Castro, Raúl H. (Raúl Héctor), 1916-2015

RAUL H. CASTRO was born June 12, 1916, in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. Early in his life, the family moved to the United States, settling in Pirtleville, near Douglas, Arizona. Castro became a naturalized American citizen in 1939. He received a B.A. degree (teaching) from Northern Arizona University in 1939, served as an official with the U.S. Foreign Service in the 1940s and earned a J.D. degree from the University of Arizona in 1949. After graduation, he practiced law for five years. From 1955 to 1959, Castro was Pima County attorney. From 1959 to 1964, he served as a judge of the Pima County Superior Court. President Johnson appointed Castro as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador from 1964 to 1968, and he served as ambassador to Bolivia from 1968 to 1969. He made history in 1974, when he won election as governor, becoming the first Mexican-American to be elected Governor of Arizona. After completing two years of his four-year term as governor, Castro was tapped by President Jimmy Carter to be ambassador to Argentina from 1977 to 1980.

<p>Raúl Héctor Castro (/rɑːˈuːl/ (About this soundlisten); June 12, 1916 – April 10, 2015) was a Mexican American politician, diplomat and judge. In 1964, Castro was selected to be U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, a position he held until 1968 when he was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia. In 1974, Castro was elected to serve as the 14th governor of Arizona, and resigned two years into his term to become U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. Prior to his entry into public service, Castro was a lawyer and a judge for Pima County, Arizona. He was a member of the Democratic Party.</p>

<p>A native of Cananea, Sonora, Castro lived in Mexico until 1926 when he emigrated with his family to the U.S. state of Arizona, settling near Douglas. He enrolled in Arizona State Teachers College in Flagstaff, now known as Northern Arizona University, and upon graduation returned to his native Sonora to work for the U.S. Department of State as a foreign service clerk. Subsequently, he returned to Arizona to pursue a career as a lawyer and was graduated from the University of Arizona College of Law. Castro served as deputy county attorney for Pima County, Arizona until he was elected county attorney in 1954, and in 1958 he became a Pima County Superior Court Judge.</p>

<p>In 1964, Castro was selected by President Lyndon B. Johnson to become U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador at the recommendation of U.S. Senator Carl Hayden, despite controversy over Castro's surname being associated with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Following a four-year term, he was then appointed to be U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, and resigned in 1969 to return to Arizona to begin a career in politics. Castro ran for and won the Democratic nomination for Governor of Arizona in the 1970 election, but narrowly lost to incumbent Governor Jack Williams. Castro would decide to run again in the 1974 election and defeated his Republican opponent Russell Williams, a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, by a thin margin. Only two years into his term, Castro was approached by President Jimmy Carter to become U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, and resigned as Governor of Arizona. Castro left his post as Ambassador in 1980, ending his career in public service, and returned to Arizona once again to practice law. He died at the age of 98 under hospice care in San Diego, California, at the time he was the oldest living former governor. Raul Hector Castro's papers are held at the University of Arizona Special Collections Library.</p>