Henry Cuellar - Early Life, Education, and Pre-political Career

Early Life, Education, and Pre-political Career

Cuellar was born in Laredo, the seat of Webb County in southern Texas, where he has resided most of his life. Cuellar's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Martin S. Cuellar, Sr., were migrant workers who never completed schooling beyond the fifth grade. He is the oldest of eight children. His brother, Martin Cuellar, Jr., is the sheriff of Webb County, having been elected in 2008 over the incumbent fellow Democrat Rick Flores. A sister, Rosie Cuellar-Castillo, is the Laredo municipal judge, having won a nonpartisan runoff election held on December 11, 2010.

Cuellar graduated in 1973 from J. W. Nixon High School, a classmate of future Webb County District Attorney Joe Rubio, Jr. Cuellar received an associate's degree from Laredo Community College (then known as Laredo Junior College), where he would later teach courses in government on an adjunct basis. He then attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in foreign service. He also holds a master's degree in International Trade from Texas A&M International University in Laredo and a Juris Doctor and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Cuellar opened his own law firm in 1981 and became a licensed customs broker in 1983. He worked at his alma mater, TAMIU, as an Adjunct Professor for International Commercial Law from 1984 to 1986.