Jeb Bush Quotes & Sayings

If I decide to run for office again, it will be based on what I believe, and it will be based on my record. And that record was one of solving problems completely from a conservative prospective. — Jeb Bush

I believe we're at the verge of the greatest time to be alive in this world.But Washington is holding us back. How we tax, how we regulate. We're not embracing the energy revolution in our midst, a broken immigration system that has been politicized rather than turning it into an economic driver.We're not protecting and preserving our entitlement system or reforming for the next generation. All these things languish while we have politicians in Washington using these as wedge issues. — Jeb Bush

They [terrorists] have declared war on us and we need to have a serious strategy to destroy ISIS. — Jeb Bush

Right now people seem to be very tentative about the positive benefits of capitalism. — Jeb Bush

I released 34 years of tax returns and 300,000 e-mails in my government record. To get the information from Hillary Clinton, you need to get a subpoena from the FBI. — Jeb Bush

If we're going to ban all Muslims, how are we going to get them to be part of a coalition to destroy ISIS? — Jeb Bush

I think Detroit would do real well if we started repopulating it with young, aspirational people. — Jeb Bush

There's a whole lot of America that looks at each other and says, 'Well, there's 340 million people living in America. Isn't there somebody other than a Bush or a Clinton who can be president in these modern times?' — Jeb Bush

They [illegal immigrants] broke the law, but it's not a felony, it's an act of love. It's an act of commitment to your family. — Jeb Bush

America does not have the luxury of withdrawing from the world, our security, and our prosperity, and our values demand that we remain engaged and involved in
often distant places. — Jeb Bush

There is no other country that has the Cuban Adjustment Act; that's why it's called the Cuban Adjustment Act and not the Nicaraguan Adjustment Act. — Jeb Bush

I have never wavered from my intention to advance the cause of diversity in new and more effective ways. — Jeb Bush

If we don't empower families to be able to have a quality education, then their children - for the first time in American history, truly the first time - will not have the same economic opportunities. — Jeb Bush

I've always believed that if you support reform or you support a particular idea that you ought to fund that idea first and not the system. — Jeb Bush

We mustn't assume that we are going to deinvent government solely from inside the Beltway or within one or two sessions of Congress. We will do it one step at a time, in one community at a time - at the local level and through local institutions like churches, nonprofit and volunteer organizations and families. — Jeb Bush

Donald [Trump], is great at - at the one-liners, but he's a chaos candidate. — Jeb Bush

If we are going to compete in this world we're in today, there is no possible way we can do it with lowering expectations and dumbing down everything. Children are going to suffer, and families' hearts are going to be broken that their kids won't be able to get a job in the 21st Century. — Jeb Bush

That, by the way, is perhaps the most ludicrous comment I've ever heard, that climate change is a bigger threat to our country than radical Islamic terrorism. — Jeb Bush

If you apply conservative principles and you stick with it, and you have the leadership skills to bring people toward the cause, you can move the needle on these things, i reject the notion that we can't solve problems, that the gridlock is too enormous to forge consensus. It requires some creativity to get to a win for everybody. — Jeb Bush

I think this transition to a candidacy will allow me to be more direct about my advocacy of the leadership skills necessary for the next president to fix a few things, and as a candidate, contrary to someone who has been listening and learning along the way, I'll offer up alternatives to the path we're on as well, so I'll be more specific on policy. — Jeb Bush

It's really important to recognize that family life in America has changed pretty dramatically. — Jeb Bush

As a candidate, I intend to let everyone hear my message, including the many who can express their love of country in a different language. — Jeb Bush

I'm energetic and passionate about the needs - the things we need to fix. I don't feel old, I don't feel like yesterday's news — Jeb Bush

I don't know if I'm a national education figure. — Jeb Bush

It comes down to a choice between the Little Sisters and Big Brother, and I'm going with the Sisters. — Jeb Bush

People with deep faith and big hearts are concerned, as I am about the circumstance that Ms. Schiavo is in. I want them to know I will do what I can, but there are limits to what any particular person - irrespective of the title they currently hold - can do. — Jeb Bush

Imagine Texas as a blue state: how hard it would be to carry the presidency or gain control of the Senate. — Jeb Bush

If we want to destroy radical Islamic terrors, we can't disassociate ourselves from peace loving Muslims. — Jeb Bush

I don't miss politics. — Jeb Bush

Former Secretary (Hillary) Clinton has dedicated her life to serving and engaging people across the world in democracy. These efforts as a citizen, an activist, and a leader have earned Secretary Clinton this year's Liberty Medal. — Jeb Bush

As governor, I saw the link between economic prosperity and the ability to acquire knowledge. — Jeb Bush

I'm a skeptic. I'm not a scientist. I think the science has been politicized — Jeb Bush

Government is basically a parasite, and if the host doesn't grow, then government suffers. — Jeb Bush

I think the voters can make up their own minds. — Jeb Bush

States are free to modify the Common Core State Standards or adopt their own individual standards, because academic standards are the prerogative of the states. — Jeb Bush

I admire John Boehner greatly. He's a great public servant. I think people are going to miss him in the long run because he's a person that is focused on solving problems. — Jeb Bush

I don't believe you outsource your convictions and principles to people. — Jeb Bush

I had the chance to be governor for eight years and I took a year to transition out and a year to transition in, so that's a decade of my life where I pursued my own ambitions and I thought it was time to rearrange my life to focus on other things. — Jeb Bush

I really think that elected officials should be focused on how you create sustained economic growth, how do you create jobs and all of these issues that made people - segments of our society believe are really important are diversions politically. — Jeb Bush

The notion that somehow you're going to have freedom just kind of outbreak in Cuba, I think is false. — Jeb Bush

To honor the people that died, we need to stop the Iran agreement, for sure, because the Iranian mullahs have their blood on their hands, and we need to take out ISIS with every tool at our disposal. — Jeb Bush

The GOP should be the GSP: the Grand Solutions Party. It should be about solutions, not talking points. — Jeb Bush

If we're serious about America's leadership in the world, then we need to make sure that we have the back of the armed forces. — Jeb Bush

Well, I think lower taxes and less regulation would actually promote growth. — Jeb Bush

Public education must be viewed from the lens of providing each child with the learning environment that best meets his or her needs. If we can send a low-income child to a parochial school, knowing that his odds of attending college will increase as a result, then that should be our mission. — Jeb Bush

Leaders lead. They don't divide; they don't create a climate that is poisonous. — Jeb Bush

I miss being governor. — Jeb Bush

Work needs to be the single biggest requirements. No more waivers as this administration has done. There should be real work eligibility. — Jeb Bush

Traditional marriage is what should be sanctioned. — Jeb Bush

We must create a [economic] crisis in order to ensure that there is no alternative to a smaller government. — Jeb Bush

It's hard to be a son of a candidate. It's hard to be a brother of a candidate. I think it may be the hardest thing to be the dad of the candidate. — Jeb Bush

The idea that somehow we're better off today than the day that Barack Obama was inaugurated president of the United States is totally an alternative universe. The simple fact is that the world has been torn asunder. — Jeb Bush

I agree with Marco [Rubio] that we can't afford another four years like the last eight years that we've had under [Barack] Obama, for sure. That we concur on. I think we need someone with proven executive leadership to be able to make that case to the American people. — Jeb Bush

The focus ought to be on the single fact that Hillary Clinton wants to double down on a failed foreign policy and we need to be united to defeat that because we're going to be in a place that is far less secure than it is today. — Jeb Bush

Obama doesn't believe in American leadership and the net result is we have a caliphate the size of Indiana. — Jeb Bush

I've had a life experience that's full of warts, full of successes. — Jeb Bush

I get to advocate issues and ideas that I believe in. — Jeb Bush

If we want to destroy ISIS,if we expect to do this on our own, we will fail but if we do it in unison with people who are also are at risk and threatened by Islamic Radical terrorism, we'll be far more successful. — Jeb Bush

It's a complex relationship when your dad happened to be president and you are president and then you have all the amateur psychology that goes on when people try to speculate about motivations. — Jeb Bush

Two months ago Donald Trump said that ISIS was not our fight. Just two months ago he said that Hillary Clinton would be a great negotiator with Iran. And he gets his foreign policy experience from the shows. — Jeb Bush

Women who bring up children by themselves do it heroically, they do it against all odds, men who don't feel responsible for being part of their child's life create real strains on that family. — Jeb Bush

My wife is not a public person. She is uncomfortable with the limelight, which is why I love her. I don't want a political wife - I want someone who, when I get home, I can have a normal life with. — Jeb Bush

Everybody who aspires to high positions of leadership in their state and in their country should be willing to take unscreened, unrehearsed questions from the people who pay their salary. — Jeb Bush

My record as a pro-life governor is not in dispute. I am completely pro-life, and I believe that we should have a culture of life. It's informed by my faith from beginning to end. And this not just as it related to unborn babies - I did it at the end of life issues as well. This is something that goes way beyond politics. — Jeb Bush

I don't want to be elected president to sit around and see gridlock just become so dominant that people literally decline in their lives. That's not my motivation. I have a lot of cool things to do other than sitting around, being miserable, listening to people demonize me and being compelled to demonize them. That is a joke. Elect Trump if you want that. If you want somebody who has a heart for people, who can fight for people, and can fix these things, then there are a couple other people, and I believe I'm the best one. — Jeb Bush

Second-generation Hispanics marry non-Hispanics at a higher rate than second-generation Irish or Italians. Second-generation Hispanics' English language capability rates are higher than previous immigrant groups'. — Jeb Bush

This is something - we have to have the best defensive capabilities. We need to coordinate all of our efforts with the private sector. We need to give them liability relief so that we can do that. — Jeb Bush

If you have to deal with our friends at ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, it's like a Kafka novel. Files just disappear. — Jeb Bush

Sixty-five countries doing nothing is not a coalition. We need a strategy. That's the first and foremost thing that we need. — Jeb Bush

I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues. — Jeb Bush

There should be a path to earned legal status for those that are here. Not - not amnesty - earned legal status, which means you pay a fine and do many things over an extended period of time. — Jeb Bush

We can grow economically and restore America's leadership in the world, so that everybody has a chance to rise up. — Jeb Bush

There's a fine line between stubbornness and the positive side of that, which is dogged determination. — Jeb Bush

I'm a conservative - a practicing one. I'm not a talk-about-it one. — Jeb Bush

As president, I will keep you and our country safe, secure, and free. — Jeb Bush

The Russians and rogue actors, including ISIS - this is a serious part of the 21st century security challenge that we face. — Jeb Bush

I try to have my voice be heard, but not on a regular basis on TV. — Jeb Bush

I think life is precious from beginning to end. — Jeb Bush

Donald [Trump], you're not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency. That's not going to happen. — Jeb Bush

I think it was hard at first for my dad to transition to being immobile. — Jeb Bush

We need to focus our energies there, not these broad, blanket, kind of statements that will make it harder for us to deal with ISIS. We need to deal with ISIS in the caliphate. We need a strategy to destroy ISIS there. You can't do that without the cooperation of the Muslim world because they're as threatened as we are. — Jeb Bush

Our freedom is under attack. Our economy is under water. The leading democrat is under investigation. And America is under the gun to lead the free world to protect our civilized way of life. — Jeb Bush

Everything's viewed with a political lens in Washington, and that's just the nature of the beast, and it is what it is. — Jeb Bush

The Common Core State Standards are more rigorous standards than the great majority of states had in place previously. — Jeb Bush

The dual effect of high growth creating higher income that's taxed by government at all levels, combined with lessening demands placed on government that occurs during economic prosperity, is a worthy objective. — Jeb Bush

We awoke one morning in September, and the world lurched on its axis. — Jeb Bush

A four percent growth strategy means you fix a convoluted tax code. You get in and you change every aspect of regulations that are job killers. You get rid of Obamacare and replace it with something that doesn't suppress wages and kill jobs. — Jeb Bush

The American experience works when people embrace a set of shared values, you come, you work hard, you embrace these values and you're as American as anybody that came on the Mayflower. — Jeb Bush

Our economy grew at double the rate of the nation. We created 1.3 million jobs. We led the nation seven out of those eight years. We were only one of two states that went to AAA bond rating. I cut taxes, $19 billion. If you do that and apply conservative principles the right way, you create an environment where everybody rises up. — Jeb Bush

I'd be wary of simple solutions to complex problems. — Jeb Bush

Why would our president close the embassy to the Vatican? Hopefully, it is not retribution for Catholic organizations opposing Obamacare. — Jeb Bush

We need to focus on building a military that is second-to-none so that we can destroy Islamic terrorism. — Jeb Bush

I'm an introvert. Introverts have a huge advantage over extroverts. We can create a mission and we can act on it. — Jeb Bush

I ended Affirmative Action by executive order and replaced it with a leadership model that created more opportunities for African-American and Hispanic students. — Jeb Bush

You know, when you run you got to be all in and you take risks of winning and losing. — Jeb Bush

I don't think there's any Bush baggage at all. — Jeb Bush

If I can help create an environment where the principles that I believe in can be implemented - to me, that's fulfilling. — Jeb Bush

When businesses go through hard times, through down markets, what do they do is they challenge every basic assumption of how they operate. They innovate. They create disruption for a while that leads them to even greater heights when the economy turns around. — Jeb Bush

Barack Obama became president, and he abandoned Iraq. He left, and when he left Al Qaida was done for. ISIS was created because of the void that we left, and that void now exists as a caliphate the size of Indiana. — Jeb Bush

America still is an exceptional country. We love to lead and we love to win. And we do it, when we take on any challenge and when we take - we support our friends. — Jeb Bush