Herman Badillo (born August 21, 1929 in Caguas, Puerto Rico) was the first Puerto Rican to become a U.S. Congressman.

When Badillo was 11 years old, both his parents died of tuberculosis, and he was sent to live with his aunt in New York City. After graduating from the public school system, Badillo attended and earned a Bachelors degree from the City College of New York in 1951. In 1954, he received a L.L.B. from Brooklyn Law School. The following year he was admitted to the New York State Bar. In 1956, he became a certified public accountant. In 1958, Badillo joined the "Caribe Democratic Club" and ever since then he has held various offices within the city and state, including "Bronx Borough president" in 1965. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York in 1969, 1973 and 1977, coming closest on his second try when he was defeated by Abe Beame in a runoff primary.

In 1970, Badillo was elected to the United States House of Representatives from New York's 21st District in the South Bronx, thus becoming the first Puerto Rican in history to accomplish this feat. He was reelected for three consecutive terms after that. He gained a seat on the "Committee on Education and Labor". Through his efforts, job training for unemployed non-English speaking citizens were included in the "Comprehensive Manpower Act of 1973".

Badillo also served on the "Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee", and the "Small Business Committee" where he had a seat on the "Minority Enterprise and General Oversight Sub-committee".

Badillo also supported legislation intended to fight various forms of discrimination including age and marital status discrimination in employment. Badillo resigned from congress on December 31, 1977 to become deputy mayor of New York City under Mayor Ed Koch, a position he held until September 1979.

In 1993, Badillo, though still a Democrat, ran for Comptroller of New York City on a "fusion" ticket with Republican Rudy Giuliani. Although Giuliani won the mayoral election, Badillo lost the Comptroller's race to Democratic candidate Alan Hevesi. Badillo held a series of positions with the Giuliani administration, most successfully heading the City University of New York system.

In the late 1990s, Badillo formally joined the Republican Party and ran for mayor of New York City, losing the 2001 Republican primary to eventual victor Michael Bloomberg.

Herman Badillo is now dedicated to his law practice in New York.

Some of the publications by Herman Badillo are: "A Bill of No Rights: Attica and the American Prison System" (1972) and "Plain Talk" (1981). There is a school in Buffalo, New York called P.S. 76 Herman Badillo Community School.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans