(CNN) -- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has decided to "actively explore" a presidential bid after conversations with his family over Thanksgiving, he said in a Facebook post Tuesday.
While Bush had been making steps toward a presidential bid with recent speeches in early primary states and plans to release documents from his time period as governor, the timing of Tuesday's announcement was widely unexpected and will quicken the pace for some would-be Republican primary challengers.
In the post, Bush writes that over the holiday he "talked about the future of the nation" with his family.