Henry Cisneros was one of my political heroes. Many of my closest friends and I believed Henry had the potential to become the first Hispanic president of our country. I had the privilege of meeting Henry Cisneros personally and I was very impressed. He was one of our brightest political stars born of Mexican American parents. In 1975, Cisneros, at age 27 was elected the youngest City Councilman in his hometown of San Antonio Texas. On April 4, 1981, Cisneros became the first Hispanic mayor of a major US city and the first Mexican American to be elected mayor of San Antonio. He was re-elected to three more terms. In 1984 he was interviewed and considered by Democratic presidential nominee, Walter Mondale, as a possible vice presidential running mate. …show more content…
There is no doubt in my mind that first and foremost was the financial needs of his family. His son, John Paul Anthony, was born in 1987, with Asplenia syndrome. This is a severe birth defect in which there is no spleen and a heart with two right atria. The doctors had given his son no more than six years to live. Henry needed to quit politics to make more money in order to pay for his son’s huge medical bills. It turned out that there was another factor when it was disclosed that Henry had a two-year affair with a former campaign aide by the name of, Linda Midlar. This affair was now coming back to haunt him. On December 17, 1992 President, Bill Clinton named Henry Cisneros, Secretary. Of The Housing and Urban Development, (HUD). In 1993 Henry Cisneros took charge of HUD. That is when I became familiar with Henry. He was truly a visionary and the greatest Secretary, HUD ever had, in my