Jeb Bush clears decks for presidential run

In a further sign that he was planning to run, Mr Bush this week donated $10,000 [6,400] to help pay off the mortgages of two New York police officers who were shot before Christmas in an unprovoked revenge attack for the deaths of several black people at the hands of white officers.

The move to support the officers which attracted headlines was seen as a deliberate attempt to draw a contrast with Bill de Blasio, New Yorks ultraliberal Democrat mayor, who made a series of speeches last year accusing police of institutional racism, to the fury of police unions.

Mr Bush had already given up posts with Rayonier Inc, a timber firm, an advisory role with Barclays Bank and active interests in Britton Hill Partnership, part of a complex web of private equity and investment businesses.

He has also stepped down from a $300,000-a-year (192,000) position on the board of Tenet Healthcare, a company that has profited handsomely from the implementation of the ObamaCare health reforms, which are reviled by conservatives.

Critics of Mr Bush, including some on the Right-wing of the Republican party, have accused him of double standards by profiting personally from a policy that he has publicly opposed.

However problematic any of his business interests could potentially be, it is Mr Bushs relatively liberal stance on key issues such as immigration reform, gay marriage and common core national education standards that may make it harder to win the Republican nomination.

Conservative grassroots, who vote in disproportionate numbers in the Republican primary elections, will fight hard to ensure that Mr Bush, who is perceived as an establishment candidate, does not win their partys nomination.

Mr Bush, who speaks Spanish and has a Mexican wife, says he will not tack to the Right in order to win, as Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate in 2012, did with mixed results.

I dont think conservatives in this environment can win by being less liberal, he said at an event in Tennessee last month.

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Jeb Bush clears decks for presidential run