Esteban Torres was born January 27, 1930 in Miami, Arizona. As a young boy, he moved to East Los Angeles with his mother and grandmother. After graduating from high school, he joined the Army, serving at Fort Belvoir near Washington, D.C. during the Korean War. After his military service, he worked on the assembly line at a Chrysler plant in Los Angeles, and became active in the United Auto Workers union. UAW president Walter Reuther asked Torres to spearhead the creation of The East Los Angeles Communtiy Union (TELACU), a community development corporation intended to fight poverty in Chicano and other disadvantaged communities. Later, President Jimmy Carter asked Torres to become ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). After two years in that post, Carter asked him to serve as Special Assistant to the President for Hispanic Affairs. In 1982 Torres was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the newly drawn 34th congressional district, which encompassed much of southeatern Los Angeles County. Active in the Democratic Party and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, he served on a variety of different committees and eventually became Deputy Democratic Whip. In 1998, he chose not to run for re-election and retired from the House at the end of the term.