John Broughton was the former Prime Minister of Ireland, who successfully transformed the Celtic Tiger into one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In the year before he took office in 1993, Ireland's economy grew by 27%; During his tenure from 1994 to 1997, Ireland's annual economic growth rate was 87%, reaching a peak of 111% in 1997. Bruton was also deeply involved in the peace process in Northern Ireland, promoting the 1998 Good Friday agreement and ending a 30 year long violent conflict. During his tenure as Prime Minister, Bruton successfully served as the rotating president of the European Union for one year in 1996 and helped to ultimately reach the Stability and Growth Pact to manage a single European currency, the euro. On September 11, 1996, Bruton delivered a speech at a joint meeting of the United States Congress. He was the 30th head of state or government to deliver a speech here since 1945, and may be the only President of the European Council to attend the joint meeting. In addition, he has also represented the presidents of the European Union and the United States, the Prime Ministers of Canada, Japan, China, and South Korea at summit events multiple times. Before being appointed as the EU Ambassador to the United States from 2004 to 2009, John Bruton served as the main member of the EU Constitutional Treaty Drafting Conference, which was signed in Rome on October 29, 2004. He strongly supports allowing the public of 27 EU member states to directly elect the President of the European Commission, giving the public a more direct say in choosing EU leaders. From 1999 until his appointment as ambassador, he was one of the ten vice presidents of the European People's Party, which brought together leaders of 74 European political parties, many of whom held government positions in their country. He delivered a speech to the business and political leaders of New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ukraine, T\u00fcrkiye, the United Arab Emirates and many EU member countries on the topic of global, European and Irish economic development. From 2004 to 2009, John served as the EU Ambassador to the United States, during which he met with current and former US presidents, visited governors, mayors, business leaders, and students from over 20 states, and told them that EU expansion would promote US economic development and create employment opportunities for the United States. Bruton met with over 250 members of Congress in Washington to discuss the main progress made by the European Union, as well as the relationship between the EU and the United States in trade, counter-terrorism, public health, energy, environment, and promoting global peace, democracy, and human rights. In 1969, at the age of 22, John Broughton was first elected as a member of the United Party to the Irish Parliament and became the leader of the party in 1990. In 1994, the party became a member of the government party. He served as the Minister of Finance of Ireland from 1981 to 1982; 1986-1987, Minister of Industry and Energy 1982-1983, Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Tourism 1983-1986, and Secretary of Parliament 1973-197