Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez was born on 26 December, 1953 in a small house in the San Carlos area of Santo Domingo, the son of a former Army mayor Jose Antonio Fern\u00e1ndez and Yolanda Reyna. At the age of 9, Leonel moved to New York with his parents, where he finished elementary school and began high school. As a result of his early exposure to English, he is fluent in the language and after returning to Santo Domingo was a high school teacher of English and French while studying law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez returned to the D.R. in 1968 at the age of 15. An avid reader and outstanding student, he also found time to participate in debates with other young, politically-conscious youths who were active in diverse organizations opposed to the government, including the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), at the time headed by Juan Bosch. In 1971, he began his studies at the Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Santo Domingo (UASD), graduating from the university’s School of Law in 1978. During his studies, he participated in many political student organizations, in addition to forming part of the original group that followed Mr. Bosch from the PRD to found the Partido de la Liberaci\u00f3n Dominicana (PLD), on whose ticket he won the presidency in 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Dr. Fern\u00e1ndez first gained national recognition when he was chosen as the vice-presidential candidate of the PLD with Juan Bosch for the 1994 presidential campaign. The PLD suffered a crushing defeat that year, receiving only 13% of the electorate. His tremendous jump in popularity between 1994 and 1996 can be attributed to several factors, including a yearning for a new generation of politicians, shrewd pacts with then-President Joaquin Balaguer that resulted in increasing the percentage of votes of the run-off election to 50% up from an originally proposed 40%, and his receiving the favor of President Balaguer and the PRSC for the 30 June run-off election. To his credit is his skill as a politician and orator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez has married once, to economist Rosario Dom\u00ednguez, whom he divorced several years ago. They have two teenage children, Nicole and Omar Leonel. As in the case of the presidency of Joaqu\u00edn Balaguer, there will be no first lady of the D.R., at least for now.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez was born on 26 December, 1953 in a small house in the San Carlos area of Santo Domingo, the son of a former Army mayor Jose Antonio Fern\u00e1ndez and Yolanda Reyna. At the age of 9, Leonel moved to New York with his parents, where he finished elementary school and began high school. … <\/p>\n