John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He was the second son of former president George H. W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush, and a younger brother of former president George W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, he was an unsuccessful candidate for president of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries.
Bush was born in Midland, Texas, and grew up in Houston. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a degree in Latin American affairs. In 1980, he moved to Florida and pursued a career in real estate development. In 1987, Bush became Florida's secretary of commerce, serving this role until 1988, when he joined his father's successful campaign for the presidency.
In 1994, Bush made his first run for office, losing the election for governor by less than two percentage points to the incumbent Lawton Chiles. Bush ran again in 1998 and defeated lieutenant governor Buddy MacKay with 55 percent of the vote. He ended up succeeding MacKay after Chiles died in office 23 days shy of his retirement.