MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Provided below is a short Huntsman's biography.
US politician and diplomat Jon Huntsman was born on March 26, 1960 in Redwood City, California into a Mormon family of billionaire and philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr., the owner of the chemical company Huntsman Corporation.
Huntsman later entered the University of Utah and served as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan for two years.
In 1987, Huntsman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in international politics.
His political career started in 1983 in President Ronald Reagan's administration at a position of a White House staff assistant.
After serving in 1986 to 1989 at his father's companies as a manger and vice president, Huntsman worked as deputy US trade representative and US trade ambassador in 1989-1991.
After his first mission as an ambassador Huntsman occupied the leading positions in Huntsman Family Holdings Co.
In 2005-2009, Huntsman was the governor of Utah.
Huntsman was a Republican nominee for the 2012 presidential election, but after finishing third at New Hampshire primary, he announced the end of his campaign and endorsed Mitt Romney.
Currently Huntsman is a member of the board of directors of Chevron, Caterpillar, Ford Motor Company, Hilton Worldwide Holdings.
On Wednesday, US media reported that the White House offered Huntsman the position of US Ambassador to Russia which he reportedly accepted.
Jon Huntsman is married and has seven children, including two foster daughters from China and India.
