Badillo, Herman

Badillo, Herman bädēˈyō [key], 1929–2014, U.S. politician, b. Caguas, Puerto Rico, grad. City College (now part of the City Univ. of New York), 1951, Brooklyn Law School, 1954. As a Democrat, he was the first Hispanic Bronx borough president (1966–70) and the first Puerto Rico–born member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1971–77). Badillo helped establish the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and worked for urban renewal, voting rights, and increased educational and career opportunities for minorities. Several times an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic New York City mayoral nomination, he was a deputy mayor (1977–79) under Edward Koch. Subsequently a twice unsuccessful candidate for the Republican mayoral nomination, he became an education adviser to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and served (1999–2001) as chairman of the board of the City Univ. of New York.

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