The Republican party is scrambling to assemble a unified foreign policy heading into the 2016 election cycle. The dash has forced Jeb Bush, who clearly hopes to be the GOP’s 2016 nominee, to show his hand and it looks a lot like more of Bush Sr. and George W.
Concerns over the growing threat of ISIS/ISIL has many war hawk Republicans like Lindsey Graham professing strong support for direct engagement by American forces with the radical organization.
Jeb has said that he is interested in a less direct approach.
“We have to be engaged. And that doesn’t necessarily mean boots on the ground in every occurrence,” Bush said at an appearance in Detroit.
His foreign policy decisions. while seeming to be more nuanced than those of his GOP counterparts, is being created by many of the same foreign policy advisers that were in both his father’s and his brother’s administrations.
Here’s a list of some of the members of the elder Bushs’ administrations that will be likely making a return in Jeb’s potential nod:
- James Baker, George H.W. Bush’s secretary of state;
- Tom Ridge, George W. Bush’s first homeland security secretary;
- Michael Chertoff, George W. Bush’s second homeland security secretary;
- Stephen Hadley, George W. Bush’s national security adviser;
- Porter Gross, George W. Bush CIA Director.
Jeb has been quoted as trying to say that despite the influence of similar figures, he will be different than his brother and father.
“I recognize that as a result, my views will often be held up in comparison to theirs– sometimes in contrast to theirs,” Jeb said. “I love my father and my brother. I admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions they had to make. But I am my own man – and my views are shaped by my own thinking and own experiences.”
