Henry Cisneros

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Henry Gabriel Cisneros (born June 11, 1947) is a prominent American politician, businessman, and community leader. He was the first person of Hispanic background elected as mayor of a large American city, and later served as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997. He left public office, after pleading guilty to making false statements to federal officials. He is currently Executive Chairman to CityView an investment company that finances homebuilders with over 6,000 homes in its investment portfolio.

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[edit] Background

The son of Elvira and George Cisneros, Henry Cisneros was born in San Antonio, Texas. He was one of five siblings. He received his primary education at Central Catholic Marianist High School in San Antonio, and later received a B.A. and an M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University. He earned an additional Masters degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Ph.D in Public Administration from George Washington University. He married Mary Alice Perez in 1969. They have two daughters, Teresa and Mercedes, and a son, John Paul. He is the father-in-law to current Oakland Raiders offensive lineman Brad Badger.

[edit] Public life

In 1975, Cisneros was elected to the San Antonio City Council, at the time becoming the youngest councilman in the city's history (until current San Antonio City Councilor Chip Haas's election in 2003 at age 26). He served for six years on the City Council and was elected Mayor of San Antonio in 1981. San Antonio at the time was the ninth-largest city in the nation. 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, which meant he seved four terms as mayor overall. His popularity did not rest with San Antonio's Hispanic community alone, but with all ethnic groups in the area.

As mayor of San Antonio, Cisneros began to attract national attention for his success in developing new growth in the city's business sector, and in 'promoting cooperation' among the city's various ethnic groups. In 1984, Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale tapped Cisneros as a finalist for the vice presidential nomination, which eventually went to U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro.[1]

Also while mayor, Cisneros had a well-publicized affair with constituent Linda Medlar. The affair did not end until 1991, when Cisneros's wife filed for divorce; although the couple reconciled and the divorce action was dropped, the affair would nonetheless come back to haunt Cisneros in the future.

In 1989, Cisneros left public office and became chairman of the Cisneros Asset Management Company, a national asset-management firm for tax-exempt organizations. He also served as deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and was a board member of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1990,citizens urged Cisneros to run for governor of Texas 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 was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was sworn into office by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on January 22, 1993. During his term, he reformed the public housing system, and successfully resisted efforts to substantially reduce or wholly eliminate the Department. Citing the needs of his family, he resigned as Secretary in January, 1997 while under a cloud of personal and political scandal.

[edit] Independent Counsel's investigation

In March 1995, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno secured the appointment of an Independent Counsel, David Barrett to investigate allegations that Cisneros had lied to FBI investigators during background checks prior to being named Secretary of HUD. He had been asked about payments that he had made to former mistress Linda Medlar, also known as Linda Jones. The affair had been 'public knowledge' for a number of years - during the 1992 presidential campaign, U.S. Treasurer Catalina Vasquez Villalpando publicly referred to Cisneros and candidate Clinton as "two skirt-chasers" - but Cisneros lied about the amount of money he had paid to Medlar. The investigation continued for three and a half years. In December, 1997, Cisneros was indicted on 18 counts of conspiracy, giving false statements and obstruction of Justice. Medlar used some of the Cisneros hush money to purchase a house and entered into a bank fraud scheme with her sister and brother-in-law to conceal the source of the money. In January, 1998, Medlar pleaded guilty to 28 charges of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and obstruction of justice. In September, 1999, Cisneros negotiated a plea agreement, under which he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of lying to the FBI, and was fined $10,000. He did not receive jail-time or probation. He was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in January 2001 ( See: List of people pardoned by Bill Clinton). The independent counsel investigation continued after the pardon focusing on alleged obstruction of justice. In May 2005, Senator Dorgan (D-ND) proposed ending funding for the investigation; negotiators refused to include the provision in a bill funding military operations in Afghanistan. The funding at that point for the investigation totaled $21 million.

According to a New York Daily News report on October 3, 2005, "lawyers are fighting to suppress a potentially embarrassing final report from the probe that found Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros lied to the FBI about paying $250,000 in hush money to his ex-mistress. ... Lawyers at the Washington firm Williams and Connolly who work for Cisneros and both Clintons have argued to judges overseeing the case that allegations of illegal activity, for which no charges were filed, should be snipped before the report is made public." [2].

On January 19, 2006, the New York Times reported that the independent counsel is finally closing his investigation with a report accusing the Clinton administration of thwarting the inquiry into Cisneros. [3]

The office of the independent counsel issued a press release along with the final report stating:

An accurate title for the Report could be, “WHAT WE WERE PREVENTED FROM INVESTIGATING.” After a thorough reading of the Report it would not be unreasonable to conclude as I have that there was a coverup at high levels of our government and, it appears to have been substantial and coordinated. The question is why? And that question regrettably will go unanswered. Unlike some other coverups, this one succeeded. [4]

The Independent Counsel's report has been a source of partisan bickering because it was heavily redacted with an estimated 120 pages removed by court order. [5]


[edit] After leaving public office

Upon resigning from his post as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Cisneros became president of Univision, a Spanish-language television station. Cisneros also serves as a board member for Latino Public Broadcasting, the American Democracy Institute and Live Nation.

In August 2000, he formed American City Vista, a joint venture with KB Home for the purpose of building homes in central areas of major metropolitan areas. American City Vista was later transformed into CityView, with Henry Cisneros as Chairman and Joel Shine as President. With offices in Santa Monica, California, and San Antonio, Texas, CityView provides financing to housing developers, as well as acting as a builder.

In addition, Henry Cisneros has received numerous awards and honors. In 1982, he was selected as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Men of America" by the U.S. Jaycees. Four years later, City and State Magazine named him Outstanding Mayor, and in 1991, VISTA Magazine awarded him with its Hispanic Man of the Year honor.

Voted #18 out of the TOP 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY (Builder Magazine, December 2006)

Inducted into the National Hall of Fame for his housing efforts.

[edit] Trivia

  • Cisneros is mentioned by name in the song "Red Toupee" by Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart.

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Jack Kemp		 U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
1993–1997		 Succeeded by
Andrew Cuomo
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development Seal of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
Weaver • Wood • Romney • Lynn • Hills • Harris • Landrieu • Pierce • Kemp • Cisneros • Cuomo • Martinez • Jackson
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../h/e/n/Henry_Cisneros_e386.html"