Kenneth McClintock
Encyclopedia
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the Thirteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico
until his term ended on December 31, 2008. In late 2008, he served as President of then-Governor-Elect Luis Fortuño
's Transition Committee. He was sworn into office as Secretary of State on January 2, 2009 by Chief Justice Federico Hernández Denton
, fulfilling the role of Lieutenant Governor
(first-in-line of succession) in the islands.
at the time. McClintock's mother, Nívea M. Hernández (1931–2000), born in Puerto Rico, was a university professor and a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Puerto Rico
. Kenneth, along with his brother Steven George and his sister Elaine Mercedes, were raised and educated in Puerto Rico.
He graduated from University High School
(UHS) in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
in 1974, where he served as student council president, studied from 1974 to 1977 at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras School of Business Administration, and in 1980 obtained his Juris Doctor
ate from Tulane University
in New Orleans, Louisiana. While in college, McClintock, along with Puerto Rico's current governor Luis Fortuño
, founded the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
, a student organization that contributed to the electoral victory of Carlos Romero Barceló
in 1980. McClintock never applied for admission to any bar, neither in Louisiana nor in Puerto Rico, as his intention was not to practice law but to be a public servant. He began that public service before law school, as the staff director for the Puerto Rico House of Representatives Consumer Affairs Committee. He subsequently served as a legislative assistant to the NPP House delegation, under delegation leaders Jose Granados Navedo, the late Angel Viera Martinez
and Edison Misla Aldarondo
. He also served as an aide to then-Senator and current mayor of Guaynabo Hector O'Neill.
McClintock has spent almost all his adult life working, first as a full-time staffer and subsequently as a legislator, in the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly. While in college, he was an Amway
independent distributor, learning how to run a small private business and earning enough money to support himself. His critics contend that his background has given him tunnel vision, keeping him from seeing the big picture when it comes to myriad problems affecting the Island. Supporters, however, suggest that his wide participation in Puerto Rico's religious life, community activities, and continued contact with students in schools and universities, as well as his weekly radio programs in Spanish and English over the years (his WOSO Radio Speakout program ran for more than nine years) has kept him accessible and in contact with ordinary people's concerns.
He was married on July 16, 1994, to Maria Elena Batista
, director of Sports and Recreation for the municipality of San Juan
and a former Olympic swimmer, but on February 18, 2011, they jointly announced their separation. The two have a son, Kevin Davison, born in 1995, and a daughter, Stephanie Marie, born in 1997. They live in San Juan. Kenneth McClintock is an active member of the Puerto Rican Episcopal Church and has been a delegate to its Diocesan Convention.
as delegate to the White House Conference on Youth held from April 18–21, 1971. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter
appointed him to the National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. In 1979 McClintock served as the first Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
President.
daily newspaper.
He was the Executive Director of the U.S. Democratic Party, chapter of Puerto Rico, from 1984 to 1988 and has attended all nine Democratic Party conventions
since 1976 as a delegate
, a superdelegate
or as a staffer. A Democratic National Committeeman since 2000, he was recently elected to attend his tenth consecutive convention in 2012.
He was a Municipal Councilman for San Juan from 1990 to 1992 and during his tenure was the author of the municipal ordinance that raised the salaries of Municipal Guards beyond $1,000 a month for the first time in Puerto Rican history.
In 1992, he was elected the youngest Senator-at-Large for the 12th Legislature
. In November 1996 he was the top vote getter among all New Progressive and Popular Democratic parties senatorial candidates. He was reelected to his fourth term in 2004, nominated by his New Progressive Party caucus as Senate President on November 4, 2004 and formally elected and sworn in for a four-year term as the Senate's 13th President on January 10, 2005.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton
appointed McClintock as an at large member of the Democratic Platform Committee, where he was instrumental in drafting the platform plank on Puerto Rico.
In the 1990s he successfully fought for Puerto Rico's inclusion in the proposed World War II Memorial on the National Mall
after only two territories (Hawaii and Alaska) had been included in the first memorial design and all other U.S. territories (Philippines
, Puerto Rico
, Guam
, American Samoa
and the United States Virgin Islands
, several of which were actually invaded by Japan, had been excluded. His efforts included the approval of a Concurrent Resolution
by the Legislature and lobbying in Washington.
During 1999, he served as the 62nd Chairman of the Council of State Governments
, the youngest and first Hispanic
in that organization's 75-year history. During his terms in CSG leadership, the organization strengthened its international ties, admitting several Canadian provinces as international member jurisdictions, co-sponsoring the foundation of the Parliamentary Conference of the Americas
, and co-chairing with CSG President and then Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson
a mission to the People's Republic of China. As Chairman, McClintock increased the presence of Hispanics in CSG committees and task forces and helped organize CSG's best attended Annual Meeting ever, held in Quebec City
, Canada. He also was part of the official delegation that attended the December 14, 1999 ceremonies commemorating the final turnover on December 31, 1999 of the Panama Canal
to the Panamanian authorities.
He authored over 1,200 legislative measures during his 16 years in the Senate, of which over 200 became law.
He served as the second President of the Parliamentary Conference of the Americas
from 1999 to 2000, a forum that brings together the parliamentary assemblies of the unitary, federal and federated states, regional parliaments and interparliamentary organizations of the Americas. The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico hosted the General Assembly of COPA in July 2000. He currently serves on the Governing Board of the Council of State Governments
, the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Conference of the Americas, and the Board of Directors of The Washington Center
, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization.
Prior to his election as Senate President, he served as Senate Minority Leader from 2001 to 2004 and he chaired the most important committee of the Senate of Puerto Rico: the Committee on Government and Federal Affairs, as well as the Joint Committee for the Córdova-Fernós Congressional Internships Program from 1993 to 2000.
As Senate committee chairman, he produced he reports that served to make radical changes in public policy. The report on the conditions of the companies availed to the tax benefits of the now-defunct Section 936 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code earned him an interview in ABC's
Prime Time Live program and Univision Network
. He has testified in diverse hearings of the Congressional Committees, and has been the guest speaker in several universities throughout the United States. He has been interviewed in ABC's Good Morning America
, has debated on Fox News Network and has appeared on BBC
news programs, as well as on C-SPAN
's Washington Journal.
His efforts to promote economic equality to Puerto Rico's consumers by stateside corporations were profiled in a Business Week article in 1998. In 1996, along with Fortuño, he was appointed by Governor Pedro Rosselló
as co-chair of the New Progressive Party's Platform Committee, a position to which he was reappointed by the New Progressive Party's 2000 gubernatorial candidate Carlos I. Pesquera.
In 2004, he chaired the New Progressive Party
's Senate Campaign Committee and flipped his party's nine-member minority, of which he served as Minority Leader from 2001 to 2004, into an impressive nearly two-thirds majority in the new Senate in 2005, even though the NPP gubernatorial candidate narrowly lost the election.
In 2008, along with Roberto Prats
, co-chaired Sen. Clinton's successful campaign for Puerto Rico's June 1, 2008 presidential primary, which she won 68% to 32%, the second highest vote margin (after West Virginia) in the 2008 Democratic election cycle.
In 2008, he was elected by the Puerto Rico Democratic State Convention to a third four-year term as the territory's Democratic National Committeeman. In September, 2009, he was elected to a four-year term as Chairman of the DNC's Northeast Hispanic Caucus.
. His presidency was in jeopardy during most of that year, as former Governor Pedro Rosselló was sworn in as a member of the Senate on February 13, 2005 and sought the Presidency for the remainder of the term. McClintock was elected to the Puerto Rico Senate Presidency with 23 votes, including 14 of the 17 NPP senators (McClintock abstained, one seat was vacant and Sen. Norma Burgos
abstained in protest for the manner in which the NPP caucus allegedly elected the Senate leadership), and the entire nine-member minority delegation of the Popular Democratic Party, while the Puerto Rico Independence Party senator followed party tradition in abstaining from leadership votes).
Since 2001, Senate rules require a unanimous vote to change the presidency. During his Presidency, he backed many nominations and some public policy positions of Governor Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá. Some nominations failed to obtain the Senate's consent, two through rejection, others through inaction or withdrawal by the Governor following the Senate president's "advice" to do so. He was instrumental in breaking the logjam that led to the end of a two-week long government shutdown in May 2006.
For close to three years, of the seventeen senators that were elected under the New Progressive Party in the 2004 General Elections, six remained loyal to McClinctock's presidency, thus denying his opponents the unanimity required by Senate Rules II and VI to declare the presidency vacant. As McClintock stripped eight of the ten senators who supported Rosselló's claim for the Presidency of the chairmanships of Senate committees, leaving a total of ten committees under the leadership of the five NPP senators who still backed him and two, the Ethics and the Public Safety committees under the leadership of senators supporting Rosselló. Many Capitol insiders had claimed that this has had the effect of overflowing committees with work and slowing down the process of bills becoming laws. However, when that issue was raised on the floor of the Senate, McClintock ordered an investigation on legislative productivity that statistically demonstrated that committee output was higher during the third legislative session (after committee and chairmanship consolidations) than during the first.
One senator who supported him and came to the NPP expelled in the past term from the PDP, former Senate Majority Leader Jorge De Castro Font
was expelled from the New Progressive Party for supposedly being the brain behind McClintock's strategies to remain Senate President. This sanction was endorsed in a Party state assembly in 2005, for allegedly insulting high officials of the NPP (including its president, Pedro Rosselló), rejecting to comply with majority decisions of the party's state assembly (including support for Rossello's Senate presidency bid), and allegedly making political alliances with the PDP delegation in the Senate. Senator McClintock and four of the other senators who supported him were relieved of party positions for the same reasons.
The party's directorate recommended expelling Sen. McClintock as well as Senate Vice President Orlando Parga
on February 13, 2006. On August 20, 2006, however, the party's General Assembly failed to ratify their expulsion, approving instead a generic censure, reflecting the discomfort that the proposed expulsion created among many party members. As a result of his refusal to yield his leadership position in the Senate, he was seen without any political future by those who supported Sen. Rossello's bid, including a number of NPP voters who also supported Rossello.
On January 16, 2007 the NPP Senate Caucus imposed disciplinary sanctions on two more NPP senators, José Emilio González
, Rosselló's fellow senator from the Arecibo district, and Carmelo Ríos
of the Bayamón district. The two were the decisive votes to pass a Concurrent Resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would turn Puerto Rico's bicameral legislature in a unicameral system, an issue not addressed by the party's platform. During the term, the caucus disciplined eight of the 16 members elected to the Senate in 2004.
Members of the NPP hardcore rank and file had clearly stated they would never forgive the negotiations they allege have taken place against the statehood movement by McClintock, and did not acknowledge the Senate President's extensive efforts to lobby in Congress and generate national media coverage for the enactment of legislation to provide self-determination for Puerto Rico, as proposed by a White House Task Force on Puerto Rico's Political Status. Likewise, many political observers, including a number of NPP voters who opposed Rosselló, believe that McClintock's and Parga's removal from party membership rolls will be insignificant within the NPP; since both depended upon the rank and file structure to get elected with the party, while other observers and party leaders had expressed concern that the removals imperil future party victories, by the alienation of tens of thousands of past party supporters. Many party members, however, considered McClintock and his supporters as "traitors". On February 23, 2007, McClintock announced that if the party disciplinary sanctions are not lifted "within a reasonable time" he would file suit to protect "not only the constitutional rights of the senators who have been sanctioned but the rights of party members to freely select the candidates of their choice in the March 2008 primary". That "reasonable time" ended on March 29, 2007 when he, along with four other senators, filed suit in San Juan Superior Court, claiming that NPP leaders violated the due process required by the state elections laws when parties attempt to discipline its members. After a day-long hearing, Judge Oscar Davila Suliveres ruled on April 12 against NPP Secretary Thomas Rivera Schatz
and determined the lawsuit was meritorious and would be decided on the merits within several days. All sanctions against the McClintock Six were nullified by San Juan Superior Court Judge Oscar Dávila Suliveres on May 8, 2007, who determined that they had broken no programmatic or rule-based accord, and that they were free to run in the NPP's 2008 primary. On May 11, the Court reiterated, in a Nunc Pro Tunc Order, that any attempt by party officials to deny the rights of the McClintock Six would nullify the party primary. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's ruling on June 12, 2007, declaring all sanctions against the senators null and void.
On December 27, 2007, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
denied the New Progressive Party's attempt to deny McClintock's senatorial allies the opportunity to appear on the 2008 NPP primary ballot. In a 4–1 decision, the Court reaffirmed McClintock's right to remain as Senate President unless he voluntarily resigns, dies, or is removed as a member of the Senate.
A 2007 El Nuevo Día
opinion poll reflected that, in spite of being censured by the New Progressive Party, he had become its third most popular leader, after Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño and party president Pedro Rosselló, surpassing San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini, former gubernatorial candidate Carlos Pesquera and Bayamón Mayor Ramón Luis Rivera.
There were several attempts to unify the New Progressive Party delegation in the Senate, but all of them were sabotaged by some Party leaders, such as then-Secretary General, Thomas Rivera Schatz
and Party Vice-President Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer.
Upon Luis Fortuño
's decisive victory in the March 9, 2008 NPP primaries, McClintock and his (mostly renominated) stalwarts were welcomed back into the party, reinstated to their leadership positions and McClintock appointed five of the eleven former Senate defectors to committee chairmanships.
On December 31, 2008, after a full term as Senate President, McClintock ended his 16-year career as a legislator, as he prepared to assume the duties of Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, for which he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, including many senators who had withdrawn their political support for him in the past.
Ambassadors David Manning
, then-British ambassador to the United States, visited his office, and met with People's Republic of China Premier Zhu Rongji
in 1999, Costa Rica
Presidents José María Figueres
and Oscar Arias Sánchez, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
, Panama's President Martin Torrijos
, well as U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter
, George H. W. Bush
, Bill Clinton
and George W. Bush
. He also championed improving school-level physical and health education, the theme of his World Health Day
2006 address before the Panamerican Health Organization in Washington, D.C..
McClintock is the most frequently invited statehooder asked to speak at stateside colleges and universities, such as he did in late 2006 at Central Connecticut State University
(CCSU) and Yale University
, where he debated Puerto Rico's political status issue. On December 31 he was the only NPP leader to draw attention to the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of recently deceased President Gerald Ford
's statement in support of statehood on December 31, 1976.
In September, 2007 he began a media campaign to oust Panama National Assembly president Pedro Miguel González Pinzón
, who stands accused in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of murdering Puerto Rican-born U.S. Army Sgt. Zak Hernández
, bolstered by the approval by 25 of the 27 members of the Senate of Puerto Rico
of a resolution he authored expressing the legislative body's "profound preoccupation with the Panamanian leader's election.
In December 2007, McClintock convened a meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii of Senate presidents from Alaska, Hawaii, Guam
, the Northern Marianas Islands and Puerto Rico
to establish the Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus
to discuss issues common to the nation's outlying areas and devise common strategies to deal with such issues. One outcome of his efforts is Federal Communications Commission
chairman Kevin Martin
's support of the XM/Sirius satellite radio merger after Sirius committed to extending service to Puerto Rico.
On April 7, 2008, McClintock and House Speaker Aponte joined former President Bill Clinton for the unveiling of a statue depicting former President Franklin D. Roosevelt
. The statue is one of the few depictions of FDR sitting in an undisguised wheelchair. The statue will join those of Theodore Roosevelt
, unveiled by his grandson Tweed Roosevelt
, Herbert Hoover
, unveiled by his great-granddaughter Margaret Hoover
, Harry S Truman, unveiled by McClintock, Dwight D. Eisenhower
, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Gerald R. Ford, unveiled by his son Mike, the six other Presidents who have visited the American territory.
On May 26, McClintock presided over the yearly Memorial Day ceremony and concert, including a keynote address by then-Sen. Clinton in the presence of her husband and daughter. At the end of the ceremony, the names of several men and women were unveiled on Puerto Rico's Memorial Wall, which honors Puerto Ricans who lost their life in military service. Several of the names on the wall have been placed as a result of military history research published in Wikipedia.
A life-long coin collector, McClintock sponsored a resolution, passed in June 2008, that urged the United States Mint
to use an image of the Arecibo Observatory
in the commemorative Puerto Rico quarter issued in March 2009 as part of the 50 state quarters
program.
McClintock's presidency began to draw to a close when on June 30, 2008 he gavelled the Senate out of the seventh and last regular session of the term. He remained as president until December 31, 2008, a day after he called the Senate into a final special session, when he turned over the gavel to Senate Secretary Manuel A. Torrres, who serves as Acting President until the fourteenth Senate President is officially elected on January 12, 2009. Following the November elections, NPP senator-elect Thomas Rivera Schatz
was elected by the party caucus to succeed McClintock.
On September 11, 2008, McClintock presided over the first joint meeting of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly outside the Capitol ever, held at the Roberto Clemente
Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico
, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks against the United States and present the Military Medal of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly to those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 1,000 of the 9,000 eligible were present for the ceremony, accompanied by over 1,500 family members. Puerto Rico Independence Party legislators boycotted the event.
to co-chair Hillary Clinton's campaign in Puerto Rico. In spite of running behind in the delegate count, they engineered a 68% to 32% win for Clinton over eventual Democratic nominee Barack Obama
, Clinton's second largest primary margin (after West Virginia) and the widest victory margin in a candidate competition in Puerto Rico since fabled Governor Luis Muñoz Marín
's last run for office in 1964. As a result, Clinton dominated Puerto Rico's 63-member delegation by a 43–20 margin.
, to serve as chairman of the incoming administration's Transition Committee. During the first twelve days of the new year, outgoing Senate Secretary Manuel A. Torres
served as Acting President of the legislative body.
On November 11, 2008, Governor-Elect Luis Fortuño
appointed McClintock as Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Due to the fact that the appointment entails serving the role of Lieutenant Governor
, McClintock required confirmation by both the Senate of Puerto Rico
as well as the House of Representatives, both of which confirmed him on January 15, 2009. McClintock is active in the National Lieutenant Governors Association
(NLGA) and the National Association of Secretaries of State
. In 2010, he clinched the selection of Puerto Rico as the venue for NLGA's annual meeting in the summer of 2011 and NASS's annual meeting in the summer of 2012, which he expects to generate over $1.5 million in economic activity in Puerto Rico.
McClintock was sworn in, under a recess appointment, as the 22nd Secretary of State of Puerto Rico on January 2, 2009. On January 15, 2009, he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate of Puerto Rico
and with only two votes in opposition in the 53-seat Puerto Rico House of Representatives. Having been confirmed, he was sworn in on January 17, 2009 by Bayamón Superior Court Judge Angel Manuel Candelas in a private ceremony at Sagrado Corazón Urbanization in San Juan, where McClintock was raised and lived for many years.
On February 25, he made his first official foreign trip, when he co-chaired the first meeting of a bilateral Dominican Republic
/Puerto Rico working group with the DR's Foreign Minister
Carlos Morales Troncoso
in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic which led to the June 4 signing of an accord between Dominican Republic
President Leonel Fernández
and Governor Fortuño in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
.
In August 2009, he was one of seven members of the National Lieutenant Governors Association
, along with North Dakota
Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple
, Minnesota
Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau
, Montana
Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger
, Arkansas
Lt. Gov. William A. Halter, Mississippi
Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and Idaho
Lt. Gov. Brad Little
, invited to visit the Peoples Republic of China in a mission to promote greater trade between China and the United States. In September 2009, he led Puerto Rico's four-member component of the United States' delegation, headed by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke
to the III Americas Competitiveness Forum in Santiago, Chile
and participated in 2010 in the fourth Forum, held in Atlanta..
McClintock was designated by Fortuño to lead the Puerto Rico governments efforts to facilitate the islands' transition to digital television
. He has also been designated as chairman of the government's efforts to assist in the 2010 census. Legislation making its way through the Legislature provides for the Secretary of State to chair the five-member Executive Branch Reorganization and Modernization Committee. He also chaired a five-member Legislative Reform Committee that made recommendations in October 2009 regarding a revamping of Puerto Rico's Legislature. On November 30, 2009, the Governor announced that McClintock would be co-chairing with former Secretary of Education Carlos Chardón
the Education Advisory Committee.
Domestically, McClintock frequently participates as a speaker at activities throughout the states, Puerto Rico and foreign countries. In 2009, he spoke before the National Puerto Rican Coalition in Washington, D.C., served as the commencement speaker at the Universidad del Este
(UNE) in Puerto Rico and joined Massachusetts
Lieutenant Governor
Timothy Murray at a recognition ceremony of the 65th Infantry Regiment in Worcester, Massachusetts
on June 20. In August, 2010, he was the keynote speaker at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo. In 2011, he was the keynote speaker at Hispanic Heritage activities in Cleveland, Ohio
As Secretary of State, McClintock has met with several heads of state and government, including Mexico's Felipe Calderón
, Dominican Republic's Leonel Fernández
, Chile's Michele Bachelet, Haiti's President René Préval
and Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive
and the Premier
s of Jamaica
and the Cayman Islands
.
In January, 2010, he hosted gathering of the United States' Western Hemisphere Economic Officers in San Juan, the first time they had met outside the continental United States.
On January 12, 2010, as Acting Governor, McClintock was placed in charge of Puerto Rico's Haitian relief efforts by Governor Fortuño, which included a $4.5 million Telethon benefitting the Red Cross and collecting millions of pounds of aid, reportedly the largest shipment of non-governmental aid sent during the first two weeks of the relief effort. On January 20, McClintock made a 4-hour visit to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where, along with Puerto Rico journalist Carmen Jovet
, he met with President Préval and Prime Minister Bellerive to coordinate Puerto Rico's relief efforts. He subsequently met with Preval in San Juan and, representing Gov. Fortuño, was included as part of the United States delegation to a meeting in Martinique
in March 2010 to plan the multi-nation redevelopment of Haiti. He also helped coordinate Puerto Rico's initial response to the massive February 27, 2010 earthquake in Chile.
In September, 2010, he headed the Puerto Rico delegation to the International Book Fair (LIBER 2010), dedicated to Puerto Rico and held in Barcelona, Spain.
In November 2010, he co-authored a book on the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign in Puerto Rico with Democratic Party State Chair Roberto Prats
.
In addition to his other duties, he participated in organizing President Obama's June 14, 2011 historic visit to Puerto Rico.
In July, 2011, he was selected as Co-Chair of the National Association of Secretaries of State
's International Relations Committee at its 2011 summer meeting in Daniels, West Virginia
. In 2012, McClintock will host NASS' summer meeting in San Juan.
In the summer of 2011, along with United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brenda Sprague, he announced that Secretary of State Clinton has authorized the opening in 2012 of a U.S. Department of State Passport Office in San Juan, to serve Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands
, the first such office in the Caribbean ever. Until 1985, the federal agency authorized the Puerto Rico State Department to issue United States passports, but since then had only allowed it to operate a passport acceptance agency.
Contrary to several predecessors who did not actively exercise the role of representing Puerto Rico abroad, Secretary McClintock has visited eleven countries, including being a member of United States delegations, traveling to coordinate disaster relief, represent Gov. Fortuño or promoted foreign trade and the Caribbean Energy Grid proposal. The countries visited include:
During Secretary McClintock's service as Secretary of State, the following seven current and former heads of state have visited Puerto Rico:
He has also hosted high-level diplomats, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the ambassadors of Israel
and the Czech Republic
, among others.
By April 2010, Energy Secretary Steven Chu
and Secretary of State Clinton were speaking positively and publicly about the Caribbean Energy Grid proposal at an energy ministerial meeting of the Americas held in Washington, D.C..
McClintock has spoken extensively about this Fortuño administration proposal at numerous conferences, including some specifically organized to discuss the proposed grid, since he first proposed it in December 2009.
The first concrete steps in developing the proposal announced by McClintock in December 2009 are already being taken. In 2010, the United States Congress approved a $475,000 earmark supported by Reps. Donna Christensen (D-VI) and Pedro Pierluisi
to fund a study on the viability of interconnecting Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands power systems. Siemens AG completed the study in July, 2011. The government of Spain will finance a World Bank
pre-feasibility study on the possible interconnection of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic's power systems, which would be an integral part of the proposed Caribbean Energy Grid.
, published by Aguilar, a subsidiary of Editorial Santillana, First edition in Spanish (200pp), 2010, ISBN 978-1-60484-744-4
In his autobiography, the late Senator Paul Simon
described "State Senator Ken McClintock, (as) a capable and aggressive young leader" who favors "statehood and I hope it happens".
For several years, McClintock has been a member of the Board of Directors of TWC, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C.
Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provides for the position of Secretary of State of Puerto Rico who is first in line to exercise the role of acting Governor when the Governor is temporarily unavailable, whether because of being away from Puerto Rico or due to another temporary...
. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the Thirteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
until his term ended on December 31, 2008. In late 2008, he served as President of then-Governor-Elect Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
's Transition Committee. He was sworn into office as Secretary of State on January 2, 2009 by Chief Justice Federico Hernández Denton
Federico Hernández Denton
Federico Hernández Denton is the 15th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. Hernández received his Law Degree from Harvard University in 1969.-Biography:...
, fulfilling the role of Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
(first-in-line of succession) in the islands.
Early life
Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández was born in London, England, on January 19, 1957. His father, George D. McClintock (1925–2001), an Irish-American architect from Texas City, Texas, was working for the United States Air ForceUnited States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
at the time. McClintock's mother, Nívea M. Hernández (1931–2000), born in Puerto Rico, was a university professor and a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
. Kenneth, along with his brother Steven George and his sister Elaine Mercedes, were raised and educated in Puerto Rico.
He graduated from University High School
University High School (San Juan)
"UHS" or the University High School in San Juan, Puerto Rico is a teaching facility operated by the Faculty of Education of the University of Puerto Rico. Located on University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, it provides education to approximately 600 students from 7th to 12th grade...
(UHS) in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Río Piedras is a district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Founded in 1714, it has been the home of the University of Puerto Rico's main campus since 1903, earning the town the popular name of Ciudad Universitaria...
in 1974, where he served as student council president, studied from 1974 to 1977 at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras School of Business Administration, and in 1980 obtained his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
ate from Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans, Louisiana. While in college, McClintock, along with Puerto Rico's current governor Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
, founded the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association, Inc. , based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an American non-profit student organization dedicated to promoting statehood for Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States...
, a student organization that contributed to the electoral victory of Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fifth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party and also Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001, making him one of the more successful...
in 1980. McClintock never applied for admission to any bar, neither in Louisiana nor in Puerto Rico, as his intention was not to practice law but to be a public servant. He began that public service before law school, as the staff director for the Puerto Rico House of Representatives Consumer Affairs Committee. He subsequently served as a legislative assistant to the NPP House delegation, under delegation leaders Jose Granados Navedo, the late Angel Viera Martinez
Angel Viera Martínez
Attorney Angel Viera Martínez was a prominent pro-statehood public servant in Puerto Rico during the second half of the 20th century.He began his public service as a prosecutor. In 1968 he ran as a candidate for state representative under the banner of the New Progressive Party, which he helped...
and Edison Misla Aldarondo
Edison Misla Aldarondo
Edison Misla Aldarondo is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the Speaker of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives from 1997 to 2000. He was a founder of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico . He also served as Representative from the 4th District from 1977 to 2002, and...
. He also served as an aide to then-Senator and current mayor of Guaynabo Hector O'Neill.
McClintock has spent almost all his adult life working, first as a full-time staffer and subsequently as a legislator, in the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly. While in college, he was an Amway
Amway
Amway is a direct selling company and manufacturer that uses network marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets. Amway was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos...
independent distributor, learning how to run a small private business and earning enough money to support himself. His critics contend that his background has given him tunnel vision, keeping him from seeing the big picture when it comes to myriad problems affecting the Island. Supporters, however, suggest that his wide participation in Puerto Rico's religious life, community activities, and continued contact with students in schools and universities, as well as his weekly radio programs in Spanish and English over the years (his WOSO Radio Speakout program ran for more than nine years) has kept him accessible and in contact with ordinary people's concerns.
He was married on July 16, 1994, to Maria Elena Batista
María Elena Batista
María Elena Batista currently is a sports administrator in Puerto Rico. As the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico's Director of Sports and Recreation since January, 2001, she helped revive the previously underused and dilapidated Hiram Bithorn Stadium, attracting MLB's Opening Day Game in 2001,...
, director of Sports and Recreation for the municipality of San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
and a former Olympic swimmer, but on February 18, 2011, they jointly announced their separation. The two have a son, Kevin Davison, born in 1995, and a daughter, Stephanie Marie, born in 1997. They live in San Juan. Kenneth McClintock is an active member of the Puerto Rican Episcopal Church and has been a delegate to its Diocesan Convention.
Early years
McClintock has been involved in politics since the age of 13. At the age of 14, McClintock was appointed by President Richard NixonRichard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
as delegate to the White House Conference on Youth held from April 18–21, 1971. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
appointed him to the National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. In 1979 McClintock served as the first Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association, Inc. , based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an American non-profit student organization dedicated to promoting statehood for Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States...
President.
1980s
In 1984, the Jaycees recognized his achievements by bestowing on him the Outstanding Young Man of the Year in Journalism Award for his weekly columns in the now-defunct El MundoEl Mundo (Puerto Rico)
-History:El Mundo was founded in 1919 by Romualdo Real.In 1929, former corrector-turned-administrator Angel Ramos and journalist José Coll Vidal, bought the newspaper when Real retired. In 1946 Ramos was the sole owner of the newspaper.-Acquisitions:...
daily newspaper.
He was the Executive Director of the U.S. Democratic Party, chapter of Puerto Rico, from 1984 to 1988 and has attended all nine Democratic Party conventions
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
since 1976 as a delegate
Delegate
A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...
, a superdelegate
Superdelegate
"Superdelegate" is an informal term commonly used for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the United States Democratic Party....
or as a staffer. A Democratic National Committeeman since 2000, he was recently elected to attend his tenth consecutive convention in 2012.
1990s
In 1992, he was elected the youngest Senator-at-Large for the 12th Legislature
Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The structure and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly are defined in Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico....
. In November 1996 he was the top vote getter among all New Progressive and Popular Democratic parties senatorial candidates. He was reelected to his fourth term in 2004, nominated by his New Progressive Party caucus as Senate President on November 4, 2004 and formally elected and sworn in for a four-year term as the Senate's 13th President on January 10, 2005.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
appointed McClintock as an at large member of the Democratic Platform Committee, where he was instrumental in drafting the platform plank on Puerto Rico.
In the 1990s he successfully fought for Puerto Rico's inclusion in the proposed World War II Memorial on the National Mall
National Mall
The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...
after only two territories (Hawaii and Alaska) had been included in the first memorial design and all other U.S. territories (Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
and the United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
, several of which were actually invaded by Japan, had been excluded. His efforts included the approval of a Concurrent Resolution
Concurrent resolution
A concurrent resolution is a resolution adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law and does not require the approval of the chief executive.-United States Congress:...
by the Legislature and lobbying in Washington.
During 1999, he served as the 62nd Chairman of the Council of State Governments
Council of State Governments
The Council of State Governments is a nonpartisan non-profit organization in the United States serving the state governments. It serves state legislatures, state courts, and executive branch officials and agencies, and is the only multi-branch organization of state governments in the United...
, the youngest and first Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
in that organization's 75-year history. During his terms in CSG leadership, the organization strengthened its international ties, admitting several Canadian provinces as international member jurisdictions, co-sponsoring the foundation of the Parliamentary Conference of the Americas
Parliamentary Conference of the Americas
The Parliamentary Conference of the Americas, or COPA, was created in 1997 under the auspices of the United States' Council of State Governments and National Conference of State Legislatures, the Quebec National Assembly and a Brazilian legislative organization...
, and co-chairing with CSG President and then Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson
Tommy Thompson
Thomas George "Tommy" Thompson , a United States Republican politician, was the 42nd Governor of Wisconsin, after which he served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, but dropped out early after a poor performance in polls...
a mission to the People's Republic of China. As Chairman, McClintock increased the presence of Hispanics in CSG committees and task forces and helped organize CSG's best attended Annual Meeting ever, held in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, Canada. He also was part of the official delegation that attended the December 14, 1999 ceremonies commemorating the final turnover on December 31, 1999 of the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
to the Panamanian authorities.
He authored over 1,200 legislative measures during his 16 years in the Senate, of which over 200 became law.
He served as the second President of the Parliamentary Conference of the Americas
Parliamentary Conference of the Americas
The Parliamentary Conference of the Americas, or COPA, was created in 1997 under the auspices of the United States' Council of State Governments and National Conference of State Legislatures, the Quebec National Assembly and a Brazilian legislative organization...
from 1999 to 2000, a forum that brings together the parliamentary assemblies of the unitary, federal and federated states, regional parliaments and interparliamentary organizations of the Americas. The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico hosted the General Assembly of COPA in July 2000. He currently serves on the Governing Board of the Council of State Governments
Council of State Governments
The Council of State Governments is a nonpartisan non-profit organization in the United States serving the state governments. It serves state legislatures, state courts, and executive branch officials and agencies, and is the only multi-branch organization of state governments in the United...
, the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Conference of the Americas, and the Board of Directors of The Washington Center
The Washington Center
The Washington Center is a company which provides internships to students in many cities around the world, including the District of Columbia....
, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization.
2000s
In 2000, he was elected as Puerto Rico's Democratic National Committeeman, a position to which he was reelected in 2004 and 2008.Prior to his election as Senate President, he served as Senate Minority Leader from 2001 to 2004 and he chaired the most important committee of the Senate of Puerto Rico: the Committee on Government and Federal Affairs, as well as the Joint Committee for the Córdova-Fernós Congressional Internships Program from 1993 to 2000.
As Senate committee chairman, he produced he reports that served to make radical changes in public policy. The report on the conditions of the companies availed to the tax benefits of the now-defunct Section 936 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code earned him an interview in ABC's
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Prime Time Live program and Univision Network
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
. He has testified in diverse hearings of the Congressional Committees, and has been the guest speaker in several universities throughout the United States. He has been interviewed in ABC's Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, has debated on Fox News Network and has appeared on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
news programs, as well as on C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
's Washington Journal.
His efforts to promote economic equality to Puerto Rico's consumers by stateside corporations were profiled in a Business Week article in 1998. In 1996, along with Fortuño, he was appointed by Governor Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Juan Rosselló González, M.D., , is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the sixth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001...
as co-chair of the New Progressive Party's Platform Committee, a position to which he was reappointed by the New Progressive Party's 2000 gubernatorial candidate Carlos I. Pesquera.
In 2004, he chaired the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
's Senate Campaign Committee and flipped his party's nine-member minority, of which he served as Minority Leader from 2001 to 2004, into an impressive nearly two-thirds majority in the new Senate in 2005, even though the NPP gubernatorial candidate narrowly lost the election.
In 2008, along with Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
, co-chaired Sen. Clinton's successful campaign for Puerto Rico's June 1, 2008 presidential primary, which she won 68% to 32%, the second highest vote margin (after West Virginia) in the 2008 Democratic election cycle.
In 2008, he was elected by the Puerto Rico Democratic State Convention to a third four-year term as the territory's Democratic National Committeeman. In September, 2009, he was elected to a four-year term as Chairman of the DNC's Northeast Hispanic Caucus.
Election as President of the Senate
From January 10, 2005 to December 31, 2008, McClintock presided over the Senate of Puerto RicoSenate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
. His presidency was in jeopardy during most of that year, as former Governor Pedro Rosselló was sworn in as a member of the Senate on February 13, 2005 and sought the Presidency for the remainder of the term. McClintock was elected to the Puerto Rico Senate Presidency with 23 votes, including 14 of the 17 NPP senators (McClintock abstained, one seat was vacant and Sen. Norma Burgos
Norma Burgos
Norma E. Burgos Andújar is a Puerto Rican politician. She has been a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico since 2000. She also served as the 17th Secretary of State under Governor Pedro Rosselló .-Early years and studies:...
abstained in protest for the manner in which the NPP caucus allegedly elected the Senate leadership), and the entire nine-member minority delegation of the Popular Democratic Party, while the Puerto Rico Independence Party senator followed party tradition in abstaining from leadership votes).
Since 2001, Senate rules require a unanimous vote to change the presidency. During his Presidency, he backed many nominations and some public policy positions of Governor Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá. Some nominations failed to obtain the Senate's consent, two through rejection, others through inaction or withdrawal by the Governor following the Senate president's "advice" to do so. He was instrumental in breaking the logjam that led to the end of a two-week long government shutdown in May 2006.
For close to three years, of the seventeen senators that were elected under the New Progressive Party in the 2004 General Elections, six remained loyal to McClinctock's presidency, thus denying his opponents the unanimity required by Senate Rules II and VI to declare the presidency vacant. As McClintock stripped eight of the ten senators who supported Rosselló's claim for the Presidency of the chairmanships of Senate committees, leaving a total of ten committees under the leadership of the five NPP senators who still backed him and two, the Ethics and the Public Safety committees under the leadership of senators supporting Rosselló. Many Capitol insiders had claimed that this has had the effect of overflowing committees with work and slowing down the process of bills becoming laws. However, when that issue was raised on the floor of the Senate, McClintock ordered an investigation on legislative productivity that statistically demonstrated that committee output was higher during the third legislative session (after committee and chairmanship consolidations) than during the first.
One senator who supported him and came to the NPP expelled in the past term from the PDP, former Senate Majority Leader Jorge De Castro Font
Jorge de Castro Font
Jorge Adolfo de Castro-Font is a former Puerto Rican Senator and former member of the House of Representatives. Originally, he was a member of the Popular Democratic Party but became an independent representative in 2001 after inner disputes with his party...
was expelled from the New Progressive Party for supposedly being the brain behind McClintock's strategies to remain Senate President. This sanction was endorsed in a Party state assembly in 2005, for allegedly insulting high officials of the NPP (including its president, Pedro Rosselló), rejecting to comply with majority decisions of the party's state assembly (including support for Rossello's Senate presidency bid), and allegedly making political alliances with the PDP delegation in the Senate. Senator McClintock and four of the other senators who supported him were relieved of party positions for the same reasons.
The party's directorate recommended expelling Sen. McClintock as well as Senate Vice President Orlando Parga
Orlando Parga
- Early life:Orlando Parga-Figueroa is a former Senator of Puerto Rico born in Mayaguez and currently resides in Caguas with his wife, Teresita. His father, Orlando Parga Tossas, was a leader of the StatehoodRepublican Party and a right-hand man to SRP leader Miguel A. García Méndez...
on February 13, 2006. On August 20, 2006, however, the party's General Assembly failed to ratify their expulsion, approving instead a generic censure, reflecting the discomfort that the proposed expulsion created among many party members. As a result of his refusal to yield his leadership position in the Senate, he was seen without any political future by those who supported Sen. Rossello's bid, including a number of NPP voters who also supported Rossello.
On January 16, 2007 the NPP Senate Caucus imposed disciplinary sanctions on two more NPP senators, José Emilio González
José Emilio González
José Emilio González was an Puerto Rican literary critic and editor.He graduated from University of Puerto Rico in 1940, Boston University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and the Sorbonne....
, Rosselló's fellow senator from the Arecibo district, and Carmelo Ríos
Carmelo Ríos
Carmelo Ríos Figueroa is a retired male long-distance runner from Puerto Rico, who competed for his native country in the men's 3000 m steeplechase at the 1984 Summer Olympics...
of the Bayamón district. The two were the decisive votes to pass a Concurrent Resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would turn Puerto Rico's bicameral legislature in a unicameral system, an issue not addressed by the party's platform. During the term, the caucus disciplined eight of the 16 members elected to the Senate in 2004.
Members of the NPP hardcore rank and file had clearly stated they would never forgive the negotiations they allege have taken place against the statehood movement by McClintock, and did not acknowledge the Senate President's extensive efforts to lobby in Congress and generate national media coverage for the enactment of legislation to provide self-determination for Puerto Rico, as proposed by a White House Task Force on Puerto Rico's Political Status. Likewise, many political observers, including a number of NPP voters who opposed Rosselló, believe that McClintock's and Parga's removal from party membership rolls will be insignificant within the NPP; since both depended upon the rank and file structure to get elected with the party, while other observers and party leaders had expressed concern that the removals imperil future party victories, by the alienation of tens of thousands of past party supporters. Many party members, however, considered McClintock and his supporters as "traitors". On February 23, 2007, McClintock announced that if the party disciplinary sanctions are not lifted "within a reasonable time" he would file suit to protect "not only the constitutional rights of the senators who have been sanctioned but the rights of party members to freely select the candidates of their choice in the March 2008 primary". That "reasonable time" ended on March 29, 2007 when he, along with four other senators, filed suit in San Juan Superior Court, claiming that NPP leaders violated the due process required by the state elections laws when parties attempt to discipline its members. After a day-long hearing, Judge Oscar Davila Suliveres ruled on April 12 against NPP Secretary Thomas Rivera Schatz
Thomas Rivera Schatz
Thomas "Tommy" Rivera Schätz is a Puerto Rican politician currently serving as the fourteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Republican Party...
and determined the lawsuit was meritorious and would be decided on the merits within several days. All sanctions against the McClintock Six were nullified by San Juan Superior Court Judge Oscar Dávila Suliveres on May 8, 2007, who determined that they had broken no programmatic or rule-based accord, and that they were free to run in the NPP's 2008 primary. On May 11, the Court reiterated, in a Nunc Pro Tunc Order, that any attempt by party officials to deny the rights of the McClintock Six would nullify the party primary. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's ruling on June 12, 2007, declaring all sanctions against the senators null and void.
On December 27, 2007, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...
denied the New Progressive Party's attempt to deny McClintock's senatorial allies the opportunity to appear on the 2008 NPP primary ballot. In a 4–1 decision, the Court reaffirmed McClintock's right to remain as Senate President unless he voluntarily resigns, dies, or is removed as a member of the Senate.
A 2007 El Nuevo Día
El Nuevo Día
El Nuevo Día is a Puerto Rican newspaper based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and distributed daily throughout Puerto Rico and some parts of the United States.- History :...
opinion poll reflected that, in spite of being censured by the New Progressive Party, he had become its third most popular leader, after Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño and party president Pedro Rosselló, surpassing San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini, former gubernatorial candidate Carlos Pesquera and Bayamón Mayor Ramón Luis Rivera.
There were several attempts to unify the New Progressive Party delegation in the Senate, but all of them were sabotaged by some Party leaders, such as then-Secretary General, Thomas Rivera Schatz
Thomas Rivera Schatz
Thomas "Tommy" Rivera Schätz is a Puerto Rican politician currently serving as the fourteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Republican Party...
and Party Vice-President Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer.
Upon Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
's decisive victory in the March 9, 2008 NPP primaries, McClintock and his (mostly renominated) stalwarts were welcomed back into the party, reinstated to their leadership positions and McClintock appointed five of the eleven former Senate defectors to committee chairmanships.
On December 31, 2008, after a full term as Senate President, McClintock ended his 16-year career as a legislator, as he prepared to assume the duties of Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, for which he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, including many senators who had withdrawn their political support for him in the past.
Work as President of the Senate
David Manning
Sir David Geoffrey Manning, GCMG, CVO is a former British diplomat, who was the British Ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2007. He authored the so-called "Manning Memo" summarising the details of a January 2003 meeting between American president George W. Bush and British prime minister...
, then-British ambassador to the United States, visited his office, and met with People's Republic of China Premier Zhu Rongji
Zhu Rongji
Zhū Róngjī is a prominent Chinese politician who served as the Mayor and Party chief in Shanghai between 1987 and 1991, before serving as Vice-Premier and then the fifth Premier of the People's Republic of China from March 1998 to March 2003.A tough administrator, his time in office saw the...
in 1999, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
Presidents José María Figueres
José María Figueres
José María Figueres Olsen , is a Costa Rican politician, businessman and international expert on Sustainable Development and Technology...
and Oscar Arias Sánchez, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, Panama's President Martin Torrijos
Martín Torrijos
Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino is a Panamanian politician and the former President of the Republic of Panama.Torrijos was elected President on May 2, 2004...
, well as U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. He also championed improving school-level physical and health education, the theme of his World Health Day
World Health Day
World Health Day is celebrated every year on 7 April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization .In 1948, the World Health Organization held the First World Health Assembly. The Assembly decided to celebrate 7 April of each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day...
2006 address before the Panamerican Health Organization in Washington, D.C..
McClintock is the most frequently invited statehooder asked to speak at stateside colleges and universities, such as he did in late 2006 at Central Connecticut State University
Central Connecticut State University
Central Connecticut State University is a state university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States.The school was moved to its present campus in 1922...
(CCSU) and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he debated Puerto Rico's political status issue. On December 31 he was the only NPP leader to draw attention to the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of recently deceased President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
's statement in support of statehood on December 31, 1976.
In September, 2007 he began a media campaign to oust Panama National Assembly president Pedro Miguel González Pinzón
Pedro Miguel González Pinzón
Pedro Miguel González Pinzón is a leading political figure in Panama who was indicted by a U.S. federal court in October 1992 for the June 10, 1992 killing of an American serviceman, Sgt. Zak Hernández, and the serious wounding of another, Sgt. Ronald T...
, who stands accused in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of murdering Puerto Rican-born U.S. Army Sgt. Zak Hernández
Zak Hernández
Sergeant Zak Hernández Laporte , was a 22-year-old member of the United States Army who was killed in Panama City when the Humvee in which he was riding was ambushed on the eve of President George H. W. Bush's visit to Panama. His accused murderer, Pedro Miguel González Pinzón, was acquitted in...
, bolstered by the approval by 25 of the 27 members of the Senate of Puerto Rico
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
of a resolution he authored expressing the legislative body's "profound preoccupation with the Panamanian leader's election.
In December 2007, McClintock convened a meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii of Senate presidents from Alaska, Hawaii, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, the Northern Marianas Islands and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
to establish the Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus
Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus
The Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus is an informal legislative organization created in 2007 by leaders of the Senates of the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawai'i and the United States territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas Islands...
to discuss issues common to the nation's outlying areas and devise common strategies to deal with such issues. One outcome of his efforts is Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
chairman Kevin Martin
Kevin Martin (FCC)
Kevin Jeffrey Martin was the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was nominated to be a commissioner by President George W. Bush on April 30, 2001, and was confirmed on May 25, 2001. On March 16, 2005, President Bush designated him as FCC chairman, to replace Michael K. Powell...
's support of the XM/Sirius satellite radio merger after Sirius committed to extending service to Puerto Rico.
On April 7, 2008, McClintock and House Speaker Aponte joined former President Bill Clinton for the unveiling of a statue depicting former President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. The statue is one of the few depictions of FDR sitting in an undisguised wheelchair. The statue will join those of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, unveiled by his grandson Tweed Roosevelt
Tweed Roosevelt
Tweed Roosevelt is the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt via Roosevelt's son Archie. He is Chairman of Roosevelt China Investments, a Boston firm. He occasionally lectures and writes on the topic of his great-grandfather...
, Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, unveiled by his great-granddaughter Margaret Hoover
Margaret Hoover
Margaret Claire Hoover is an American political commentator, political strategist, and blogger. She is a great-granddaughter of former President Herbert Hoover...
, Harry S Truman, unveiled by McClintock, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Gerald R. Ford, unveiled by his son Mike, the six other Presidents who have visited the American territory.
On May 26, McClintock presided over the yearly Memorial Day ceremony and concert, including a keynote address by then-Sen. Clinton in the presence of her husband and daughter. At the end of the ceremony, the names of several men and women were unveiled on Puerto Rico's Memorial Wall, which honors Puerto Ricans who lost their life in military service. Several of the names on the wall have been placed as a result of military history research published in Wikipedia.
A life-long coin collector, McClintock sponsored a resolution, passed in June 2008, that urged the United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
to use an image of the Arecibo Observatory
Arecibo Observatory
The Arecibo Observatory is a radio telescope near the city of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. It is operated by SRI International under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation...
in the commemorative Puerto Rico quarter issued in March 2009 as part of the 50 state quarters
50 State Quarters
The 50 State Quarters program is the release of a series of circulating commemorative coins by the United States Mint. Between 1999 and 2008, it featured each of the 50 U.S. states on unique designs for the reverse of the quarter....
program.
McClintock's presidency began to draw to a close when on June 30, 2008 he gavelled the Senate out of the seventh and last regular session of the term. He remained as president until December 31, 2008, a day after he called the Senate into a final special session, when he turned over the gavel to Senate Secretary Manuel A. Torrres, who serves as Acting President until the fourteenth Senate President is officially elected on January 12, 2009. Following the November elections, NPP senator-elect Thomas Rivera Schatz
Thomas Rivera Schatz
Thomas "Tommy" Rivera Schätz is a Puerto Rican politician currently serving as the fourteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Republican Party...
was elected by the party caucus to succeed McClintock.
On September 11, 2008, McClintock presided over the first joint meeting of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly outside the Capitol ever, held at the Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks against the United States and present the Military Medal of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly to those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 1,000 of the 9,000 eligible were present for the ceremony, accompanied by over 1,500 family members. Puerto Rico Independence Party legislators boycotted the event.
Democratic Presidential Primary in 2008
McClintock, who did not run in the 2008 election cycle, joined forces with former PDP senator and Democratic State Chair Roberto PratsRoberto Prats
Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
to co-chair Hillary Clinton's campaign in Puerto Rico. In spite of running behind in the delegate count, they engineered a 68% to 32% win for Clinton over eventual Democratic nominee Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, Clinton's second largest primary margin (after West Virginia) and the widest victory margin in a candidate competition in Puerto Rico since fabled Governor Luis Muñoz Marín
Luis Muñoz Marín
Don José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
's last run for office in 1964. As a result, Clinton dominated Puerto Rico's 63-member delegation by a 43–20 margin.
Senate Succession
On November 7, 2008, the NPP's senators-elect chose Rivera Schatz to succeed McClintock on January 12, 2009 as the Fourteenth President of the Senate in its 91-year history. McClintock was appointed by Governor-Elect Luis FortuñoLuis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
, to serve as chairman of the incoming administration's Transition Committee. During the first twelve days of the new year, outgoing Senate Secretary Manuel A. Torres
Manuel A. Torres
Manuel A. Torres-Nieves was the Secretary of the Senate of Puerto Rico during the tumultuous years since the 2004 general election in which the Senate has been controlled by the pro-statehood New Progressive Party while the governorship has been controlled by the pro-status quo Popular Democratic...
served as Acting President of the legislative body.
Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
appointed McClintock as Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Due to the fact that the appointment entails serving the role of Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
, McClintock required confirmation by both the Senate of Puerto Rico
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
as well as the House of Representatives, both of which confirmed him on January 15, 2009. McClintock is active in the National Lieutenant Governors Association
National Lieutenant Governors Association
The National Lieutenant Governors Association is the non-profit, nonpartisan professional association for elected or appointed officials who are first in line of succession to the governors in the 50 U.S. states and the five organized territories...
(NLGA) and the National Association of Secretaries of State
National Association of Secretaries of State
The National Association of Secretaries of State , founded in 1904, is the oldest non-partisan professional organization of public officials in the United States, composed of the Secretaries of State of U.S. states and territories. Currently, all secretaries of state, including Washington D.C.,...
. In 2010, he clinched the selection of Puerto Rico as the venue for NLGA's annual meeting in the summer of 2011 and NASS's annual meeting in the summer of 2012, which he expects to generate over $1.5 million in economic activity in Puerto Rico.
McClintock was sworn in, under a recess appointment, as the 22nd Secretary of State of Puerto Rico on January 2, 2009. On January 15, 2009, he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate of Puerto Rico
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
and with only two votes in opposition in the 53-seat Puerto Rico House of Representatives. Having been confirmed, he was sworn in on January 17, 2009 by Bayamón Superior Court Judge Angel Manuel Candelas in a private ceremony at Sagrado Corazón Urbanization in San Juan, where McClintock was raised and lived for many years.
On February 25, he made his first official foreign trip, when he co-chaired the first meeting of a bilateral Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
/Puerto Rico working group with the DR's Foreign Minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
Carlos Morales Troncoso
Carlos Morales Troncoso
Carlos Morales Troncoso is a Dominican politician who currently serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic since 2004.-Family background:...
in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic which led to the June 4 signing of an accord between Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
President Leonel Fernández
Leonel Fernández
Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna is a Dominican lawyer, academic, and the current President of the Dominican Republic since 2004. He held the same office from 1996 to 2000...
and Governor Fortuño in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Aguadilla , founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is spread over 15 wards and Aguadilla Pueblo...
.
In August 2009, he was one of seven members of the National Lieutenant Governors Association
National Lieutenant Governors Association
The National Lieutenant Governors Association is the non-profit, nonpartisan professional association for elected or appointed officials who are first in line of succession to the governors in the 50 U.S. states and the five organized territories...
, along with North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple
Jack Dalrymple
John "Jack" Dalrymple is a North Dakota politician and businessman who is the current Governor of North Dakota, and a one-time candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1992. Dalrymple became governor after the resignation of John Hoeven, who was elected to the U.S...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau
Carol Molnau
Carol Molnau was the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota. She formerly served as head of the Minnesota Department of Transportation...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger
John Bohlinger
John Bohlinger, Jr. is the current Lieutenant Governor of Montana. Bohlinger for lieutenant governor ran as a Republican on a bipartisan ticket headed by Democrat Brian Schweitzer...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
Lt. Gov. William A. Halter, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
Lt. Gov. Brad Little
Brad Little (politician)
Brad Little has served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Idaho since January 2009. A Republican, Little was appointed to the position by Gov. C. L. "Butch" Otter to succeed Jim Risch, who resigned to become a United States Senator...
, invited to visit the Peoples Republic of China in a mission to promote greater trade between China and the United States. In September 2009, he led Puerto Rico's four-member component of the United States' delegation, headed by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke
Gary Locke
Gary Locke may refer to:*Gary Locke , Chinese American politician; U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former Governor of Washington*Gary Locke *Gary Locke...
to the III Americas Competitiveness Forum in Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
and participated in 2010 in the fourth Forum, held in Atlanta..
McClintock was designated by Fortuño to lead the Puerto Rico governments efforts to facilitate the islands' transition to digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
. He has also been designated as chairman of the government's efforts to assist in the 2010 census. Legislation making its way through the Legislature provides for the Secretary of State to chair the five-member Executive Branch Reorganization and Modernization Committee. He also chaired a five-member Legislative Reform Committee that made recommendations in October 2009 regarding a revamping of Puerto Rico's Legislature. On November 30, 2009, the Governor announced that McClintock would be co-chairing with former Secretary of Education Carlos Chardón
Carlos A. Chardón
for Dr. Carlos E. Chardón, the first Puerto Rican mycologist and the first Puerto Rican to hold the position of Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, see: Carlos E. Chardón.Dr. Carlos A...
the Education Advisory Committee.
Domestically, McClintock frequently participates as a speaker at activities throughout the states, Puerto Rico and foreign countries. In 2009, he spoke before the National Puerto Rican Coalition in Washington, D.C., served as the commencement speaker at the Universidad del Este
Universidad del Este
Universidad del Este Eastern University in English— is a private non-profit institution of higher education and a component of the Ana G...
(UNE) in Puerto Rico and joined Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
Timothy Murray at a recognition ceremony of the 65th Infantry Regiment in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
on June 20. In August, 2010, he was the keynote speaker at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo. In 2011, he was the keynote speaker at Hispanic Heritage activities in Cleveland, Ohio
As Secretary of State, McClintock has met with several heads of state and government, including Mexico's Felipe Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
, Dominican Republic's Leonel Fernández
Leonel Fernández
Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna is a Dominican lawyer, academic, and the current President of the Dominican Republic since 2004. He held the same office from 1996 to 2000...
, Chile's Michele Bachelet, Haiti's President René Préval
René Préval
René Garcia Préval is a Haitian politician and agronomist who was the President of the Republic of Haiti from 14 May 2006 to 14 May 2011. He previously served as President from February 7, 1996, to February 7, 2001, and as Prime Minister from February 1991 to October 11, 1991.-Early life and...
and Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive
Jean-Max Bellerive
Jean-Max Bellerive is a Haitian politician and outgoing Prime Minister of Haiti. He resigned on 14 May 2011.-Personal life:Bellerive was born in Port-au-Prince in 1958. As the son of a prominent doctor, he left Haiti at a very young age to study in Switzerland, France, and Belgium...
and the Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
s of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
.
In January, 2010, he hosted gathering of the United States' Western Hemisphere Economic Officers in San Juan, the first time they had met outside the continental United States.
On January 12, 2010, as Acting Governor, McClintock was placed in charge of Puerto Rico's Haitian relief efforts by Governor Fortuño, which included a $4.5 million Telethon benefitting the Red Cross and collecting millions of pounds of aid, reportedly the largest shipment of non-governmental aid sent during the first two weeks of the relief effort. On January 20, McClintock made a 4-hour visit to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where, along with Puerto Rico journalist Carmen Jovet
Carmen Jovet
Carmen Jovet, , is a journalist, the first Puerto Rican woman news anchor in Puerto Rico.-Early years:Jovet was born and rasied in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico into a family where having a good education was important. She was considered a gifted child and quickly advanced in school...
, he met with President Préval and Prime Minister Bellerive to coordinate Puerto Rico's relief efforts. He subsequently met with Preval in San Juan and, representing Gov. Fortuño, was included as part of the United States delegation to a meeting in Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in March 2010 to plan the multi-nation redevelopment of Haiti. He also helped coordinate Puerto Rico's initial response to the massive February 27, 2010 earthquake in Chile.
In September, 2010, he headed the Puerto Rico delegation to the International Book Fair (LIBER 2010), dedicated to Puerto Rico and held in Barcelona, Spain.
In November 2010, he co-authored a book on the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign in Puerto Rico with Democratic Party State Chair Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
.
In addition to his other duties, he participated in organizing President Obama's June 14, 2011 historic visit to Puerto Rico.
In July, 2011, he was selected as Co-Chair of the National Association of Secretaries of State
National Association of Secretaries of State
The National Association of Secretaries of State , founded in 1904, is the oldest non-partisan professional organization of public officials in the United States, composed of the Secretaries of State of U.S. states and territories. Currently, all secretaries of state, including Washington D.C.,...
's International Relations Committee at its 2011 summer meeting in Daniels, West Virginia
Daniels, West Virginia
Daniels is a census-designated place in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,881 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Daniels is located at ....
. In 2012, McClintock will host NASS' summer meeting in San Juan.
In the summer of 2011, along with United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brenda Sprague, he announced that Secretary of State Clinton has authorized the opening in 2012 of a U.S. Department of State Passport Office in San Juan, to serve Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
, the first such office in the Caribbean ever. Until 1985, the federal agency authorized the Puerto Rico State Department to issue United States passports, but since then had only allowed it to operate a passport acceptance agency.
Foreign travel as Secretary of State
Contrary to several predecessors who did not actively exercise the role of representing Puerto Rico abroad, Secretary McClintock has visited eleven countries, including being a member of United States delegations, traveling to coordinate disaster relief, represent Gov. Fortuño or promoted foreign trade and the Caribbean Energy Grid proposal. The countries visited include:
- Bahamas
- BarbadosBarbadosBarbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
- CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
- People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
- Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
- Grand CaymanGrand CaymanGrand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the nation's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac.-Geography:Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of...
- HaitiHaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
- MartiniqueMartiniqueMartinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
- SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
- TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
Current and former heads of state hosted as Secretary of State
During Secretary McClintock's service as Secretary of State, the following seven current and former heads of state have visited Puerto Rico:
- Former President of Colombia Alvaro UribeÁlvaro UribeAlvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....
- President of Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
Leonel FernándezLeonel FernándezLeonel Antonio Fernández Reyna is a Dominican lawyer, academic, and the current President of the Dominican Republic since 2004. He held the same office from 1996 to 2000... - President of HaitiHaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
René PrévalRené PrévalRené Garcia Préval is a Haitian politician and agronomist who was the President of the Republic of Haiti from 14 May 2006 to 14 May 2011. He previously served as President from February 7, 1996, to February 7, 2001, and as Prime Minister from February 1991 to October 11, 1991.-Early life and... - President of MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Felipe CalderónFelipe CalderónFelipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012... - Former President of Mexico Vicente FoxVicente FoxVicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
- President of the United States Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
- Former President of the United States William J. Clinton
He has also hosted high-level diplomats, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the ambassadors of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, among others.
Caribbean Energy Grid
During his term as Secretary of State, McClintock has spearheaded the Fortuño administration's proposal to develop a Caribbean Energy Grid in which all Caribbean and Central American islands and nations would interconnect via an underwater electric transmission cable in order to generate electric cost reductions to consumers throughout the region, contribute to renewable energy development and reduced dependence on oil, the fuel most used to generate electricity in Caribbean islands today. On December 1, 2009, McClintock first spoke of the Fortuño administration proposal, during the 33rd Miami Conference on the Caribbean & Central America, that a Caribbean Basin electric grid be developed to reduce the region's "addiction to oil", as he called it.By April 2010, Energy Secretary Steven Chu
Steven Chu
Steven Chu is an American physicist and the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. Chu is known for his research at Bell Labs in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, along with his scientific colleagues Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and...
and Secretary of State Clinton were speaking positively and publicly about the Caribbean Energy Grid proposal at an energy ministerial meeting of the Americas held in Washington, D.C..
McClintock has spoken extensively about this Fortuño administration proposal at numerous conferences, including some specifically organized to discuss the proposed grid, since he first proposed it in December 2009.
The first concrete steps in developing the proposal announced by McClintock in December 2009 are already being taken. In 2010, the United States Congress approved a $475,000 earmark supported by Reps. Donna Christensen (D-VI) and Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Democratic Party...
to fund a study on the viability of interconnecting Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands power systems. Siemens AG completed the study in July, 2011. The government of Spain will finance a World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
pre-feasibility study on the possible interconnection of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic's power systems, which would be an integral part of the proposed Caribbean Energy Grid.
Publication
• Te Quiero Puerto Rico – Primaria Presidencial Demócrata 2008, Co-author with Roberto PratsRoberto Prats
Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
, published by Aguilar, a subsidiary of Editorial Santillana, First edition in Spanish (200pp), 2010, ISBN 978-1-60484-744-4
Honors and recognitions
In 1984, the Jaycees of Puerto Rico awarded McClintock its Ten Outstanding Young Best Men of the Year award in Journalism for his work as a columnist for the now-defunct El Mundo newspaper.In his autobiography, the late Senator Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
described "State Senator Ken McClintock, (as) a capable and aggressive young leader" who favors "statehood and I hope it happens".
For several years, McClintock has been a member of the Board of Directors of TWC, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C.
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- Irish immigration to Puerto RicoIrish immigration to Puerto RicoFrom the 16th to the 19th century, there was considerable Irish immigration to Puerto Rico, for a number of reasons. During the 16th century many Irishmen, who were known as "Wild Geese," fled the English Army and joined the Spanish Army. Some of these men were stationed in Puerto Rico and...