50-50 Chance Jeb Bush Will Run For President: Former President George W Bush

Former U.S. President George W. Bush said Sunday he really hopes his brother, Jeb, runs for president in 2016. The ex-president said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” there’s a 50-50 chance his brother will run, but noted he’s not “agonizing about the decision.”

“He knows exactly -- you know, the ramifications on family, for example. He’s seen his dad and his brother go through the presidency,” Bush said, adding it hasn’t stopped him from fueling the speculation.

Bush, whose tenure as president ended in 2009 amid the global financial crisis and lingering wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said being president doesn’t mean compromising one’s priorities.

“I know Jeb’s priority is his family. ... I also know it’s his country. And his deep faith. And he has seen that you don’t have to sell those out in order to be a politician,” he said.

Bush, apparently shrugging off whether his legacy would be an impediment to a third Bush presidency, said he’d be willing to campaign for his brother if he asks.

Bush has written a book about his father, “41: A Portrait of My Father,” in which he asserts George H.W. Bush would have won a second term had it not been for Ross Perot’s third-party candidacy.

He also wrote about his decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and said on CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” he was surprised when Saddam Hussein told interrogators after his capture he had not believed Bush would send troops to Iraq.

Regarding social media, Bush criticized online trolls because they’re not held accountable for what they say. “In other words, there was a push back [in the old days]. Now, there’s just so much stuff out there -- flotsam out there, that people say what they feel like saying without any consequence,” Bush said.