Dressed in tails, white tie and matching gloves while sitting in a gilded seventeenth-century carriage drawn by six horses and attended by liveried coachmen, footmen and horse-mounted royal guards, Eduardo Aguirre could hardly believe he was about to present his diplomatic credentials to Spain’s King Juan Carlos I. And this after meeting with President George W. Bush just a few weeks earlier! Only in the United States could a boy rise from immigrant to ambassador.
Aguirre’s fascinating memoir recalls his carefree, happy childhood in Cuba, the onset of the revolution and his parents’ painful decision to send him alone to the United States after his involvement in a counterrevolutionary youth movement jeopardized his safety. Fifteen-year-old Eduardo had one thin dime in his pocket when he arrived in Miami in December 1961, one of the “Operación Pedro Pan” children sent with clandestine help from the US government and the Catholic Church. Despite his often-dire circumstances—lack of money to support himself, inability to manipulate the English language well and even witnessing a sexual abuser at one of the church-run homes in New Orleans—Aguirre maintained a positive attitude and worked hard to succeed. Along the way, he met and married another Cuban exile, raised a family and had a long and respected career in corporate banking.
A gifted storyteller, Aguirre recounts numerous behind-the-scenes anecdotes about his time as a member of the Bush administration, including being vetted for his presidential appointments and the Senate confirmation hearings for his roles as the acting chairman and CEO of the Export Import Bank of the United States, the first director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services following the 9/11 attacks and the US Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. This engaging autobiography by an accomplished US citizen sheds light on politics during the Bush presidency and his attainment of the American Dream.
Click here to watch Eduardo Aguirre in the APP Authors Speak series talking about his creative process.
“History is shaped when fate places the right man or woman in the right situation at the right time. Eduardo Aguirre’s life story, told in his unmistakable voice, is utterly irresistible.”—Jim McGrath, spokesman and speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush
“Eduardo’s book gave me a deeper understanding of his early struggles as a Pedro Pan child and the many challenges that we as immigrants have faced and conquered. I enjoyed reading about Eduardo’s banking career, his serendipitous relationship with the Bush family and his willingness to serve our adopted country wherever President Bush needed him the most. Eduardo is a source of deep pride to Gloria and me, as well as to the Cuban-American community.”—Emilio Estefan, Grammy Award-winning musician and producer
“As we continue to grapple as a nation with immigration reform, Ambassador Aguirre’s insights borne from years of public service as ‘an immigrant running immigration’ could not be timelier.”—Tom Ridge, 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania, First US Secretary of Homeland Security
“A wonderful book. I learned some things I did not know and found the entire book fun and engaging.”—Margaret Spellings, former US Secretary of Education
“Ambassador Aguirre’s brilliant memoir is a page turner. Well-written, humane and at times just funny, his captivating narrative brings to life the person behind the story. It is a good reminder of the possibilities of the American Dream.”—Mel Martinez, former US Senator and Republican Party General Chairman
“An extraordinary biography.”—Jaime Malet, chairman, US Chamber of Commerce; author, Del tibidabo al mar
“This is book is a true testament of an exemplary life.”—Armando Codina, founder and executive chairman, Codina Partners, LLC
EDUARDO AGUIRRE was born in Cuba and emigrated to the United States as an unaccompanied minor in 1961 as part of Operación Pedro Pan. The first director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services following the 9/11 attacks and the US Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, he obtained his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University and is the recipient of numerous awards, including Spain’s Order of Isabella the Catholic, El Salvador’s Order of José Matías Delgado, the Dominican Republic’s Order of Christopher Columbus and the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Americanism Medal. He lives and works in Houston, Texas.
