sentences:  Cardenas has been active in the Republican Party throughout his career.He was responsible for the transition of the United States Department of Commerce at the beginning of the Ronald Reagan administration, and was appointed the first U.S. ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis in 1983.He served on the board of the Federal National Mortgage Association from 1985 to 1990, as an appointee of Reagan and George H. W. Bush.