Marco Rubio

Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is a second generation Cuban-American politician serving as the 72nd United States secretary of state since 2025, under President Donald Trump. He was the United States Senator from Florida from 2011 until 2025. He is a Republican. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, and he served as the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully ran for president in 2016. 

In November 2024, he was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the United States Secretary of State. He took office on January 20, 2025 after being confirmed by the United States Senate unanimously. He is the first Latino to serve in the position, making him the highest-ranking Hispanic American official in U.S. history.

Early life
Rubio's family moved from Cuba to the US in the 1950s. He was born in 1971 in Miami, Florida. He has one brother and two sisters. Rubio's family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1980s but they later came back to Miami. After high school he stayed in Florida and went to the University of Florida, where he graduated in 1993 with a political science degree. After that he went to law school at the University of Miami, where he got a doctorate in law.

Florida House of Representatives
In late 1999, Rubio ran in a special election that happened for the 111th House District in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Miami. Rubio came in second in the Republican primary on December 14, 1999, but won the runoff election for the Republican nomination. He then beat Democrat Anastasia Garcia with 72% of the vote in a January 25, 2000, special election.

In November 2000, Rubio was reelected unopposed. In 2002, he was reelected to a second term unopposed. In 2004, he was reelected to a third term with 66% of the vote. In 2006, he was reelected to a fourth term unopposed.

Rubio spent almost nine years in the Florida House of Representatives. Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House majority leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. 

On September 13, 2005, at age 34, Rubio became speaker of the state house. He became the first Cuban American to be speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and would remain speaker until November 2008.

U.S. Senate
In 2010 he ran for US Senate. He ran a long shot campaign at first: most people thought that Florida's Governor, Charlie Crist would get the Republican nomination. Rubio won the primary, but Crist entered the race as an independent. In a three way race between himself, Crist, and Democrat Kendrick Meek, Rubio was elected to the Senate in 2010.

Rubio has become well known since entering the Senate. He has been critical of President Barack Obama and has proposed his own ideas in place of Obama's plans on more than one issue. He wrote a plan for the economy supporting free market economics and has proposed tax cuts for small businesses. Rubio also introduced a reform of the US immigration system and recently supported changes to how colleges deal with sexual assault.

Rubio announced in May 2015, that he will not seek re-election because of his presidential campaign. After suspending his presidential campaign, Rubio announced he would seek a second term in June 2016. Rubio defeated Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy in the 2016 election.

After former Vice President Joe Biden beat President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election and Trump made false claims of election fraud, Rubio defended Trump's right to make claims of fraud and challenge the election results.

Rubio called the 2021 United States Capitol attack as unpatriotic and "3rd world-style anti-American anarchy". After Congress was allowed to return to session, Rubio voted to certify the electoral college results. In February 2021, Rubio voted to acquit Trump for his role in causing the mob to storm the Capitol. On May 28, 2021, Rubio voted against creating the January 6 commission.

2016 presidential race

On April 13, 2015, Rubio announced his candidacy for president in 2016 and that he would not seek re-election to his Senate seat. His campaign started at the Freedom Tower in Miami, a building that many Cuban immigrants passed through. 

During the 2016 Republican Party presidential primary, Rubio came in third place in Iowa. Since then, he came in second or third place in the Nevada and South Carolina primaries. He won the Minnesota primaries after Super Tuesday. On March 6, 2016, Rubio won the Puerto Rico primary by winning almost 74%. He also won the Washington, D.C. caucus. 

Rubio suspended his campaign on March 15, 2016 after losing the Florida primaries to Donald Trump.

U.S. Secretary of State
In November 2024, The New York Times reported that President-elect Donald Trump had chosen Rubio as United States Secretary of State in his second administration. He was supported by both Republicans and Democrats. Rubio appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on January 15, 2025.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations unanimously approved his nomination and the Senate confirmed him a few hours later by a vote of 99 to 0. On January 21, Vice President JD Vance swore Rubio into office as the 72nd secretary of state. Rubio is the first Latino to hold the office. He is also the highest-ranking Hispanic American official in U.S. history.

In his first trip abroad as secretary of state, Rubio traveled to Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. The trip is meant to address illegal migration and Trump's push to take control of the Panama Canal. In January 2025, Rubio said that it was in "our national interest" to purchase Greenland and did not rule out military coercion to do so.

On February 3, 2025, President Trump named Rubio the acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

When Trump announced his plan to nominate National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to be the U.S. ambassador to the UN on May 1, 2025, it was reported that Rubio would be the interim national security advisor.

Personal life
Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes in 1998. Together, they have four children. The Rubios live in Miami, Florida. Marco has two sisters, Veronica and Barbara, and an older brother, Mario. Rubio has said in his books that he is a fan of rap music. When he was a young man he played football, and once hoped to play the game in the NFL. Rubio has also written two books. He is a Roman Catholic.

References

Other websites

Senator Marco Rubio  official U.S. Senate website
Marco Rubio for President campaign website

Category:1971 births
Category:Living people
Category:American political writers
Category:Writers from Miami
Category:Politicians from Miami
Category:Lawyers from Miami
Category:American Roman Catholics
Category:Anti-communists
Category:2016 United States presidential candidates
Category:21st-century American politicians
Category:Republican Party (United States) politicians
Category:Members of the Florida Legislature
Category:United States senators from Florida
Category:University of Florida alumni