Francis Rooney

L. Francis Rooney III (born December 4, 1953) is the former American Ambassador to the Holy See. He previously served as the CEO of Rooney Holdings (formerly known as Rooney Brothers Company), an investment and holding company based in Naples, Florida and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He is a graduate of the Georgetown Preparatory School, Georgetown University (A.B. 1975) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1978). Rooney is the oldest of Laurence Francis and Lucy Turner Rooney's six children. His younger siblings are Patrick T. Rooney, Timothy P. Rooney, Lucy Rooney Kapples, James H. Rooney, and Rebecca Rooney King.

Rooney is the majority owner of Manhattan Construction Company; he is the fourth generation of his family to own that company. Manhattan Construction built the new Cowboys Stadium in Texas, the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center at the United States Capitol, the Oklahoma State Capitol, the George Bush Presidential Library, the Cato Institute headquarters, New Orleans Sports Arena, and Reliant Stadium. The company is presently working on the George W. Bush Presidential Library earning it the distinction to be the only construction company to work on two presidential libraries. They have also done extensive projects for Morehouse College, George Washington University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Georgia. The subsidiary won an estimated $100 million in Pentagon contracts in 2003, nearly four times the amount the company won in 2002, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

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Activities in Central America

Rooney is a member of the Advisory Board of the Panama Canal Authority. He was among the U.S. delegation led by Colin Powell to the inauguration of Panamanian president Martín Torrijos. n

Political contributions

Rooney is an active contributor to the Republican Party and its candidates, individually and through Rooney Holdings. Rooney was named a Bush Ranger (for his work raising money for Bush's re-election campaign) and a Super Ranger for doing the same for the Republican National Committee.

In September 2004, Rooney Holdings contributed $100,000 to Progress for America.

In 2005, Rooney Holdings was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.[1] [2] [3]

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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
James Nicholson
U. S. Ambassador to the Holy See
2005–2008
Succeeded by
Mary Ann Glendon