Robert Lester Floyd was the City of Miami's youngest mayor.

Floyd was born in Cincinnati and moved to Miami as a child with his mother. He graduated from Miami High School and earned a degree from the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

. In 1939, he began to work as a special agent for the FBI in Washington, D.C., while attending law school at American University

American University

American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...

. He earned his law degree in 1941 and left the FBI in 1943. He returned to Miami went into private practice. On September 4, 1946, he married Rose Marie Norcross and they had four children, James, Robert II, Edward and Rosemarie. At his death he also had seven grandchildren.

In 1947, he ran for Mayor of the City of Miami and won at the age of 29. After that he served as Commissioner of the City of Miami. In 1951 and 1953, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives

Florida House of Representatives

The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...

. In 1954 and 1960, he was elected as a Dade County court judge. In 1966, he served for one month as interim Dade County Sheriff before returning to private practice.