Jon Huntsman facts for kids
Jon Meade Huntsman, Jr. (born March 26, 1960) is an American businessman, diplomat and politician. He was born in Palo Alto, California, but went to school in Salt Lake City, Utah. He dropped out of high school to be in a rock band. Later, he got a G.E.D. and went to college at the Universities of Utah and Pennyslvania.
After living in Taipei for a year, Huntsman served in the Reagan and Bush Administrations. He was Ambassador to Singapore when he was only 32. When Bill Clinton was President, Huntsman ran his family's multi-million dollar chemical company. He served as George W. Bush's Ambassador to Indonesia and Deputy Trade Representative.
In 2004, Huntsman was elected Governor of Utah. While in office, he cut taxes. While governor, most people in Utah approved of him. He was re-elected in 2008, but resigned as Barack Obama's Ambassador to China. Huntsman served in that capacity from 2009 to 2011. While Ambassador, he watched some Chinese protest; this led to the Chinese blocking his name on Google for a while.
Huntsman was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 Republican primaries. He was one of the most moderate candidates running in the primaries. Huntsman ran on his strong record of job creation in Utah, which had the highest job creation rate in America while he was governor. He has also polled near the bottom of the candidates in the race, although he had a strong showing in New Hampshire. He lost the primaries to Mitt Romney.
Huntsman is a Mormon and went on a Mormon mission in Asia, but has explored other faiths. Huntsman is also an Eagle Scout. Huntsman has seven kids. Two of them are adopted.
