Difference between revisions of "Mike Pence"
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==U.S. Congress== | ==U.S. Congress== | ||
| − | In 2000, Pence was elected to [[Congress]] and reelected in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010.<ref name="Bio"/> In 2005, | + | In 2000, Pence was elected to [[Congress]] and reelected in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010.<ref name="Bio"/> In 2005, he became chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group representing the most conservative members of the House.<ref name="Bio"/> The next year, Pence unsuccessfully ran for House minority leader, losing to [[John Boehner]].<ref name="Bio"/> Pence served as the House Republican Conference Chair during the 111th Congress, which lasted from 2009-2011.<ref name="Bio"/><ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=p000587 PENCE, Mike, (1959 - )]. ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''. Retrieved October 5, 2016.</ref> |
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| + | In Congress, Pence built a very conservative record, even opposing liberal Republican bills that would increase spending or the size of government, such as [[No Child Left Behind]] in 2001, and the Medicare expansion in 2002.<ref name="Bio"/><ref name="Eason10things"/> | ||
==Governor of Indiana== | ==Governor of Indiana== | ||
Revision as of 03:14, October 6, 2016
| Mike Pence | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Governor of Indiana From: January 14, 2013-present | |||
| Predecessor | Mitch Daniels | ||
| Successor | Incumbent (no successor) | ||
| U.S. Representative from Indiana's 6th Congressional District From: January 3, 2003-January 3, 2013 | |||
| Predecessor | Dan Burton | ||
| Successor | Luke Messer | ||
| U.S. Representative from Indiana's 2nd Congressional District From: January 3, 2001-January 3, 2003 | |||
| Predecessor | David McIntosh | ||
| Successor | Chris Chocola | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Karen Pence | ||
| Religion | Evangelical Christian | ||
Michael Richard "Mike" Pence (born June 7, 1959 in Columbus, Indiana)[1] is the conservative, pro-life, evangelical Republican governor of Indiana, and the Vice Presidential running mate of presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016.
Prior to being governor, Pence was one of the most conservative members of Congress, serving in the U.S. Representative from Indiana's 6th congressional district. In the 111th Congress, he served as Chairman of the House Republican Conference. Pence has also been a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Early life
Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana on June 7, 1959 to an Irish-Catholic family.[1][2] He was one of six children, and his father was a U.S. Army veteran and gas station-chain owner.[1][2]
Early in his life, Pence was strongly aligned with the Democratic Party and was a Roman Catholic.[1][2] He volunteered for the party while in high school, and he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980.[1] When Pence was in college he became a born-again Christian through his future wife, Karen.[2] After his conversion, his views shifted towards the right, and after the election of Ronald Reagan as president, Pence became a Republican as he was inspired by the Reagan's policies.[1][2][3]
Pence graduated from Hanover College in 1981 with a B.A. in history, and he earned a Juris Doctor degree from Indiana University School of Law in 1986.[1]
Early career
After graduation, Pence became a practicing attorney and started to get involved in politics, first "becoming a precinct committeeman for the Marion County Republican Party."[1] He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1988 and 1990, but "learned a valuable lesson in defeat" and "vowed to preach a positive message" after becoming disgusted by his negative attack ads.[1]
Pence served as the president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation from 1991 to 1993.[1] In 1994, he launched his own conservative talk radio show, and the next year he became a morning show host on television.[1] Pence discontinued both programs in 1999,[1] presumably in preparation for another run for Congress.
In October 2009 Pence defended conservative talk radio, saying:
"To suggest that men and women that are taking a stand for fiscal discipline and traditional values in the national debate today only speak for ‘grassroots activists’ is absurd. As evidenced by the hundreds of thousands that filled town hall meetings this summer and the nearly a million Americans who gathered here in Washington in September. Millions of Americans, Republicans, Democrats and Independents are worried about liberal social policies and runaway federal spending, deficit and debt.
So to my friends in the so-called ‘mainstream media’ I say, ‘conservative talk show hosts may not speak for everybody but they speak for more Americans than you do.’" [4]
U.S. Congress
In 2000, Pence was elected to Congress and reelected in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010.[1] In 2005, he became chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group representing the most conservative members of the House.[1] The next year, Pence unsuccessfully ran for House minority leader, losing to John Boehner.[1] Pence served as the House Republican Conference Chair during the 111th Congress, which lasted from 2009-2011.[1][5]
In Congress, Pence built a very conservative record, even opposing liberal Republican bills that would increase spending or the size of government, such as No Child Left Behind in 2001, and the Medicare expansion in 2002.[1][2]
Governor of Indiana
Pence became nationally famous in 2015 for initially defending a new religious freedom law for Indiana businesses that would have enabled them to decline supporting the homosexual agenda, such as in being compelled to bake a cake for same-sex marriage. Ultimately Pence compromised based on intense pressure from the liberal media, by adding protection for sexual orientation into Indiana law. But subsequent events showed that Pence did stand up more against the homosexual agenda than virtually any other governor, including so-called conservatives Greg Abbott and Chris Christie.
Personal life
Pence was raised as a Democratic Roman Catholic, but when he was in college he became a born-again Christian, and after his conversion he became a conservative.[2]
Pence describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order."[6][2][7] His political views are strongly influenced by his faith and by Russell Kirk.[2]
External links
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Mike Pence. Biography.com. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Eason, Brian (July 15, 2016). Trump's VP? 10 things to know about Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. IndyStar. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- ↑ Graham, Jordan (September 8, 2016). Mike Pence explains how Ronald Reagan made him a Republican. The Orange County Register. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ↑ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28608.html#
- ↑ PENCE, Mike, (1959 - ). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- ↑ http://mikepence.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=53
- ↑ Phillips, Amber (October 4, 2016). Who is Mike Pence?. The Washington Post. Retrieved October 4, 2016.