PEDRO P. TENORIO was born on the island of Saipan. He completed his secondary education on Guam, graduating from George Washington High School in 1955, and he attended the Territorial College of Guam (now the University of Guam). He returned to Saipan and worked for several years as a supervisor for the Naval Technical and Training Unit, as an intermediate school teacher, and as an executive of a shipping company. A charter member of the Saipan Rotary Club International, he has also served as chairman of the Marianas Visitors Bureau. In government service, he first served in the House of Representatives of the Congress of Micronesia and subsequently became a member of the Marianas District Legislature. In 1978, when the Northern Mariana Islands became a U.S. commonwealth (CNMI), he was elected vice president of the senate of the first commonwealth legislature and chairman of the Programs Committee. He was elected president of the senate in 1980. Sworn in as governor in 1982, he was reelected for a second term in 1985. He was elected Governor again in November 1997 and was inaugurated on January 12, 1998.