state spending.
His time in office coincided with the disputed recount of Florida’s votes in the 2004 presidential election involving his older brother, George W. Bush.
Jeb Bush chose not to participate in the recount process during this period.
Personal Life
Bush met Columba Garnica Gallo, his future wife, while teaching English in León, Mexico, in 1970. They started dating and married in Austin, Texas, in 1974.
Their first child, George, was born in 1976, followed by a daughter, Noelle, in 1977, and another son, Jeb Jr., in 1983.
Raised in an Episcopalian household, Bush chose to convert to Roman Catholicism in 1995. He later became a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service organization, in 2004.
Bush is a member of the Father Hugon Council in Tallahassee and has also joined the Father Hugon Assembly.
Jeb Bush Net Worth and Deals With Derek Jeter