|
Matt Santos | |
|---|---|
| 45th President of the United States | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office | January 20, 2017 |
| Vice President | Leo McGarry |
| Preceded by | Josiah Bartlett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Matthew Vincente Santos July 9, 1966 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Helen Polo-Santos |
| Alma mater | U.S. Naval Academy |
| Profession | Management Consultant, Military Officer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Military service | |
| Branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1988–1998 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 |
Matt Santos is the 45th and current president of the United States of America.
Matthew Vincente Santos was born on July 9, 1966 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Houston, Texas. One of seven children born to Luis and Marita Santos, Santos grew up in the Second Ward - the oldest Mexican-American neighborhood in Houston and home to six generations of the Santos family.
After he graduated from high school in 1984, he went on to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Santos graduated from the Academy in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. While at the Naval Academy, he decided to become a naval aviator.
After The Basic School, Santos attended aviation preflight indoctrination at Naval Air Station Pensacola. Afterwards, he went through primary and intermediate flight training. Upon completing flight school, Santos went on to F/A-18 Hornet training. He was then assigned as an F/A-18 fighter pilot to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in California. Santos flew combat air patrols during Operation Desert Shield and then combat sorties during Operation Desert Storm.
With numerous commendations, he retired from the Marine Corps in 1998. Santos then returned to Houston and obtained a position as an associate consultant at the Houston office of the management consulting firm Bain & Company. At the firm, he met and eventually began dating a co-worker, Helen Polo. Her and Santos were married in June of 2000. With Helen's encouragement, he immersed himself in community service and left Bain & Company after he was elected to the Houston City Council in 2001.
As a city councilman, Santos focused on revitalization projects for his district. He founded a neighborhood watch program, and oversaw the rebuilding of several recreational facilities. In 2005, Santos was elected mayor of Houston - the first Hispanic mayor the city had seen. Under his guidance, the city opened four new health clinics and created a new housing assistance program to make rent and bills more affordable for the city's residents.
Santos was re-elected in 2007. However, he chose not to seek a third term in the 2009 mayoral election. Instead, Santos decided to run for Congress in 2010. He won the Democratic Party nomination by a close margin and later went on to win the general election by a large margin.
As the congressman for Texas's 18th congressional district, Santos served on the House Committee on Ways and Means. He used his position on that powerful committee to push through bills granting temporary assistance for needy families and more education grants to low-income college students. Santos was re-elected in 2012 and 2014. On March 24, 2015, he announced that he was forming a presidential exploratory committee. Santos officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the presidency on April 6, 2015.
On May 3, 2016 he became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party after his victory in Pennsylvania presidential primary and the withdrawal of his last competitors, former Vice President John Hoynes and Senator Ricky Rafferty, from the race. On May 26, Santos officially secured a majority of the available delegates to be nominated at the Democratic National Convention. On July 22, he announced the selection of former Secretary of Labor and White House Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry, as his vice-presidential running mate. On July 28, 2016, in San Diego, California, Santos formally accepted the Democratic Party's nomination at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, he was elected 45th president of the United States, beating Republican California Senator Arnold Vinick. Santos received 272 votes in the Electoral College with Vinick receiving 266 electoral votes. However, Santos lost the popular vote by over 780,000 votes. Matt Santos was inaugurated and sworn into the presidency by Chief Justice of the United States Evelyn Baker Lang on January 20, 2017.