Jeb vs. W.: The Bush siblings, compared

 By 
Colin Daileda
 on 
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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made clear on Monday that he's grabbing the family mantle and running for president -- which was hardly a surprise announcement since, unofficially, he's been campaigning for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination for months.

His campaign logo -- pointedly -- makes no mention of his surname but given his family roots, Jeb will likely have to continue to define himself as a different kind of Bush.

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

His older brother George W. Bush -- not that anyone could forget -- served as the 43rd president. (His father George H.W. was the 41st.)

For those who'd like to compare and contrast the Bush brothers, here's a handy guide.

W. likes to party. Jeb not so much

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

W. may not feel all that comfortable behind a podium but let him loose at a party...

The older Bush brother can work a room and clearly enjoys socializing. His drinking, though, became a problem. He pled guilty to a DUI in 1976 after trying to out-drink tennis star John Newcombe, and though he swears he wasn't "clinically an alcoholic," his friends say that W. found it hard to stop once he got started. He eventually swore off alcohol in 1986 but still enjoys working the crowd, cracking jokes with reporters and friends and seeming happy to back-slap.

Jeb, on the other hand, is reportedly more uncomfortable in social situations, preferring mostly to communicate via email.

Jeb often talks like a wonk. W. doesn't really

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

W. inspired a slew of comedic impressions based on his seeming inability to complete a speech without mispronouncing words or making them up wholesale. He will forever be remembered for "misunderestimated" and, of course, the "Internets."

Jeb, on the other hand, speaks more fluently and with a greater vocabulary than what appears is available to his older brother.

Jeb likes to read. W. didn't convince as a book lover

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

When Jeb had his portrait painted as Florida governor portrait, he made sure it included a bookcase in the background. The younger Bush reads a lot -- and he would like you all to know that.

W., meanwhile, well...we hardly need to spell it out. (See above.)

Jeb became a father at 23. W. was a little slower

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Jeb blazed through college in 2.5 years, while his older brother got average grades at Yale where he was busy socializing.

When it comes to establishing a family of their own, Jeb and his wife Columba had their first child when Jeb was just 23. W. and his wife Laura Bush didn't have children until he was 35.

So who gets the most love from the parents?

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

While W. is seven years older than Jeb, their parents clearly believed that Jeb was the best bet to carry the family's political torch, especially after the Bush patriarch lost his presidential reelection bid in 1992.

In 1993, W. ran for Texas governor at the same time as Jeb was campaigning in Florida. When W. won a surprise victory and Jeb unexpectedly lost, their father seemed distraught, telling reporters in 1994 that he was happy for George but that "our hearts are in Florida."

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