1939: Born in Havana, Cuba


1965 - 1983: Founds and directs JHS Engineering Company and Thermal Research Inc.

1966: Earns Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1968 - 1973: Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean of Tufts University's College of Engineering

1973 - 1974: Serves term in State House

1980: Runs for U.S. Senate; defeated in primary by Warren Rudman, but serves as Rudman's campaign manager in general election



1982: Elected to first of three terms as governor, defeating incumbent Hugh Gallen

1987: Elected chair of National Governors' Association



1988: Key figure in George H.W. Bush's presidential campaign, helping Bush win the New Hampshire primary and then leading attacks against opponent Michael Dukakis



1989 - 1991: Serves as White House Chief of Staff for President Bush



1992 - 1998: Co-host of CNN's "Crossfire"



2003: Named to faculty of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government

What are the most significant ways that New Hampshire has changed over the past 25 years? The biggest change has been sort of a parallel to what has happened around the country. One of the things I tried to do as governor was to start attracting some of the high-tech businesses and the health care industries. And I think New Hampshire, in that period of time, became, and I think still is, the state with the highest percentage of high-tech employment in the country... beyond that, there's the continuation of the concern that... some of the changes that people are proposing come in nice packages, but they tend to undermine the old New Hampshire tradition of small government, local government, a significant role for the individual in the political process, and I just get nervous all the time that the lean that seems to be going in the wrong direction is picking up steam. But I think every once in a while, people grab ourselves by the scruff of our own neck and pull us back to reality.

What Granite Stater(s) would you say inspired you? In what way? There were five old Republican governors that were very generous with their advice and time: Sherm Adams, Lane Dwinnell, Hugh Gregg, Walter Peterson and Mel Thomson. Each was a little bit different in their approach to government; each a little bit different in what they emphasized as priorities, but they were all generous in answering questions and really, as a group, were a tremendous influence.

What would you consider your favorite spot in New Hampshire and why? The road that goes past the Mount Washington Hotel has a little bend in it. And as you come around that bend, you see the beautiful white hotel with the red roof and Mount Washington behind it, and what's special about that is the way it changes with different seasons. If you come in the spring, when there's still snow on the mountain, you see the flowers around the hotel; if you come in the fall, you see the snow on the mountain with the blazing colors of the foliage; and in the winter with the white out there it's just spectacular... that tremendous panoramic view that really defines [what] New Hampshire's special scenery is all about.

What would you like to see accomplished in New Hampshire over the next 25 years? Just make sure that it preserves its basic values. It is a different place, it is a special place, and if all we do is copy the other 49 states we're not special anymore. So my hope is that we stay true to our principles and our values.