Flashback: Jeb Bush Said LBJ Would Be His Role Model As President

AP Photo/Susan Walsh
AP Photo/Susan Walsh

In February of 2013, Jeb Bush told several hundred people at a Catholic Florida university that, were he to become president, he would strive to be like Lyndon Baines Johnson.

As the Miami Herald reported, while speaking at St. Leo University, Bush praised LBJ’s strong, practical leadership “that among other things produced a 25 percent across-the-board income tax cut.”

“He went and he cajoled, he begged, he threatened, he loved, he hugged, he did what leaders do, which is they personally get engaged to make something happen,’’ said Bush.

According to the Herald, “the ex-governor many Republicans hope will run for president talked about the potential for bipartisan cooperation to make several basic steps to generate more economic growth.”

Bush named passing immigration reform and education reforms as two of the ways he would generate that growth. A third prong of his plan involves ramping up North American energy production, a feature that, Bush said, would not only create millions of jobs but also cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Regarding amnesty, Bush blamed both Democrats and Republicans for the current situation.

“To me ­— and I’m here at this great Catholic institution and this is what my church teaches me — it is completely un-American to require people living in the shadows,” he said.

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