Kenn George Politician
Kenneth S. George, II, known as Kenn George (born June 25, 1948), is a self-employed businessman in Dallas, Texas, who served from 1999-2003 as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 108, which covers the heart of Dallas County. He left the legislature in an unsuccessful bid for Texas land commissioner in the 2002 Republican primary election. He was defeated by current commissioner Jerry E. Patterson, a former state senator from Houston.From 1981-1985, George was an assistant secretary of commerce, under Malcolm Baldrige, Jr., during the first term of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan. In this capacity, George was involved in the formulation of the Caribbean Basin Initiative. and the specific stabilization of the Caribbean island of Grenada after its liberation in 1983 from a leftist regime backed by Fidel Castro. The CBI, since overshadowed by the North American Free Trade Agreement, was an unprecedented package of trade, assistance, and tax incentives for United States and Caribbean businesses. In the additional role as the Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, George chaired an inter-agency committee which oversees the operations of the CBI.Native Texan George attended San Jacinto Junior High School in Midland with George W. Bush, who is two years Kenn George's senior. In 1970, George graduated from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He earned his Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was the student body president of the graduate business school. Like Bush, George is a veteran of the Texas National Guard. He and his wife, Tricia, have four children.