Book Julián Castro

Julián Castro is an American lawyer and Democratic politician from San Antonio, Texas, whose career has taken him from city hall to the president's cabinet and a national campaign. He won a seat on the San Antonio city council in 2001 and served as the city's mayor from 2009 to 2014. President Barack Obama then appointed him to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development as its 16th secretary, a post he held from 2014 to 2017 as the youngest member of the cabinet. He was discussed as a running mate option for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and in January 2019 he launched his own bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in his hometown, later leaving the race and endorsing Elizabeth Warren. A Stanford graduate in political science and communications, he has also practiced law, including at the firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. He received the Ohtli Award in 2016, a honor from the Mexican government recognizing service to Mexican communities abroad. As a speaker he draws on experience in local government, federal housing policy and presidential politics, with a focus on opportunity and the future of American cities.