Jeb Bush steps down from board positions to prepare for Presidential campaign

WASHINGTON -- Potential U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has resigned from all of his corporate and non-profit board member positions. The former Florida governor is exploring a run for the White House.

The Washington Post, citing a statement emailed to the paper by one of Bush's aides late on New Year's Eve, said he even stepped down from the board of his education foundation.

Bush is reportedly still evaluating next steps for businesses for which he serves as an owner or principal partner, including consulting firm Jeb Bush & Associates, the Post reported.

Bush announced that he would be potentially running for President via his Twitter and Facebook accounts in December.

"I am excited to announce I will actively explore the possibility of running for president of the United States," he wrote. "In January, I also plan to establish a Leadership PAC that will help me facilitate conversations with citizens across America to discuss the most critical challenges facing our exceptional nation."

The statement could encourage Republican-leaning donors to save their funds for Bush, a consideration that other GOP candidates like Chris Christie and Scott Walker might be readying to jump in.

Bush took the unusual step of releasing 250,000 emails from his two terms as governor of Florida to set a tone of openness for his campaign.

"I think part of serving or running, both of them, is transparency – to be totally transparent," Bush told Businessweek. "So I'll let people make up their mind. There's some funny ones, some sad ones, there's some serious ones."