John H. Sununu

John Henry Sununu (born July 2, 1939) is a Cuban-born American politician. He served as the 75th Governor of New Hampshire (1983–89) and later White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. He is the father of Christopher Sununu and John E. Sununu, a former United States Senator from New Hampshire. Sununu was the chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party from 2009 to 2011.

Early life

Sununu was born in Havana, Cuba, the son of Victoria (née Dada) and John Saleh Sununu, an international film distributor. His father's family came to the United States from the Middle East at the turn of the century. His paternal ancestry is Lebanese from the Orthodox Church community in Jerusalem. His father, John, was born in Boston. Most of the last two generations of Sununus were also born in the United States. Sununu's mother, Victoria Dada, was born in El Salvador. Her family was Greek Orthodox Christian and settled in Central America at the turn of the century. Most of his closest relatives in Beirut have died, including an uncle who returned to the Lebanese capital from the United States several years ago. The Governor paid his last visit to Beirut as a child in the late 1940s.