Henry G. Cisneros
...s degree in urban planning from Texas A & M, Cisneros moved to Washington, D.C. to work at various government jobs. The following year, he became the youngest person ever to be named a White House fellow (a graduate student who serves as an assistant to a member of the president's cabinet or White House staff). He served under Eliot L. Richardson, then secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. After his fellowship ended, Cisneros attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he earned a master's degree in public administration. In 1975 he received a doctoral degree in that field from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He then returned to his hometown. That same year Cisneros won a seat on San Antonio's city council, becoming the youngest councilperson in the city's history. He subsequently won two more elections, serving on the council for a total of six years. Cisneros gained a reputation as a sharp politician. He worked to strengthen the city in many ways and gained federal funds to improve living conditions in San Antonio's Hispanic sections. In 1981 Cisneros ran for mayor of the city and won. San Antonio is the ninth-largest city in the United States, and Cisneros became the first Mexican American to head a major American city. He was well liked by his constituency and was reelected to three additional two-year terms. His popularity did not rest with San Antonio's Hispanic community alone, but with all ethnic groups in the area. Instead of asking for federal funds to improve his city, he worked to attract high-tech companies to San Antonio to provide more jobs and a better economy for everyone. The improvements Cisneros brought to San Antonio gained national attention. In 1984 Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale seriously considered Cisneros as his running mate. The following year, Cisneros was elected to a one-year term as president of the National League of Cities. Citizens urged Cisneros to run for governor of Texas in 1990, but a family crisis forced him to change his goals. His son, John Paul, had been born in 1987 with a heart defect. At the time, doctors did not know if surgery could correct his problem. (He finally underwent successful surgery in late 1993). His son's health became his biggest priority, and Cisneros wished to stay close to home to spend as much time as possible with his family. He also turned down an appointment as a U.S. senator from Texas in 1992. Cisneros could not, however, remain out of public service for long. Racial tensions exploded and riots erupted in Los Angeles in April of 1992 following the emotionally charged trial of white police officers accused of beating African American motorist Rodney King. In response, Cisneros immediately flew to the city and tried to calm its angry residents. That same year he worked hard on Bill Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign. After Clinton was elected president, he asked Cisneros to join his administration as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Since directing HUD would still allow Cisneros time to spend with his family, he accepted. From the beginning, however, Cisneros's job at HUD was not easy. For nearly ten years prior to his appointment, HUD had been severely mismanaged. In addition, the 1980s saw a dramatic rise in the number of homeless people in the United States. Cisneros made the elimination of homelessness HUD's top priority. In addition to walking the streets of Washington, D.C.'s poorest neighborhoods at night — talking to homeless men, women, and children about their plight — he opened his agency's building on cold nights as a temporary shelter for people with no place else to go. Within eighteen months of his appointment, Cisneros's tactics actually began to make a noticeable difference. Old and dangerous housing projects were torn down in cities in Washington and across the nation, and tenants were moved to better housing in better neighborhoods. Housing experts across the nation almost universally praised Cisneros for transforming HUD from a scandal-ridden agency into one that has actively worked against racial segregation and poverty in inner cities. Cisneros remained optimistic about the future. We can go four whole years wallowing in examples of absolute despair,he told Lo...