Ben Fernandez

Benjamin Fernandez (February 24, 1925 – April 25, 2000) was an American politician, financial consultant and special ambassador.

He was a member of the Republican Party.

He began to get involved with politics in the late 1960s, co-founding the Republican National Hispanic Council and serving as a fundraiser for Republican candidates starting with President Richard Nixon in 1972.

From 1960 through 1976, Fernandez was asked to testify over 500 times under oath before federal and state agencies on his specialties.

He also received national acclaim for his innovation in business and was recognized by the United States Department of Commerce for his work with the National Economic Development Association (NEDA), a non-profit corporation Fernandez founded to foster the free enterprise system among Spanish-speaking Americans.

NEDA was responsible for over $2 billion in private sector loans, with a default factor of less than two percent.

Through his various business ventures Ben Fernandez became a millionaire.

When a reporter asked him why he was a Republican, Fernandez recalled a story from his college days in California when someone told him that the Republican Party was the party of rich people.

"Sign me up!"

Fernandez replied.

"I've had enough of poverty."

Fernandez stated that Hispanic voters presented a "golden opportunity for the GOP," and that the Republican Party was "truly the party of the open door."

He was persistent in stating that the party could reap huge benefits by embracing the fast-growing Hispanic minority in the United States, claiming that Hispanics were "natural Republicans" because they had a "centuries-old suspicion of oppressive central governments" and "learned fiscal conservatism at the knees of their mothers, who assured them that if they didn't watch their nickels they wouldn't eat."

Fernandez was very active within Republican circles and served in multiple political positions throughout the Nixon and Reagan administrations.

In 1972, he served as a fundraiser for President Nixon, chairing the Hispanic Finance Committee to Re-elect the President and as National Co-Chairman of the Finance Committee to Re-Elect the President.

With the help of Fernandez, Nixon's 1972 Presidential campaign was the first in U.S. history to create an outreach committee for Hispanics, which was instrumental in the acquisition of 60% of the Hispanic vote.

President Nixon later named Fernandez to the President's Council for Minority Enterprise.

In 1973, Nixon appointed him U.S. Special Envoy to Paraguay.

Benjamin Fernandez was born in the railroad yards of Kansas City, Kansas, in a converted railroad boxcar.

Fernandez was one of seven brothers and sisters.

His parents were illiterate Mexican migrants who were in the U.S. illegally seeking work.

The entire family worked as farm workers in Michigan and Indiana, refusing government assistance.

During his political career he was fondly nicknamed "Boxcar Ben".

Fernandez enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and served in the military for three years.

After his tour of duty, he landed in California with only $20 and his G.I. benefits.

Fernandez enrolled at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California, and found a job as a waiter and "supervisor of youngsters" at the local YMCA, paying his own way through college.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Upon graduating from Redlands, Fernandez moved to New York City.

He worked at General Electric during the day and attended night school at the Graduate School of Business of New York University.

He received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Foreign Trade and Marketing.

In addition, he completed all of the course work for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Economics, Marketing, Corporate Finance, Foreign Trade and Financial History.

Fernandez completed the four-year course work in two years.

General Electric recruited him for its financial management training program.

Following his employment and training with General Electric, he was appointed Director of Marketing Research at the O. A. Sutton Corporation of Wichita, Kansas.

After three years at the post, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and became a consulting economist, specializing in the organization of savings and loan associations and commercial banks.

His work as a financial consultant gained national attention.

After Fernandez's fundraising for Nixon led to accusations that he promised government favors in return for campaign contributions, Fernandez appeared before the Senate Watergate Committee on November 8, 1973, to deny allegations of wrongdoing.

He ran for President of the United States three times, seriously in 1980 and with more perfunctory campaigns in 1984 and 1988, making him America's first major-party presidential contender of Hispanic origin.

Fernandez was born in Kansas to Mexican parents who were illegal immigrants.

He served in World War II, then began a successful business career.