Antonio Rafael Barcelóy Martínez was a Puerto Rican lawyer,businessman and the patriarch of what was to become one of Puerto Rico's most prominent political families. Barceló,who in 1917 became the first President of the Senate of Puerto Rico,played an instrumental role in the introduction and passage of legislation which permitted the realization of the School of Tropical Medicine and the construction of a Capitol building in Puerto Rico.
Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano is an American politician serving in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. A Democrat from New York,Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3,2011. Her district,in New York City,was numbered the 12th district from 1993 to 2013 and has been numbered the 7th district since 2013. Velázquez is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in the United States Congress.
Jaime Benito Fuster Berlingeri was a politician who served as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. Justice Fuster,along with Justice Liana Fiol Matta,was considered the leading liberal voice in the Puerto Rico Supreme Court.
William A. Navas Jr. is a retired United States Army major general who served as the director of the Army National Guard. He is also the first Puerto Rican to be named an Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
Jenniffer Aydin González Colón is a Puerto Rican politician who serves as the 20th Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. González has served in leadership positions in the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP) and in the Republican Party of the United States. These positions included being the chairwoman of the Puerto Rico Republican Party,speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico,and vice-chair of the PNP. González is the youngest person to be Resident Commissioner and the first woman to hold the role.
Puerto Ricans and people of Puerto Rican descent have participated as members of the United States Armed Forces in the American Civil War and in every conflict which the United States has been involved since World War I. In World War II,more than 65,000 Puerto Rican service members served in the war effort,including the guarding of U.S. military installations in the Caribbean and combat operations in the European and Pacific theatres.
Hispanics in the United States Naval Academy account for the largest minority group in the institution. According to the academy,the Class of 2009 includes 271 (22.2%) minority midshipmen. Out of these 271 midshipmen,115 are of Hispanic heritage. In 2004,of the total of 736 female midshipmen,74 (10%) of them were of Hispanic descent.
Francisco J. Domenech is a former Director of the Office of Legislative Services of Puerto Rico (2005–2008). Domenech spent part of his childhood,and adolescent years,in Ocala,Florida,having attended Blessed Trinity Catholic School,and Forest High School.
Hispanic Americans,also referred to as Latinos,served in all elements of the American armed forces in the war. They fought in every major American battle in the war. Between 400,000 and 500,000 Hispanic Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II,out of a total of 16,000,000,constituting 3.1% to 3.2% of the U.S. Armed Forces. The exact number is unknown as,at the time,Hispanics were not tabulated separately,but were included in the general white population census count. Separate statistics were kept for African Americans and Asian Americans.
Eduardo Bhatia Gautier is a Puerto Rican attorney and politician. Bhatia is a former 15th President of the Senate of Puerto Rico and executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration.
Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps,such as Private France Silva who during the Boxer Rebellion became the first Marine of the thirteen Marines of Latin American descent to be awarded the Medal of Honor,and Private First Class Guy Gabaldon who is credited with capturing over 1,000 enemy soldiers and civilians during World War II,have distinguished themselves in combat. Hispanics have participated as members of the United States Marine Corps in the Boxer Rebellion,World War I,the American intervention in Latin America also known as the Banana Wars,World War II,the Korean War,the Vietnam War,the Gulf War and most recently in the military campaigns of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Darren Michael Soto is an American attorney and Democratic politician from Kissimmee,Florida,who is the U.S. representative for Florida's 9th district.
Gustavo Antonio GelpíJr. is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He is a former chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
Hispanics in the United States Air Force can trace their tradition of service back to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF),the military aviation arm of the United States Army during and immediately after World War II. The USAAF was the predecessor of the United States Air Force,which was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18,1947,under the National Security Act of 1947. In the U.S.,the term Hispanic categorizes any citizen or resident of the United States,of any racial background,of any country,and of any religion,who has at least one ancestor from the people of Spain or is of non-Hispanic origin but has an ancestor from Mexico,Puerto Rico,Cuba,Central or South America,or some other Hispanic origin. The three largest Hispanic groups in the United States are the Mexican-Americans,Puerto Ricans,and Cubans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the estimated Hispanic population of the United States is over 50 million,or 16% of the U.S. population,and Hispanics are the nation's largest ethnic minority. The 2010 U.S. census estimate of over 50 million Hispanics in the U.S. does not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico,thereby making the people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest ethnic or race minority as of July 1,2005.
Nitza Ileana Quiñones Alejandro is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Quiñones Alejandro is the first lesbian Latina to be appointed to serve as a federal judge.
Latino Americans make up an increasing share of the United States (U.S.) electorate. A record 29 million Latinos were eligible to vote in the 2018 midterm elections,accounting for 12.8% of all eligible voters,a new high. They made up an estimated 11% of all voters nationwide on Election Day,nearly matching their share of the U.S. eligible voter population.
The Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is a senior position within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs that is responsible for the operation and policies of the Board of Veterans' Appeals,which is the administrative tribunal within the department responsible for holding hearings and issuing decisions on behalf of the Secretary regarding veterans' claims for benefits and services.
Irene M. Zoppi Rodríguez,is a retired U.S. Army Reserve brigadier general and academic. She was the first Puerto Rican woman ever to attain that rank in the Army Reserve. Her final assignment was deputy commanding general for United States Army South as the director of the Army Reserve Engagement Cell for Individual Mobilization Augmentees. Zoppi is an adjunct professor at Strayer University. She has worked as an instructor for the National Intelligence University where she directed the university's academic center within the National Security Agency.
United States Army 
Brigadier General