Afterward he decided to make his career in the army, and was awarded decorations after fighting against Simón Bolívar during the Admirable Campaign of independence in Latin America.

[6] In 1901 when Muñoz Marín was three years old, a group of statehood supporters broke into his father's El Diario's building and vandalized most of the equipment.

[8] Muñoz Marín began his elementary education at William Penn Public School in Santurce, a district of San Juan.

[12][13] In late 1916, Muñoz Marín and his mother were called to Puerto Rico by their friend Eduardo Georgetti, who said Luis' father was suffering from an infection spreading from his gallbladder.

For several months, he served as the congressional clerk to Félix Córdova Dávila, who succeeded Muñoz Marín's father as Resident Commissioner.

"[24] In 1940, a month after his election as President of the Senate in Puerto Rico, Muñoz Marín and Mendoza had a daughter, Victoria, named to commemorate his success.

[citation needed] In 1923, he returned alone to Puerto Rico, supposedly to publish a book that collected several of his father's previously unpublished works.

After collecting $5,000 from his father's friends for this alleged "publication" Muñoz Marín spent the money, did not write the book, and quickly left the island.

[30] Several years later, after things had quieted down, Antonio R. Barceló, who was the president of the newly formed Liberal Party, called Muñoz Marín to work on La Democracia.

[31] After having problems with some members of the party's Republican faction, due to his support for island autonomy, Muñoz Marín returned to New York.

[citation needed] In 1931, after traveling throughout the United States, Muñoz Marín noticed the instability of the country's economy — and his own personal finances — after the stock market crash.

Deciding that exploiting his father's name in Puerto Rican politics was better than starving in Greenwich Village, he borrowed money from a group of friends and returned to the island.

[32] Upon arriving, he discovered that Hurricane San Felipe Segundo had destroyed most of the sugar crops where the jíbaros worked, leaving the majority unemployed.

Barceló adopted several of Muñoz Marín's ideas of social and economic reforms and autonomy, using them to form the ideology of the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico.

Although the party did not win a majority in the 1932 elections, Muñoz Marín received enough votes to gain a position in the Puerto Rican Senate.

[36] In August 1932, Muñoz Marín received Eleanor Roosevelt in Fort San Felipe del Morro and La Fortaleza before traveling to El Fanguito, a poor sector that had suffered much damage in the hurricane.

Muñoz Marín became a popular political figure due to his involvement in the program, which provided for considerable investment of federal funds in Puerto Rico to develop infrastructure and housing.

[40] The party committed to helping the jíbaros, regardless of their political beliefs, by promoting a minimum wage, initiatives to provide food and water, cooperatives to work with agriculture, and the creation of more industrial alternatives.

[33] Operation Bootstrap encouraged investors to transfer or create manufacturing plants, offering them local and federal tax concessions, while maintaining access to American markets free of import duties.

Muñoz Marín also launched Operación Serenidad ("Operation Serenity"), a series of projects geared toward promoting education and appreciation of the arts.

[46] Civil rights groups and the Catholic Church criticized Operation Bootstrap, for what they saw as government-promoted birth control, encouragement of surgical sterilization, and fostering the migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States mainland.

[48] In 1945, Eric Williams would acknowledge the progress in civil rights in Puerto Rico at the time, conceding that despite some issues related to class discrimination, "The Negro enjoys equality with the white man politically as well as legally," and that even opponents of Muñoz Marín "agree that he and his party have given Negroes a square deal and opened positions to them, especially in the teaching profession and the higher ranks of the police force, from which they were conventionally debarred.

"[48] During the early stages of World War II, many thousands of Puerto Ricans were drafted to serve in the United States Army.

It closely resembled the anti-communist Smith Act passed in the United States, and was perceived as an effort to suppress opposition to the PPD and the independence movement.

[54] Muñoz Marín used Law 53 to arrest thousands of Puerto Ricans without due process – including members of other political parties, and people who did not vote for him.

On October 30, 1950, a group of Puerto Rican nationalists attacked the governor's mansion and attempted to assassinate Muñoz Marín, by firing shots into his office.

"the gag law") to arrest thousands of Puerto Ricans without due process, including pro-independence supporters who were not involved in the uprisings.

[61] In 1952, three United States senators referred to Muñoz Marin as a dictator when he would not approve "New Industry" tax exemptions for housing construction projects.

[citation needed] After leaving the post of governor, Muñoz Marín continued his public service until 1970 as a member of the Puerto Rico Senate.

[citation needed] After resigning his senate seat in 1970, Muñoz Marín temporarily moved to Italy, where one of his daughters, Viviana, had established residence.