Jose Maria Aznar: 1953—: Prime Minister of Spain Biography - Entered Conservative Politics, Assumed National Political Role, Steered Spain To Success, Tormented By Terrorism

Jose Maria Aznar Lopez was born in Madrid, Spain on February 25, 1953 to a middle class family with political ties to General Francisco Franco's ultra-conservative dictatorship. Aznar's father and one of his grandfathers both held posts in the dictator's government. His family also included several notable conservative journalists, one of whom wrote a history of the Spanish Civil War from Franco's very unpopular viewpoint. Thus the Spanish public's perception of Aznar's brand of conservatism as related to the conservatism of Franco was more than just speculation. Aznar attended college at Madrid's Complutense University where he earned a law degree. Following graduation he obtained work as a government tax inspector, a position he held through the death of Franco in 1975 and well into the first wave of the democratization of Spain.