It was not only a matter of style but a deep conviction on Cisneros's part that confrontation tactics could be counterproductive to the city's economic health. He also had a strong belief in the socially redeeming power of economic growth. His affair with Linda Medlar led to the near destruction of his marriage. He reunited with his wife primarily because his infant son had been born the previous year with a defective heart.
Looking for a job? Back to Profile. Photos Works. Main Photo. Henry Cisneros. School period Add photo. Career Add photo.
Achievements Add photo. Membership Add photo. Awards Add photo. Other Photos Add photo. Other photo of Henry Cisneros. Connections Add photo. Latinos and the Nation's Future Whether the predominant ethnic group in baseball, the ''s Henry Gabriel Cisneros Edit Profile Businessman politician Henry Gabriel Cisneros is an American politician, college professor, cabinet member, and network executive who was elected mayor of San Antonio in , the first Hispanic mayor in Texas, and became by the mids the nation's most prominent and publicly visible Hispanic leader.
More photos. It paid off. All five children became college graduates, including two Ph. Future mayor Henry Cisneros, who received a B. In doctoral candidate Cisneros returned to San Antonio, where he was employed as an assistant professor at the University of Texas branch campus.
Always interested in public policy and politics, Cisneros won a seat on the city council in and was reelected in and Although sensitive to the special needs of the Hispanic community, Cisneros studiously avoided an association with one of the city's most controversial advocacy groups, Communities Organized for Public Service COPS , which specialized in Saul Alinsky style s confrontation politics with the city fathers, planners, and future employers.
It was not only a matter of style but a deep conviction on Cisneros's part that confrontation tactics could be counterproductive to the city's economic health. He also had a strong belief in the socially redeeming power of economic growth. Elected mayor in at the age of 33 by a landslide 63 percent of the vote, which included solid Hispanic support and a sizable Anglo vote, Cisneros went on to enlarge his election majority in to an astonishing 94 percent of the vote and to 73 percent in Clearly his style and programs had won over the hearts and minds of residents of all colors and creeds.
Downtown development, job expansion, and new factories and businesses were the hallmarks of the Cisneros administrations. The mayor boasted that he spent 85 percent of his time recruiting and luring high technology industry to his city. An unabashed booster, he was a firm believer in the benefits of economic expansion and business growth. No growth, he warned, translates into fewer opportunities and stunted mobility for the citizens.
He described himself as a "technocrat" and seemed to be in tune with the temper of the times in helping to re-start the economic engines and rekindle economic growth. When he announced his candidacy for mayor in , it was as an independent. Religion: Roman Catholic. Politics: Independent Democrat. With substantial support from white voters as well as Hispanics, Cisneros was elected mayor in by a nearly two-to-one margin.
Cisneros was an unqualified success as mayor of San Antonio; Texas Monthly in named him its Texas Mayor of the Century, pointing to such achievements as a downtown riverfront redevelopment that drew tourists from far and wide and contending that he had "changed San Antonio's image from a poor and somewhat sleepy town to a culturally and economically vibrant model for the future of urban America.
Cisneros was reelected three times by overwhelming margins, once in with 93 percent of the vote. In , even though his name had been floated several times as a possible contender for national office, Cisneros stunned the political world by announcing his retirement.
His reasons were twofold. The official reason given for his withdrawal from politics was a desire to devote more time to the care of his son John Paul, who had been born the previous year with four life-threatening birth defects.
Facing huge medical bills, Cisneros also hoped to make more money in private industry. Another motivation, however, was the imminent disclosure of an ongoing extramarital affair between Cisneros and his chief campaign fundraiser, Linda Medlar.
Cisneros founded a financial-management firm in , and his cooperation with his wife in caring for John Paul who recovered to flourish in school after several major surgeries brought the two back together.
Despite the bad publicity he had faced, Cisneros still retained enough popularity to stimulate talk of a comeback among political observers. With the election of Bill Clinton in , Cisneros was mentioned as a possible replacement for various Texas officials who had ascended to jobs in the new Democratic administration.
Taking office in , Cisneros immediately stirred up new activity in that hidebound government department that had long been associated primarily with grim urban low-income housing projects. More generally, Cisneros proved an able advocate for HUD's very existence; the agency was under perennial attack from conservative budget-cutters.
The following year, however, the Medlar affair resur-faced.
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