Adversity is my Angel

Contents

Download PDF (39.1 KB)
pp. vi-

Introduction

Download PDF (35.5 KB)
pp. 1-2

Raúl H. Castro’s unlikely but distinguished professional career suggests the adversity inherent in his humble beginnings only hardened his resolve and strengthened his determination. He was born into grinding poverty and minority status on the US-Mexico border, but eventually overcame those obstacles ...

Chapter I Ancestors and Immigrants

Download PDF (117.3 KB)
pp. 3-11

My father was born and grew up in a small fishing village near the tip of the Mexican state of Baja California, called San Jos� del Cabo. He was of Basque-Mexican origin, and most of the Basque male inhabitants were over six feet tall and came from Spain, so they had the unique characteristic of being taller than most Mexicans. ...

Chapter II High School and the World Beyond

Download PDF (52.9 KB)
pp. 12-17

In 1931 I entered Douglas High School and spent four transformative years there. Naturally the Great Depression provided the economic and cultural context between my freshman year and my graduation in 1935. The dour economic climate shaped and influenced all of our lives on the border. ...

Chapter III Crucible of Optimism: Higher Education at Arizona State Teachers College in Flagstaff

Download PDF (50.3 KB)
pp. 18-24

On September 1, 1935, a blast of cold wind greeted me as I disembarked from the bus in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, and gazed upon the inspiring geologic gift of the San Francisco Peaks, which towered above the small city of eighteen thousand people. Flagstaff, located on a much traveled and historic crossroads, ...

Chapter IV Return to the Borderlands

Download PDF (58.1 KB)
pp. 25-32

Gerald D. Nash, the preeminent economic historian of the modern West, argued that the region “changed masters” during the Depression, substituting the federal government for its colonial dependence on eastern capital. Yet Arizona relied on large federal spending since the territorial period (1863-1912), ...

Chapter V The Law

Download PDF (82.8 KB)
pp. 33-37

Applying and gaining acceptance to law school in the immediate post-war years differed entirely from today’s process, which requires high academic achievement, competitive LSAT scores, and three or more letters of recommendation to a selection committee. Nevertheless, my path, unique compared to most, ...

Chapter VI Pima County Attorney

Download PDF (104.6 KB)
pp. 38-44

In the early 1950s Tucson was a small city, yet increasingly urban and busy. Its population of one hundred and twenty thousand made it the most important city in Pima County and the second-most populous metropolitan area in Arizona. I enjoyed Tucson, southern Arizona, and the rich cultural amenities available ...

Chapter VII Superior Court Judge

Download PDF (144.5 KB)
pp. 45-52

In 1958 I decided to run for judge of the newly created Fifth Judicial Division of the Pima County Superior Court. The most difficult aspect of this campaign took place early in the race, shortly after I decided to seek the judgeship. Mo Udall, my old boss in the county attorney’s office, came to me in May 1958 ...

Chapter VIII Ambassador to El Salvador and LBJ

Download PDF (305.2 KB)
pp. 53-68

“Sure,” I replied. Elson was a former Spanish student at the University of Arizona, and I knew that he was now US Senator Carl Hayden’s chief of staff. As chairman of the appropriations committee, Senator Hayden was one of the most powerful members of Congress. Hayden, eighty-seven years old, relied heavily on Elson, ...

Chapter IX Ambassador to Bolivia

Download PDF (272.1 KB)
pp. 69-80

President Johnson announced my nomination as ambassador to Bolivia on July 15, 1968, only one week after his trip to El Salvador and the Central American Summit. I succeeded Douglas Sheridan, who had been envoy to Bolivia since November 1963.¹ The move took me from the smallest and most densely populated ...

Chapter X Governor of Arizona

Download PDF (185.6 KB)
pp. 81-95

When Pat and I arrived in Tucson from our service in Central and South America in the winter of 1969-1970, John Molloy, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, and Ed Loper, director of the Tucson YMCA, met us at the airport. Before we had the chance to gather our land legs, ...

Chapter XI Ambassador to Argentina

Download PDF (218.9 KB)
pp. 96-105

During the presidential race of 1976, I campaigned throughout the country for Jimmy Carter, and he suggested that I serve as his Latin American advisor if he won the election. When Carter won and ascended to the presidency on January 20, 1977, he sent word that he wanted me to consider serving as ambassador to Mexico, ...

Chapter XII Conclusion and Notes

Download PDF (116.7 KB)
pp. 106-124

When Pat and I returned to Arizona in 1980, we bought a home in Paradise Valley in northeast Phoenix, and I practiced law, in an uneventful yet lucrative fashion, in downtown Phoenix. For the next twenty years I enjoyed my practice with good friends and partners Henry Zipf, Al Rogers, and Sidney Marabel. ...

Bibliography

Download PDF (46.5 KB)
pp. 125-129

Index

Download PDF (51.4 KB)
pp. 130-138