Ted Cruz 2016: 7 Highlights From Pre-Politics Life of GOP Presidential Hopeful

Ted Cruz, an outspoken attorney whose first elected role was as a U.S. senator from Texas, is seen as a strong contender for a run for president in 2016. Although he’s only been a senator since 2012, Cruz has already ingratiated himself with the Tea Party.

Here are seven highlights from his pre-politics life:

1. His father was a political prisoner of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista during Fidel Castro's revolution and nearly lost his life. "Being the son of an immigrant who came here fleeing oppression and seeking freedom, I think, is an incredible gift," Cruz has said. "It makes you deeply appreciative of the miracle of freedom that we enjoy in this country."

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2. By the time Cruz was in his mid-30s, he had already argued eight cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the Texas congressional redistricting case. That’s the most of any Texas attorney.

3. Cruz was part of a legal team that defended the constitutionality of the Texas 10 Commandments monument while he was the state’s solicitor general. The team argued that the 10 Commandments are international law, and the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the display was allowed on government property because of its historical significance.

4. He also defended the constitutionality of a cross dedicated to World War I veterans at California’s Mojave National Preserve, which is administered by the National Park Service. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to have the cross removed, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the cross.

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5. Cruz graduated with honors from Princeton University and with high honors from Harvard Law School. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist chose him as a law clerk. Cruz was also the first Hispanic to clerk for the U.S. chief justice.

6. The senator served George W. Bush's 2000 campaign as a domestic policy adviser. He also asked future Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to join the Florida recount effort.

7. Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz called Cruz one of the university’s smartest students. “He was always very active in class, presenting a libertarian point of view. He didn’t strike me as a social conservative, more of a libertarian.”

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