Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announces presidential campaign

MIAMI, June 15 (UPI) -- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is set to formally announce his ambitions on Monday to become the next president of the United States as a Republican candidate.

Bush delivered his speech at the Kendall Campus of Miami Dade College in Miami, Fla.. He served as the 43rd governor of Florida between 1999 and 2007.

Bush said the "country's on a very bad course," outlining ways in which he thinks the current president has failed. He lamented a slow economic recovery, increases in debt, tax increases on the middle class and what he called the "swift mindless drawdown of the military generations in the making."

"The question is, 'what are we going to do about it?'" Bush said. "The question for me is, 'what am I going to do about it?'

"And I've decided I'm a candidate for president of the United State of America," Bush told the crowd.

"We're 17 months from the time for choosing," he said. "The stakes for America's future are about as great as they come. Our prosperity and our security are in the balance.

"So is opportunity in this nation, where every life matters and everyone has the right to rise."

If elected president, Bush said his goal would be to get the economy growing at 4 percent per year and the creation of 19 million new jobs.

"Economic growth that makes a difference for hardworking men and women, who don't need a remaining that the economy's more than the stock market," he said. "Growth that lifts up the middle class, all the families who haven't had a raise in 15 years. Growth that makes a difference for everyone. It's possible. It can be done."

Bush is the younger brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H. W. Bush.

"So many people could do so much better if we fixed a few things. My core beliefs start with the premise that the most vulnerable in our society should be in the front of the line, not the back. And as governor, I had a chance to act on that core belief," Bush said in a video announcing his intention to run.

For the Republican nomination, Bush faces a wide field of competitors.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham; Former New York Gov. George Pataki; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum; neurosurgeon Ben Carson; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; former HP CEO Carly Fiorina; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio have announced campaigns.

For the Democratic nomination, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley are in the running.