The American Spectator

He may not be running for president (this time around) but former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush remains a key player on the national stage who is widely recognized for advancing innovative policy measures. Bush has also been named as one of four 2011 Bradley Prize award winners.

He will join with other leading figures in the conservative movement to accept the award May 11 at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

“Governor Bush has been at the forefront of education reform,” said Michael W. Grebe, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bradley Foundation.  “During his administration and since, Florida students have made incredible gains.  He has also been a vocal advocate for school choice.”

 Prior to entering politics, Jeb Bush co-founded a small real estate development company which grew into the largest full-service commercial real estate firm in South Florida.  After he left office, Governor Bush founded the successful consulting business, Jeb Bush and Associates.  He currently serves as Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

“Through the Bradley Prizes, we recognize individuals like Jeb Bush, Richard Epstein, Harvey Mansfield and Allan Meltzer who have made outstanding contributions, in hopes that others will strive for excellence in their respective fields,” Mr. Grebe added.

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation was founded in 1985 and is devoted to strengthening American democratic capitalism and the institutions, principles and values that sustain and nurture it.  Its programs support limited, competent government; a dynamic marketplace for economic, cultural activity; and a vigorous defense, at home and abroad, of American ideas and institutions.

The antagonism that exists between Bradley award winners and the proponents of statism from within and without the U.S. has been a major topic of discussion.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, for instance, thanked Sen. Lincoln Chafee, Sen. Chris Dodd, North Korea, Syria and Iran for all they did single him out as a major player in the conservative movement.

“I should note Senators Lincoln Chafee and Senator Dodd who did so much to help make me eligible for this award, and the prominent citizens of Pyongyang, Damascus and Tehran, who also pitched in simply by being themselves.”

Bolton was a 2007 award winner.