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Henry Cisneros

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Politician

The Resume

    (June 11, 1947- )
    Born in San Antonio , Texas
    Democrat
    Birth name is Henry Gabriel Cisneros
    No relation to Sandra Cisneros
    Mayor of San Antonio, Texas from 1981 to 1989
    Appointed by President Reagan to the Bipartisan Commission on Central America, chaired by Henry Kissinger (1983)
    President of the National League of Cities (1985-1990)
    Served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997
    Served as President and COO for the Spanish-language network Univision from 1997 to 2000
    Founder and Executive Chairman for CityView (American City Vista)
    Co-chair of the Housing Commission at the Bipartisan Policy Center
    Center of a lengthy FBI six-year investigation concerning the payments made to a former mistress (1995-2001)
    Charged with an 18-Count Indictment on December 12, 1997
    Edited and Collaborated on 'Interwoven Destinies: Cities and the Nation' (1993), 'Promise and Betrayal: Universities and the Battle for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods' (2005), 'Casa y Comunidad: Latino Home and Neighborhood Design' (2006), 'Our Communities, Our Homes: Pathways to Housing and Homeownership in America’s Cities and States' (2007), 'Latinos and the Nation's Future' (2008), and 'From Despair to Hope: HOPE VI and the Transformation of America’s Public Housing' (2009)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was nicknamed 'The Great Brown Hope.'
    He turned down an offer to fill Lloyd Bentsen's vacant Senate seat when he was tapped for the Clinton Administration in 1992.
    He was a driving force behind the launching of the Castro Brothers' political careers (he was in Kindergarten with their mother).
    He claims his name has variously been mispronounced 'Cisnerosis' 'Cisnernose' and 'Sclerosis.'
    He appeared in a PBS documentary on Ronald Reagan essentially blaming President Reagan for the HIV AIDS Crisis of the 1980s.
    He liked to tell a corny joke, as Mayor, about George Washington actually having being born in Amarillo and cutting down a Mesquite.
    He factored into the Clinton Administration's deregulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which ultimately led to the Housing Market Crisis of 2008.
    His meteoric rise to political superstardom was stunted by revelations about his affair with a white staffer named Linda Medlar.
    A running joke about his infidelity, in San Antonio, has been 'What's the Spanish word for Clinton?' 'Cisneros.'
    Even after he had stopped seeing Medlar he continued making regular payments into her bank account, likely to maintain her silence.
    Predictably, when the payments stopped, Medlar sued him for breach of promise, selling illegally recorded evidence to Inside Edition for $15,000, eventually leading Attorney General Janet Reno to call for an independent investigation counsel.
    He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in 1999, facing a maximum jail time of 90 years in prison or a $10,000 fine. He was pardoned by President Clinton in January 2001.
    His wife was accused of being party to bond/grant fraud, theft of public funds, contract fraud, and open meeting violations, during her time as City Councilwoman.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His son was born with the potentially fatal congenital asplenia syndrome.
    He was a White House Fellow, serving as an assistant to Elliot Richardson under the Nixon Administration.
    At 26, he became the youngest City Councilman in San Antonio's history, up until that point.
    At age 33, he became the youngest mayor elected in San Antonio history, elected with 62 percent of the vote.
    He also became the second Mexican-American mayor of a major US city in US history after Juan Seguin in 1842 (and the first in the 20th Century).
    He rebuilt his city's economic base; attracting tourism, high tech industries/businesses, and lowering the unemployment rate.
    Political pundits have since theorized that, had his political trajectory continued, he would have become the Latino precursor to Obama.
    He was selected as one of the 10 Outstanding Young Men of America by the U.S. Jaycees (1981).
    He was voted one of the 10 Sexiest Men of the Year for 1984.
    He was voted Hispanic Man of the Year by VISTA Magazine (1991).
    He was listed by U.S. News and World Report as one of Ten Rising Stars of American Politics in 1984, along with Bill Clinton.
    He was a vocal critic of Henry Kissinger's interventionist policies regarding Nicaragua and El Salvador while serving on President Reagan's Bipartisan commission.
    He was a finalist interviewed by Walter Mondale for the 1984 Vice Presidential Nomination, although he lost out to Geraldine Ferraro (others might call that dodging a bullet...)
    He remains the only major Latino politician to have a serious shot at the Presidency who wasn't A) An establishment buffoon, B) an administration puppet, or C) easily mistaken for a white guy.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 10 Votes: 30.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 37 Votes: 45.95% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 35 Votes: 5.71% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying