Potential Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush Delivers Foreign Policy Speech In Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Jeb Bush hasn't officially declared for president, but you wouldn't know it from his speech today at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs.
He attacked President Obama's foreign policy and he issued a declaration of independence, of sorts, from his own family.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports from the start, the former Florida governor made it plain he won't copy his brother as president, or his father.
"My views will often be held up in comparison to theirs," the former Florida governor said. "I'm my own man."
Bush roundly criticized President Obama's foreign policy, calling it indecisive and inconsistent.
"We have lost the trust and confidence of our friends," Bush said. "We no longer inspire fear of our enemies."
As president, Bush said he'd build up the military and re-engage allies, saying ISIS requires a stronger coalition response.
"First, the strategy needs to be restrain them, tighten the noose and then taking them out," he said.
And, he acknowledged the persistence of economic inequality.
"If you're born poor in America today you're more likely than ever to stay poor than anytime in modern economic history. Of this time of enormous affluence, that should concern everyone," he said.
But Bush cast himself as a conservative optimist, believing big problems can be solved.
"This is the greatest country in the world. We shouldn't be as pessimistic as were are because we're on the verge of the best time to be alive," Bush said.
Jeb Bush criticized President Obama's policies on Iran, Cuba, and Russia, and he said, the key to making the U.S. stronger abroad is a faster-growing economy at home.