Jon Huntsman, Jr. Quotes
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Huntsman served in every presidential administration from the presidency of Ronald Reagan to that of Donald Trump. He began his career as a White House staff assistant for Ronald Reagan, and was appointed deputy assistant secretary of commerce and U.S. ambassador to Singapore by George H. W. Bush. Later as deputy U.S. trade representative under George W. Bush, he launched global trade negotiations in Doha in 2001 and guided the accession of China into the World Trade Organization. He served as CEO of Huntsman Family Holdings, a private entity that held the stock the family owned in Huntsman Corporation. He has also served as a board member of Huntsman Corporation, and as chair of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Huntsman is the only American ambassador to have served in both Russia and China, having been the U.S. ambassador to China under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 and as the U.S. ambassador to Russia under Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019.
While governor of Utah, Huntsman was named chair of the Western Governors Association and joined the executive committee of the National Governors Association. Under his leadership, Utah was named the best-managed state in America by the Pew Center on the States. During his tenure, Huntsman was one of the most popular governors in the country, and won reelection in a landslide in 2008, winning every single county. He left office with approval ratings over 80 percent and was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. He ran for governor again in 2020, but narrowly lost in the Republican primary to Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox.
Huntsman now serves as a No Labels National Co-Chair, and on July 17, 2023, he appeared with US senator Joe Manchin as headliners for a No Labels Common Sense Agenda Town Hall in Manchester, New Hampshire.