EP 321: Julian Castro Is Always Looking Ahead

Julian Castro graduated high school a year early, won election to city council while he was still in law school, and became San Antonio's youngest mayor at age 27, before eventually serving as President Obama's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and making Hillary Clinton's short-list for VP in 2016. He talks about his family's American dream including the remarkable story of how his Grandmother fled the violence of the Mexican Civil War for America and the values that his political activist mother instilled in he and his twin brother Joaquin. He shares how he and Joaquin tied each other in their first election for Stanford University’s student senate and how a young Julian Castro ran for San Antonio city council and WON by winning over elderly voters. He talks about his initiatives as Mayor to promote citizen engagement and pre-K education, why he first turned down a cabinet appointment in the Obama Administration, and what he calls the “weird experience” of being vetted to be Hillary Clinton’s running-mate in 2016. Plus he talks seriously about running for the top spot in 2020 and lays out his playbook for beating Donald Trump.

Order An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up from My American Dream on Amazon, Audible, or wherever books are sold, and follow Julian Castro on twitter at @Julian Castro. Today's episode was sponsored by Heineken, Espresso Monster, and National Security Agency Career Recruitment.