[12] He attended Highland High School in Salt Lake City but dropped out before graduating to perform as a keyboard player in a rock band.

Jon Huntsman Jr. served as a missionary for the LDS Church in Taiwan for two years and later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a bachelor of arts in international politics in 1987.

While Huntsman was visiting the White House in 1971 during his father's service as special assistant to U.S. president Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger confided to the eleven-year-old that he was secretly traveling to China.

[16] In June 1992, Bush appointed Huntsman as U.S. ambassador to Singapore,[19] and he was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in August.

[21][22] In January 2001, after George W. Bush took office as president, The Washington Post reported there was a strong possibility Huntsman would be appointed to be the new U.S. ambassador to China.

[24] On March 28, Bush appointed Huntsman to be one of two Deputy United States trade representatives in his administration;[25] he served in this role from 2001 to 2003.

[42] In 2007, he signed into law the Parent Choice in Education Act, which he said was "the largest school-voucher bill to date in the United States.

This massive school-choice program provides scholarships ranging from $500 to $3000 to help parents send their children to the private school of their choice.

[49] President Barack Obama nominated Jon Huntsman to serve as the United States Ambassador to China on May 16, 2009, noting his experience in the region and proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.

[55] The spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in China stated that Huntsman had been unaware of the planned protest, and happened to be strolling through the area on a family outing.

[56][57] Huntsman resigned from his position as ambassador, effective April 30, 2011, in order to return to the United States to explore a 2012 presidential bid.

[61] On February 22, 2011, Horizon PAC launched its official website, stating that it "supports free-market values, principled leadership and a commitment to long-term solutions".

[64][65][66] On May 3, 2011, he formed an official fundraising political action committee, building on the efforts of the previously established Horizon PAC.

On October 18, 2011, he boycotted the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, out of deference to New Hampshire, which was locked in a political scheduling fight with Nevada.

[83] According to Huntsman, The vast, illicit transfer of American innovation is one of the most significant economic issues impacting U.S. competitiveness that the nation has not fully addressed.

[87][88] During his time as ambassador, Huntsman reported having access to senior Russian officials, which he stated was not always the case during his ambassadorship to China.

[95] His daughter, Abby Huntsman, announced in January 2020 that she would leave her position on The View to join his gubernatorial campaign as a senior advisor.

[98] However, Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox ultimately won the primary with 36.4% of the vote against Huntsman's 34.6%, and went on to win the general election.

[101] During his first term as Utah governor, Huntsman listed economic development, healthcare reform, education, and energy security as his top priorities.

He oversaw tax cuts and advocated reorganizing the way that services were distributed so that the government would not become overwhelmed by the state's fast-growing population.

Building a winning coalition to tackle the looming fiscal and trust deficits will be impossible [for Republicans] if we continue to alienate broad segments of the population.

[106] As part of his presidential campaign Huntsman said "our tax code has devolved into a maze of special-interest carve-outs, loopholes, and temporary provisions that cost taxpayers more than $400 billion a year to comply with".

"[102][113] In 2013, Huntsman was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

[112] In 2007, in response to the issue of global warming, Huntsman signed the Western Climate Initiative, by which Utah joined with other governments in agreeing to pursue targets for reduced production of greenhouse gases.

"[114] In 2011, in response to comments by Rick Perry and other Republican presidential candidates, Huntsman stated he "believe[s] in evolution and trust[s] scientists" on climate change.

"[117] Huntsman has repeatedly stated, "We need to continue working closely with China to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program".

He has also named Taiwan, human rights, and Tibet among the "areas where we have differences with China" and vowed "robust engagement" as ambassador.

"[119] In 2005, Huntsman signed a bill giving undocumented migrants access to "driving-privilege cards", which allowed them to have driving privileges but unlike driver licenses, cannot be used for identification purposes.

In a 2011 presidential debate, Huntsman defended the move, explaining that "[illegal immigrants] were given a driver's license before and they were using that for identification purposes.

[124] Huntsman also supported the DREAM Act, which proposed a path to citizenship for young people brought to the United States by their parents illegally.