José Granados
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José Granados Navedo (born February 1, 1946), is a former Speaker Pro Tempore, minority leader, and majority leader of the
House of Representatives of Puerto Rico The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico () is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the go ...
, serving a various times throughout the 1970s and 1980s, before briefly returning to elected office in the early 1990s. Married, with three children, he lives with his family in Florida.


Early years

While attending the Academia Catolica during his school years, he was elected president of his sophomore class, publisher of the school newspaper and president of the
student council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...
. After enrolling in the University of Puerto Rico, he was elected to the General Studies Student Council and was elected its president. While in college, he represented Puerto Rico in the First International Youth Congress held at the United Nations General Assembly. Granados continued his political career as a student leader at the
University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
campus in Río Piedras, along with future House Speaker Edison Misla Aldarondo, future Senator Oreste Ramos, Jr. and future Senate Vice President Orlando Parga, Jr. In 1968 he was an unsuccessful candidate for elective office under the Statehood Republican Party (SRP) banner, as most statehooders switched their allegiance to the New Progressive Party (NPP), an offshoot of the SRP, which went on to win that year's general election. As secretary general of Acción Progresista, a pro-statehood student organization, he founded the longest lasting pro-statehood newspaper weekly, Decisión, in 1971. In that year, he was elected president of the New Progressive Party Youth organization and was nominated as one of that party's candidates for an at-large seat in the
House of Representatives of Puerto Rico The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico () is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the go ...
.


Elective office

Elected to the House in 1972, he became an outspoken member of the opposition. After Gov.
Rafael Hernández Colón Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...
's defeat in 1976, Granados was elected in 1977 as the Majority Leader in the House. In 1981, after the NPP lost control of that legislative body, he became outgoing Speaker
Angel Viera Martínez An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in various ...
' Minority Whip. When Viera Martínez bolted the NPP to join the Puerto Rico Renewal Party (PRP) in 1983, Granados became House Minority Leader, a position he held until 1988.


Statehood commission

In 1981, Granados founded the Puerto Rico Statehood Commission, a grassroots non-partisan organization dedicated to research and education on Puerto Rico statehood. The organization operated until 1986 and included among its leaders a wide array of prominent statehooders, such as attorney
Zaida Hernández Zaida may refer to: *Zaida, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a town in northern Pakistan *Zaida, Morocco, a town in central Morocco *Zaida of Seville, an 11th-century exile Muslim princess who was the mistress of King Alfonso VI of Castile *Zaida, a Yiddish ...
, who served as House Speaker and subsequently an appellate court judge. Also included were attorney Zulma Rosario, former Corrections Administrator and current head of the Government Ethics Office, attorney Nélida Jiménez Velázquez, also an appellate judge, Senator Oreste Ramos, Jr.,
Sol Luis Descartes Sol Luis Descartes Andreu (August 25, 1911 in Ponce, Puerto Rico – July 20, 1993 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) was a graduate in agricultural economics from Cornell University, served as Puerto Rico's Secretary of the Treasury during the administra ...
, a former treasury secretary under PDP Governor
Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...
, who is the current secretary of state, former senate president
Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s N ...
and attorney
Luis Dávila Colón Luis Dávila Colón (born March 4, 1952) is a Puerto Rican political radio commentator. His daily radio talk show, which was broadcast for a decade, until December 2009, from 4:30 to 7:00 pm by the NotiUno 1280 radio network moved to Univision ...
, currently Puerto Rico's most prominent political analyst. Granados' ideological organization still serves as a model, a quarter century later, for NPP educational efforts.


Staff

Many elected public officials in Puerto Rico initiated their incursion into electoral politics, either as members of his youth organizations or as members of his legislative staff. The youth organization served as a launching pad for
Charlie Rodriguez Charlie may refer to: Film and television * ''Charlie'' (2015 Malayalam film), an Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Charlie'' (2015 Kannada film), an Indian Kannada-language film * ''Charlie'' (TV series), a 2015 political drama series based ...
, who later became President of the Senate; Senators Anibal Marrero and former senator Freddy Valentin, State Representatives Albita Rivera, Antonio Silva and Benjamin Velez; and mayors Juan Cruz Manzano of Manati and Benjamin Cintron Lebron of Patillas. Also State Representative Carlos Lopez, who later served as ombudsman. Granados legislative office was a breeding ground of future political leaders. The present governor,
Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013. Fortuño served as the first Secre ...
, who led his party in 2008 to its largest landslide victory in history, was a summer intern at Granados' office while studying at Georgetown University. His aide, Zaida Hernández, later became Speaker of the House of Representatives; Kenneth McClintock culminated a four-term senatorial career as the 13th President of the Senate before becoming Puerto Rico's 22nd Secretary of State, while Orlando Parga, another Granados' aide, served as McClintock's Senate President pro tem; and
Héctor O'Neill Héctor O'Neill García (born June 20, 1945) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the mayor of his hometown of Guaynabo from 1993 to 2017. O'Neill is affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP) and has also served as a member of the Se ...
, who became senator and later mayor of Guaynabo and president of the Mayors Federation. The best recognition of the "breeding ground" status of his office can be found in the refusal by a political opponent, House
Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...
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to approve a staffer selected by Granados, Manuel Agromayor, which resulted in litigation in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and reached the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
.


Ballot redesign

While studying the budget for a special election to fill a vacant House seat, Granados was appalled by the cost of ballot boxes. At the time, they were constructed of wood with the option of using metal. So he pulled out a piece of paper and designed the cardboard ballot box that is being used now throughout the world. He did not patent it. This was one of the more successful inventions attributed to him. A forceful public speaker, he organized the mass rallies that provided the "grand finales' of the NPP's electoral campaigns in 1976 and 1980 where his party's candidate, Carlos Romero Barcelo, was elected and subsequently narrowly reelected to the governorship. He also produced a daily 30 second TV ad transmitted under the name Directo Al Punto credited by some with having contributed greatly to Pedro Rossello's triumph as governor in 1992 and 1996.


Mayoral campaign

In 1988, when San Juan Mayor
Baltasar Corrada del Río Baltasar Corrada del Río (April 10, 1935 – March 11, 2018) was a Puerto Rican politician. He held various high political offices in the island, including President of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, Resident Commissioner (1977–198 ...
lost his bid for governor in that year's PDP landslide, Granados lost the race to succeed Corrada in City Hall, losing to
Hector Luis Acevedo In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...
of the PPD party, by a minuscule margin of only seven votes that finally had to be ratified in the courts.


Return to the house

Jose Granados made a comeback in 1992 when he was returned to the House, where he became Majority Leader. As chairman of the Socio-Economic and Planning Commission, he conducted studies on the condition of Puerto Rico's economic infrastructure including land, air and maritime transportation, water and sewage, energy production and waste management and was responsible for most of Rosselló's legislative agenda that laid the foundation for the major accomplishments of his gubernatorial administration. In 1997 he became Speaker of the House Pro Tem until his resignation from office.


Literary accomplishments

In the early 1980s, Granados co-wrote and edited a ten-volume collection of educational lesson books on statehood for Puerto Rico. He authored a novel, ''The Aikman Theory'', that is being edited for publication and is writing a second one: ''The Dome on the Wall''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granados, Jose 1946 births Living people New Progressive Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican writers University of Puerto Rico alumni 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico