Charles Patrick Garcia - Other Achievements

Other Achievements

• While at Law School, García published an article in the Columbia Law Review that was cited by the Florida Supreme Court.
• During the 23-day launch of the Iraq war, he was Telemundo’s behind-the-desk military expert. After the 9/11 attacks García’s company issued press releases seeking to have him invited to comment on the threat from biological warfare, and he soon made appearances discussing the issue. He has been featured as the cover story in numerous magazines and newspaper articles, and his opinion editorials have been carried by newspapers and magazines. He has appeared on CNN's Crossfire (TV series), Paula Zahn Now, Telemundo, and other news talk shows.
• In June 2001 to December 2004, Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Mr. García as the only Hispanic to the seven member State Board of Education, a new government entity responsible for overseeing all education delivery systems in the state with an annual budget exceeding $15 billion. In February 2002, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, charged with developing a blueprint to close the educational gap for Hispanic children. On the Commission, he chaired its Public Awareness Committee.
• In October 2003, Mr. García authored his first book on leadership and motivation, A Message From Garcia published by John Wiley & Sons, simultaneously released in English and Spanish. Jaime Escalante whose life as a calculus teacher in East LA’s Garfield High School was made into the movie Stand and Deliver wrote the foreword to the book. The book was ranked #1 business book on Amazon.com and # 6 on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list and the New York Times reviewed it.
• García was identified by Hispanic Magazine as one of the "100 most influential Hispanics in the United States," and Hispanic Today magazine featured Mr. García in a cover story "Committing to Hispanic America" and Univision television selected him for their series "Orgullo Hispano". In September 2004 Grupo Santillana published Hispanics in the USA: Making History where he was chosen as one of the 14 Hispanic role models for the nation. In May 2006, author Lionel Sosa published Think and Grow Rich: A Latino Choice (Ballatine Books) which also featured him as a role model in the business world for Latino entrepreneurs.
• In 2005, President George W. Bush appointed him to the United States Air Force Academy Board of Visitors which overseas all operations at the military academy. In November 2006 he was elected Board Chairman. He now serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Graduates, where he is Chairman of the Finance Committee; and also served as Chair of the Strategic Communications Committee.
• García is a regular contributor to political campaigns. From 1999 to 2004 he is listed as personally contributing a total of $11,000 to various presidential and congressional candidates and Political Action Committees. He, and former wife Allison, are listed as contributing $2000 each to the 2004 campaign of George W. Bush. García was also a Bush Pioneer for the 2004 reelection campaign, raising at least $100,000 in contributions.
• Garcia is on the Board of Directors of Winn-Dixie
• In May 2009, Mr. Garcia authored a second leadership book, Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows: Learn How to Inspire Others, Achieve Greatness, and Find Success in Any Organization published by McGraw-Hill which compiles leadership lessons from interviews of over 200 White House Fellows.