Fox News Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume on Sunday suggested that an effort to rehabilitate President George W. Bush's image had worked and that the country "may now indeed be ready" for his brother, Jeb, to be the next president of the United States.

Before the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum last week, former First Lady Barbara Bush said that she opposed the idea of Jeb Bush making a bid for the White House in 2016.

"There are other people out there that are very qualified and we’ve had enough Bushes," Barbara Bush explained to NBC's Matt Lauer. "He’s by the far the best qualified man, but no."

Hume told Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday that "this is absolutely what I would have expected from Barbara Bush."

"She suffered terribly when the slings and arrows were being aimed, first at her husband, then at her son and then -- to whatever extent it was -- at her other son," Hume insisted. "And I think she's fed up, and long had enough of her men being on the firing line."

"But I think in terms of the public's estimation, that cycles are accelerated these days and the country may now indeed be ready for another Bush," he added. "And if you think about Jeb Bush, he doesn't particularly look like either his father or his brother, he's a different breed of cat. Outwardly at least, he has some of the same qualities: traditional views, gentlemanliness and so on."

"I think if he decides he wants to run, he will be a formidable candidate."