JEB READY TO BE RECONSTITUTED

JEB BUSH says he's going to have to brush up on U.S. history.

The former Florida governor has been named the next chairman of Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, a post formerly held by his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and now held by former President Bill Clinton.

Bush, 59, says that he's been reading up on U.S. history to prepare for the job. "I want to learn about the past so I can think about the future," he said.

He said he feels a cultural shift is brewing in the U.S., and he wants to be prepared for it.

"I think there's going to be a time of cultural change in our country," he said, "and typically these have been done in ways that people don't anticipate."

Bush, who served as Florida governor from 1999 to 2007, is a Republican who has been mentioned as a future presidential candidate.

He said he hopes to fill "a critical voice in our country," as he carries out the center's mission of improving civic education and engagement.

He joked about how close his father, a Republican, and Bill Clinton, a Democrat, have become - like "brothers from another mother."

The elder Bush and Clinton received the Constitution Center's Liberty Medal in 2006.

His studies of American history have shown him that today's problems pale in comparison to those faced by the nation's founders - "disparate people who came together and forged a constitution."

"If they were to have done that, we can solve the fiscal-cliff problem and we can solve other problems," Bush said.