Jeb Bush: Yes, I Smoked Pot at Andover
Boston Globe profiles his 'troubled' four years at prep school
Posted Jan 30, 2015 6:02 PM CST
In this Jan. 23 photo, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
(Newser) – It's been a big day for Jeb Bush. First, Mitt Romney dropped out of the 2016 race, clearing the way for establishment GOP donors to focus for now on Bush and Chris Christie, reports the Wall Street Journal. And then the Boston Globe posted a profile of Bush's "troubled" four years at Andover's Phillips Academy, beginning in 1967, that includes quotes like this:
"The first time I really got stoned was in Jeb's room," recalls former classmate Peter Tibbetts. "He had a portable stereo with removable speakers. He put on Steppenwolf for me." (He adds that he once bought hash from Bush, but emphasized, "It wasn't as if he was a dealer.")
In an interview for the article, Bush tells the Globe: "I drank alcohol and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover. It was pretty common." But he says he can't remember bullying other students, as alleged in the story. "I don't believe that is true." Also in the profile: Bush had grades so bad he risked expulsion, and the future politician was especially apolitical. "He was just in a bit of a different world," says another former classmate, Phil Sylvester. When other students "were constantly arguing about politics and particularly Vietnam, he just wasn't interested, he didn't participate, he didn't care." Click for the full profile, which recounts how Bush met his future wife during a class trip to Mexico in 1970. It seemed to turn his life around. (Read more Jeb Bush stories.)