George Bush says brother Jeb best man for the White House

Since leaving office in 2009, former President George W. Bush has offered few political insights. But when it comes to his brother, Bush has a firm opinion: Jeb Bush is the best man to be president.

“Yeah, he’d be the best candidate,” Bush tells Parade Magazine in an exclusive interview published today. “I told him he ought to run, and he didn’t answer me. No, he’d be great.
 
“He’s got a proven track record. He was a governor of a big state. He’s very articulate. He could deliver a convention speech in Spanish. In my judgment, he’s right on the issues, [but] whether he runs or not, I have no idea.”
 
Bush made his remarks about his brother, former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush, on the proverbial eve of the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, where his wife, Laura Bush once studied.
 
On April 25, the 43rd president will welcome President Obama, and his three living predecessors — Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Bush's father, George H. W. Bush — to the official dedication ceremony.
 
He and former First Lady Laura Bush offered their opinions – and thoughts – on a wide range of topics for Parade Magazine, including being grandparents, whether the U.S. is safer since Sept. 11, 2001 and the future of Iraq.

Asked whether he believes the world is safer since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, Bush said, “I think it is, because there’s a recognition that there are people who are willing to murder the innocent to achieve their objectives,” Bush reportedly said. “And as a result, our country went on the offense and hardened our defenses.
 
“You know, prior to 9/11, it seemed like we predicted that oceans could protect us from harm, but it didn’t work.
 
“And so, yes,” Bush added, “my administration and President Obama’s administration have gone on the offense against people who would do us harm. The ultimate way for there to be peace, however, is for freedom to take root, democracy to take root, where governments are decided by the will of the people. And that’s beginning to happen as a result of the Arab Spring.
 
“It’s going to take a long time for the process to evolve. But I am optimistic and hopeful that the beginnings of true peace are now being laid in a part of the world in which we better hope there is peace.”

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