WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush says he’s disappointed that his younger brother Jeb Bush has ruled out running for a Florida Senate seat in 2010.
The former Florida governor removed himself from consideration this week, saying now is not the right time for him to return to elected office.

“I am disappointed he didn’t run. I haven’t talked to him since he made the decision,” Bush said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News on Thursday.

“I actually wanted him to run for senator, but you know … We all have different family issues you’ve got to deal with,” Bush said. The Morning News will be Bush’s hometown paper when be begins his post-presidential life at his new home in Dallas later this month.

Bush said he will see his brother, and maybe get more details on his decision, when the family get together on Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Bush brothers will attend the commissioning of an aircraft carrier named for their father and former president, George H.W. Bush.

Asked about Jeb Bush’s decision and the future of the Bush “dynasty,” the president responded with a question of his own.

“You meant to ask: What is the future of the Bush family?” Bush said, laughing off the “dynasty” premise. “We will be healthy, happy people.”

Bush hands over the reins of presidential power to Barack Obama on Jan. 20, and says he plans to steer clear of party politics for a while.

  - Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (President George W. Bush with brother Jeb Bush at the White House, April 19, 2006)