Robert Adam Mosbacher Jr. (born May 29, 1951) is an American businessman, founder of BizCorps, and the former head of the

Overseas Private Investment Corporation The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ...

(OPIC). Nominated by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, Mosbacher was sworn in as the ninth president and chief executive officer of OPIC in October 2005. His father,

Robert Mosbacher Robert Adam Mosbacher Sr. (March 11, 1927 – January 24, 2010) was an American businessman, accomplished yacht racer, and a Republican politician. A longtime friend and political ally of George H. W. Bush, Mosbacher served in Bush's Cabinet a ...

Sr., was the 28th

Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

. His uncle was

Emil Mosbacher Emil "Bus" Mosbacher Jr. (April 1, 1922 – August 13, 1997) was a two-time America's Cup-winning yachtsman, the founding chairman of Operation Sail, and Chief of Protocol of the United States during the administration of President Richard Nixon. ...

, a two-time

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

Winner and former Chief of Protocol for President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

Career

Mosbacher is currently Chairman of Mosbacher Energy Company (MEC), an independent oil and gas exploration and production company in Houston, Texas. From 1986 to 2005, Mosbacher was president and CEO. He was also vice chairman of Mosbacher Power Group, an independent electric power developer which operated from 1995 and was acquired in 2003. Mosbacher has served on numerous boards of various organizations and charities. Earlier in his career, Mosbacher worked for U.S. Senator

Howard Baker Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 June 26, 2014) was an American politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader and then ...

for over seven years. Mosbacher was appointed by President Reagan to three successive Presidential Task Forces on Private Sector Initiatives during the 1980s. He is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

Mosbacher Institute

Mosbacher is involved in the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy, which was founded in October 2009 upon the request of President George H.W. Bush to honor his father

Sr., who served as secretary of commerce from 1989 to 1992.

Texas Republican candidate

Mosbacher ran unsuccessfully in the 1997 Houston mayoral election, losing to

Lee Brown Lee Brown may refer to: *Lee Brown (footballer) (born 1990), English footballer, for Portsmouth FC * Lee P. Brown (born 1937), police department chief and mayor of Houston * Lee Bradley Brown (1971–2011), British tourist allegedly beaten to death ...

, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, in a nonpartisan election. He received 48 percent of the vote in the

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

. Mosbacher faced controversy in the campaign, as he had lived outside Houston in West University Place for eleven years and professed interest in federal and state issues, rather than local concerns. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1984, losing to

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...

, and

Lieutenant Governor of Texas The lieutenant governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the work of the Texas Senate and control ...

in 1990, losing to Democrat

Bob Bullock Robert Douglas Bullock Sr. (July 10, 1929 – June 18, 1999), was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Texas, whose career spanned four decades. His service culminated in his term as the 38th List of lieu ...

by a total of 52% to 45%.

Author

In 1993, he wrote the book ''Deep In The Heart: A Remedy For An Ailing Texas''.

Karl Rove incident

In a notable event,

Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 3 ...

was fired from the 1992 Bush campaign for criticizing Mosbacher, who was then the head of the Texas Victory Committee and a Bush loyalist. This criticism of Mosbacher came in the form of a negative story that Rove planted with the columnist

Robert Novak Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the ...

Personal life

Mosbacher Jr. is the son of

(1927–2010) and Jane Pennybacker, who died of cancer in 1970. He received his J.D. degree from the

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

Dedman School of Law SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a law school located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the campus of its parent institution, Southern Meth ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. Earlier, he obtained his bachelor's degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosbacher, Robert Jr. 1951 births Living people Georgetown University alumni Dedman School of Law alumni People from Houston American people of German-Jewish descent Southern Methodist University alumni Overseas Private Investment Corporation officials Texas Republicans