The Rise of Marco Rubio

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Overview


Now in a Spanish-language edition: the definitive biography of Senator Marco Rubio, the youngest Speaker of the Florida Statehouse and the biggest rising star in the Republican Party.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has been called the “crown prince” of the Tea Party movement and “the Michael Jordan of Republican politics.” Some might think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but no one—not even his rivals in the Democratic Party—disagrees with the ...

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El Ascenso de Marco Rubio

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Overview


Now in a Spanish-language edition: the definitive biography of Senator Marco Rubio, the youngest Speaker of the Florida Statehouse and the biggest rising star in the Republican Party.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has been called the “crown prince” of the Tea Party movement and “the Michael Jordan of Republican politics.” Some might think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but no one—not even his rivals in the Democratic Party—disagrees with the fact that Marco Rubio is going far in American politics.

Manuel Roig-Franzia delivers the story of how Rubio came up so fast and why. It’s a classic American odyssey: his parents left Cuba for a better economic life in Miami a few years before Castro came to power; his father worked as a bartender, his mother as a maid and then stock clerk at Kmart. When the cocaine cowboys were terrorizing south Florida, Rubio’s family moved to Vegas, where his father worked in a gambling hall. When they moved back to south Florida, the small but tough Rubio made the football team, became an expert on the Miami Dolphins, and raced to begin a political career minutes after graduating from law school. By the time he was sworn in as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, he was the youngest person and the first Hispanic to hold that position. Mike Huckabee likes to say: “He is our Barack Obama with substance.”

Marco describes all facets of this policy wonk married to a former Dolphins cheerleader with whom he has four children. Rubio has the endurance, smarts and charisma to be a presence on the American political scene for years to come. This is a book his fans, and critics, must read.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Fox News analyst Dick Morris opined that whoever wins the GOP nomination in 2012 "should choose for vice president, no question," adding that, "Rubio is a superstar." Readers in search of an in-depth and unbiased look at the young, dynamic Republican senator from Florida will be rewarded by this well-researched biography from Washington Post reporter Roig-Franzia. The author expounds on Rubio's personal and family history, and deftly parses his political acumen, detailing Rubio's facility with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube—social media his older colleagues struggle to employ gracefully. Roig-Franzia also incisively outlines what some see as his largest asset, namely, his Cuban heritage; indeed, Jeb Bush, a mentor of Rubio's, wrote that in terms of who will control "the White House and the Senate in 2013, Hispanic voters will represent the margin of victory." Whether Rubio is the key to that margin is still up in the air, and perhaps one of the most pressing questions is how Rubio will balance his Latino appeal with his party's hard-nosed immigration policy. Roig-Franzia is a veteran journalist and it shows—the writing here is crisp and the research thorough. Member of the Grand Old Party or no, readers will find plenty to root for or fear in Roig-Franzia's Rubio. (June)
Kirkus Reviews
The story of a Cuban-American politician on the Republican fast track. Born in 1971, Marco Antonio Rubio rose rapidly from West Miami city commissioner to Florida house speaker to his current post as junior U.S. senator from Florida. His rapid rise has led many to predict he will one day be elected president. "American politics had never seen anything like him: a young, made-for-YouTube Hispanic Republican with realistic national prospects," writes Washington Post reporter Roig-Franzia. The author begins with the Rubio family's arrival in the U.S. in 1956, during the last years of the Batista regime. In need of work, Rubio's grandfather, a bartender, returned to Castro's Cuba in 1959 and took a minor treasury post. Three years later, uneasy with Castro's regime, he returned to Miami and became a permanent resident in 1967. Rubio grew up in Miami's Little Havana and moved with his family to Las Vegas for several years, where he was baptized a Mormon. It was the first of several changes in his religious affiliation. Born Roman Catholic, Rubio returned to Catholicism when the family came back to Miami, where he played football in high school and studied law at the University of Miami. Later, in what his staff calls his "faith journey," he would straddle the Baptist and Catholic faiths. Entering politics in his mid-20s, he quickly won right-wing establishment mentors, notably former Florida governor Jeb Bush. In 2009, he was saluted in a National Review cover story. Drawing on interviews, Roig-Franzia details controversies over Rubio's credit card spending while in the Florida house, his attempts to claim a place as the son of Castro exiles, and his inspiring abilities as a public speaker. Now, writes the author, Rubio is a "cagey political veteran" whose national influence far exceeds his seniority in Congress. A solid, well-written, anecdote-filled political biography.
The Washington Post
…the book will be an indispensable Rubio guidebook for the amateur political junkie as well as the pundit cramming for a quick hit on cable…Roig-Franzia is relentlessly balanced and fair—I wish there was another way to say that—which means that neither his subject nor his many detractors will be happy.
—Andrew Ferguson
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781451675450
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Publication date: 6/19/2012
  • Pages: 304
  • Product dimensions: 5.84 (w) x 8.54 (h) x 1.02 (d)

Meet the Author

Manuel Roig-Franzia is a writer in The Washington Post’s Style section. His long-form articles span a broad range of subjects, including politics, power and the culture of Washington, as well as profiling major political figures and authors.

Roig-Franzia has also served as bureau chief in Miami for the Post's National staff and in Mexico City for the Foreign staff. He’s covered U.S. and international presidential campaigns, the January 2010 Haiti earthquake, and more than a dozen major hurricanes, including Katrina.

Roig-Franzia was born in Spain and came to The Post from The New Orleans Times-Picayune, where he wrote about the colorful, four-time governor, Edwin Edwards, and learned how to make a mean gumbo. Visit him at ManuelRoigFranzia.com.

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Table of Contents

Introduction: The Heir 1

Chapter 1 The Island 13

Chapter 2 A Path to Citizenship 23

Chapter 3 The Miami Son 51

Chapter 4 The Apprentice 81

Chapter 5 The Alchemist 101

Chapter 6 A Higher Calling 139

Chapter 7 God and Country 169

Chapter 8 The Century Club 181

Chapter 9 Great Expectations 197

Chapter 10 The Golden Door 219

Afterword 243

Acknowledgments 245

Notes 249

Index 281

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