America 250 Chair shares her journey from poverty to Harvard to the White House

In recent weeks, The Post, in conjunction with the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, has been featuring US citizens explaining what the American dream means to them in 2026. Our final dreamer this July Fourth is Rosie Rios, the Chair of the United States Semiquincentennial Commission and former treasurer of the US. 

I remember the [United States] Bicentennial like it was yesterday. I was 11 years old in Hayward, Calif. I remember learning all the patriotic songs in school … I remember seeing on our black-and-white TV, the tall ships coming through the New York harbor. I really remember July 4th, 1976. It was a cloudy night, [and] those fireworks — for someone who was raised in poverty, the way we were —my goodness. 

Rosie Rios, chair of the America 250 Commission, remembers the celebration for America’s 200th “like it was yesterday.” CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

It wasn’t an event. It was a feeling. It was a feeling of gratitude that my parents chose to move to this country … I just loved my country, and I still do. That has never been a question in my mind, the fortune of being born and raised here ….

My parents came from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, in 1958 to California.

… My father was abusive, and, at some point, after having nine kids, [my mom] decided to leave him …  She could’ve taken all of us back to Mexico, but she made the deliberate decision to raise us all in the US. And thankfully she did …

Rios served as US Treasurer under President Obama. Bloomberg via Getty Images

I work[ed] full-time in high school …  I would get out of school at 2:15. I would race over to the [Alameda County Library] headquarters … [and work there until] around 9:15.  I would race home and change, get ready for bed, eat dinner, and then start my homework at 10:00 p.m., every night, [and study] until 1 a.m.  

That schedule’s still ingrained in my head, which is probably not very healthy. But, that is still my schedule, to this day [and] I do think that that’s what got me into Harvard. 

I am the American dream. My mom is the American dream. My kids are the American dream. I think the American dream is best personified by case studies, by people who came from nothing.

The American Dream Video Project showcases real stories that illuminate pathways to opportunity. Featured at the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD), this series is part of the Center’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. MCAAD is Washington, DC’s newest cultural institution, offering interactive exhibits and stories about achieving the American Dream. For more information, visit mcaad.org.