Jeb Bush Announces GOP Presidential Campaign - Wall Street Journal

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday, flipping the switch on an expansive campaign operation he has quietly been building for months.

“Here’s what it comes down to. Our country is on a very bad course. And the question is: What are we going to do about it? The question for me is: What am I going to do about it?” he said. “And I have decided. I am a candidate for president of the United States.”

Mr. Bush, who becomes the third member of his family to seek the nation’s highest office, spoke while delivering his official campaign speech at Miami-Dade College. Earlier, he officially kicked off his candidacy by filing paperwork to run for president with the Federal Election Commission.

The son and brother of two U.S. presidents, Mr. Bush enters a presidential field crowded with young up-and-coming Republican talent and an electorate deeply divided about the future direction of both the Republican Party and the nation.  In laying out the case for his candidacy, Mr. Bush promised an uplifting message about the direction and future of the country.

“In any language, my message will be an optimistic one because I am certain that we can make the decades just ahead in America the greatest time ever to be alive in this world,” Mr. Bush said.

On two issues in particular—immigrationand education—Mr. Bush finds himself on the opposite side from many grassroots activists in the Republican Party. Mr. Bush has long supported changes to the nation’s immigration system that would allow illegal immigrants a path to legal status. He also has expressed support for national education standards opposed by many conservative activists.

Mr. Bush unveiled a campaign logo on Monday that downplays his family’s last name. The stylized red logo contains only Mr. Bush’s first name with an exclamation point. His father, George H.W. Bush, and brother, George W. Bush, aren't expected to attend his campaign kickoff.

Five generations of an American dynasty :  The Bushes and their relatives have been at the heart of American business and politics for more than a century, producing investment bankers, a magazine publishing executive, a state supreme court justice, a railroad industrialist, a senator, two governors, and two presidents. Click on the faces below to explore the Bush family tree.

His announcement comes on his return from a five-day, three-nation European tour aimed at shoring up Mr. Bush’s foreign policy credentials. -  Read More at WSJ

Jeb Bush Announces GOP Presidential Campaign