Martinez, Bob

Bob Martinez (1934–) was the drug czar of the United States, serving as the second director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy from 1991 to 1993, having been appointed by President George H. W. Bush. Prior to this appointment, he had been both an educator and a politician, teaching in his hometown of Tampa, Florida, in the 1960s and 1970s before running for mayor of Tampa in 1979.

While mayor, he changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. He later served as governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991, during which time Jeb Bush (son of George H. W. Bush, and future governor) was his secretary of commerce. Florida, particularly South Florida, had experienced serious drug problems since at least the late 1970s, ...