Jeb Bush resigns from ‘boards,’ signaling 2016 presidential run
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has resigned from all of his corporate and nonprofit board memberships, a move which points to a 2016 Presidential run.
“He will be reviewing his remaining business engagements in the coming year,” an aide to the former governor said Wednesday evening.
Bush also resigned as a paid adviser to a for-profit education company that sells online courses to public university students in exchange for a share of their tuition payments, the Washington Post reported.
“Aides said Bush wants to devote his time to exploring a return to politics rather than pursuing his business commitments. But separating himself from those interests now could also be a strategic attempt to prepare for the added scrutiny of a hotly contested campaign for the Republican nomination.”
Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell characterized the resignations as a “natural next step” for Bush as he “turns his focus to gauging whether there is support for a potential candidacy.”
Bush will only remain on the board of the companies in which he is a partner, including his business consulting company Jeb Bush and Associates, the aide said.
Randy Best, the Academic Partnerships founder and chief executive said Bush’s ties to the online education firm linked to Common Core, could complicate his effort to promote his record as an education reformer.
Bush’s support for nationalized Common Core standards, an endeavor put forward through an alliance among the government, big corporations, and education elites places him at odds with the conservative base of the Republican party.