Rafael Edward Cruz (; generally known as Ted Cruz, born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States...
Rafael Edward Cruz (; generally known as Ted Cruz, born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator for Texas since 2013.
After graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Cruz pursued a career in government. He worked as a policy advisor in the George W. Bush administration before serving as Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to 2008. In 2012, Cruz was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Hispanic American to serve as a U.S. senator from Texas. In the Senate, Cruz has taken consistently conservative positions on economic and social policy; he played a leading role in the 2013 United States federal government shutdown, seeking to force Congress and President Barack Obama to defund the Affordable Care Act. He was reelected to the Senate in 2018.
In 2016, Cruz ran for president of the United States, placing second behind Donald Trump in the Republican primary. The competition for the Republican presidential nomination between Trump and Cruz was deeply acrimonious and characterized by a series of public personal attacks. Trump ridiculed the physical appearance of Cruz's wife, and falsely accused Cruz's father of murdering John F. Kennedy; Cruz vilified Trump, calling him a pathological liar and morally unfit for the presidency. Despite this, Cruz became a staunch Trump supporter during his presidency.
In January 2021, Cruz provoked a widespread political and popular backlash after filing objections to the certification of Joe Biden's victory over then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election; he was criticized for giving credence to the baseless conspiracy theory that the election was fraudulent. On the day the electoral votes were tallied and Cruz filed his objections, Trump supporters motivated by the belief that the election was stolen stormed the United States Capitol. Because Cruz helped popularize and legitimize the conspiracy theory that motivated the rioters, many figures from across the political spectrum argued that he bore a degree of responsibility for the riot and the five deaths it caused, and called for his resignation or expulsion from the Senate.
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Leon Panetta
Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American politician who has served in several different public office positions, including the Secretar...
Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American politician who has served in several different public office positions, including the Secretary of Defense, Director of the CIA, White House Chief of Staff, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and as a U.S. Representative from California. A Democrat, Panetta was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993, served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1994, and as President Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997. He co-founded the Panetta Institute for Public Policy and served as a Distinguished Scholar to Chancellor Charles B. Reed of the California State University System and as a professor of public policy at Santa Clara University.
In January 2009, newly elected President Barack Obama nominated Panetta for the post of CIA Director. Panetta was confirmed by the full Senate in February 2009. As director of the CIA, Panetta oversaw the operation that brought down international terrorist Osama bin Laden. On April 28, 2011, Obama announced the nomination of Panetta as Defense Secretary, to replace the retiring Robert Gates. In June the Senate confirmed Panetta unanimously and he assumed the office on July 1, 2011. David Petraeus took over as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on September 6, 2011.Since retiring as Secretary of Defense in 2013, Panetta has served as Chairman of The Panetta Institute for Public Policy, located at California State University, Monterey Bay, a campus of the California State University that he helped establish during his tenure as congressman. The Institute is dedicated to motivating and preparing people for lives of public service and helping them to become more knowledgeably engaged in the democratic process. He also serves on a number of boards and commissions and frequently writes and lectures on public policy issues.
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