Former Florida governor and likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has drawn criticism for choosing his slate of foreign policy advisers directly from the presidential administrations of his father and brother. Of the 21 names on the list, 19 worked under George W. Bush or George H.W. Bush — or both. The list includes two of George W. Bush’s secretaries of homeland security — Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff — and two of his former CIA directors, Porter Goss and Michael Hayden. Other key figures tapped from his brother’s administration include John Negroponte, who served as ambassador to Iraq and the first director of national intelligence; Paul Wolfowitz, a key architect of the 2003 Iraq War; and George W. Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley. All three worked for both Bush presidents. But speaking Wednesday, Jeb Bush said he is his own man.
Jeb Bush: “Look, just for the record, one more time, I love my brother. I love my dad. Actually, love my mother, as well. Hope that’s OK. And I admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions that they had to make. But I’m my own man, and my views are shaped by my own thinking and my own experiences.”
Another name on Jeb Bush’s list of advisers is former Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, a key figure in the overthrow of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide under President George W. Bush.