Jeb Bush releases e-mails in 'spirit of transparency'

As promised, Jeb Bush on Tuesday released e-mails from his two terms as Florida governor that he hopes will provide insight into how he makes decisions and inform voters as he prepares to seek the presidency.

The website, jebemails.com, includes the first chapter of a book Bush is writing to explain what's behind eight years of electronic communications. The e-mails, which were already obtained by several news organizations and a Democratic super PAC through open records requests, are organized chronologically starting with Bush's first year in office in 1999.

"I am posting the e-mails of my governorship here. Some are funny; some are serious; some I wrote in frustration. But they're all here so you can read them and make up your own mind," Bush says under the header "in the spirit of transparency."

Nicknamed the "eGovernor" for his penchant for e-mails and his attachment to his BlackBerry, Bush says he would be "energized" by responding to notes from people because it allowed him "to stay connected and get first-hand knowledge." His staff estimated he spent 30 hours a week crafting his responses.

But, at times, Bush said reading and responding to e-mails was a "humbling" experience.

"On some days when I thought I had been just brilliant, I would open up my e-mail and see a number of comments about just how brilliant I had not been," Bush wrote. "I got a lot of advice — some of it very helpful, and some that I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out what I had said or done to cause such angst. It was always eye opening, and certainly kept me on my toes."