Haddad was born in São Paulo, the second of three children of salesman Khalil Haddad, a Lebanese Antiochian Greek Orthodox immigrant that arrived in Brazil in 1948 from Ain Aata, and Norma Teresa Gousain, the daughter of immigrants from Lebanon. Haddad has two sisters, Priscila and Lúcia. Their mother is a spiritist. Haddad's grandfather Khoury Habib Haddad, whom he did not meet, was a priest for the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in Lebanon and Brazil. Haddad attended high school at Colégio Bandeirantes, and in 1981 entered the Law School of the University of São Paulo as an undergraduate.
Career
Haddad holds a Master's Degree in Economics and a Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of São Paulo. His Master's dissertation was on socio-economic aspects of the Soviet Union, defended in 1990, whereas his doctorate thesis is concerned with Historical materialism, defended in 1996. He began his career as an investment analyst at Unibanco, but has devoted much of his career to public service. Haddad has been a consultant for the Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas, an economics research institute, based at the School of Economics, Business and Accounting of the University of São Paulo, chief of staff to the Finance and Economic Development Secretary of the municipality of São Paulo, and a special advisor to the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management. He is also a professor in the political science department of the University of São Paulo. Haddad took over the cabinet position of Minister of Education on 29 July 2005, when his predecessor, Tarso Genro, left the position to become the chairman of the Workers' Party. In 2007, Haddad established the Basic Education Development Index to measure the quality of public primary and middle schools. Under Haddad's tenure as minister, the Lula administration implemented the University for All Program, which aims at offering scholarships for low-income students attending private universities. The Ministry also made several reforms to the National High School Exam so as to amplify its usage in university admissions. In 2009 Haddad's ministry became embroiled in controversy after that year's ENEM leaked, which forced the government to cancel the exam scheduled for October. During the 2012 municipal elections, Haddad was a candidate for Mayor of São Paulo. After successfully advancing to the second round, he faced former mayor José Serra and won with 55.57% of the valid votes. As Mayor, Haddad implemented an expansion of the city's network of bike lanes, promising to extend it from 64.7 km to 400 km in 2016. The project sparked polarized reactions by residents of São Paulo. In June 2013, his administration faced widespread demonstrations, when São Paulo city hall and the government of the state of São Paulo announced that bus fares would be raised from R$3.00 to R$3.20. The violent repression of these protests by the São Paulo state police generated a widespread reaction by the general population. The resulting 2013 protests were the second biggest movement in comparison with 2015 protests against President Dilma Roussef. In July 2016, Haddad had the approval of only 14% of city residents, the lowest for the end of a mayoral term since Celso Pitta in 2000. On 2 October 2016, Haddad lost his bid for re-election to Brazilian Social Democracy Party candidate João Doria, receiving only 17% of the vote. He left office on 1 January 2017.
Haddad was announced as Lula da Silva's running mate in the 2018 presidential election in August 2018. However, the Superior Electoral Court ruled on 31 August that the former president is ineligible for candidacy due to his being disqualified under the Clean Slate law, which bans people convicted on appeal from running for public office. Lula had been arrested in April after his conviction for corruption was upheld by the Federal Court of the Fourth Region. On 11 September 2018, Haddad was named by the Workers' Party as Lula's replacement, with Communist Party legislator Manuela d'Ávila taking Haddad's place as the vice presidential candidate. Haddad came in second place in the first round of the election with 29% of the vote, behind Jair Bolsonaro, who had 46%. The two faced again in the run-off on 28 October 2018, in which Haddad placed second with 44.87% of the vote against Bolsonaro, who won the election.
