José Luís Alberto Muñoz Marín (1898-1980), Puerto Rican political leader, was instrumental in gaining self-rule and, later, commonwealth status for his country.

Luis Muñoz Marín was born on February 18, 1898, the son of Luís Muñoz Rivera and Amalia Marín. In 1910, his father was elected resident commissioner, and the family moved to Washington, D.C., where Muñoz was sent to boarding school. He later attended Georgetown University. After the death of his father in 1916, Muñoz returned to Puerto Rico. Muñoz was soon back in Washington as secretary to the new resident commissioner and briefly attended Georgetown Law School.

Muñoz then moved to New York City, where he began to make his living as a writer. He married a Mississippian poet, Muna Lee, in 1919. Shortly afterward...