Sarah Palin

History

< p>Sarah Louise Heath Palin was born on February 11, 1964, in Sandpoint, Idaho. Soon afterward, her schoolteacher parents moved their four children to the small community of Wasilla, Alaska. Palin grew up in a highly religious, Pentecostal-based environment, achieved all-star athlete status as head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and was a key player in Wasilla High School's state championship high school basketball team. After attending four different colleges, Palin graduated with a journalism degree in 1987 from the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. In 1988, she married high school sweetheart Todd Palin, briefly worked as a sports reporter for two Anchorage television stations and one Alaskan newspaper then founded a commercial fishing business with her husband while raising their children.

Palin was initiated into politics upon her election to the Wasilla city council in 1992. In 1996, voters elected Palin as mayor of Wasilla, and during her 6-year tenure, she cut property taxes by 75 percent, eliminated personal and business property taxes, and persuaded her traditionally anti-tax constituents to increase the city's sales tax by a half-percent in order to build a sports complex. As mayor, she gained notoriety by including prayer sessions in staff meetings and attempting to permanently dismiss any city leaders who disagreed with her policies. During her mayoral tenure, Wasilla's debt grew from &Dollar;1 to &Dollar;25 million while Palin and her staff secured over &Dollar;26.9 million in federal funds to improve city infrastructure and public safety departments.

When her mayoral term ended in 2002, Palin sought to enter statewide politics. After losing a bid to become Alaska's lieutenant governor, she was named chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission where she served for less than one year after resigning over what she felt was a lack of ethics in Alaska's Republican party. In 2006, Palin won the Alaskan governor's race and became the state's first female governor as well as the state?s youngest governor, the first born after Alaska gained statehood in 1959.

As governor, Palin raised taxes on oil companies, encouraged drilling oil and gas development throughout the state, and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge &Open; bracket;ANWR&Close; bracket;, made the second largest budget cuts in Alaska's history. Palin also voiced her faith-based opposition to embryonic stem cell research, abortion and gay marriage while advocating for the teaching of creationism in public schools.

Palin was well-liked by Alaskans; however, her leadership was questioned several times throughout her tenure, most notably when she unexpectedly rescinded her support for a federally-funded &Dollar;233 million bridge to Ketchikan, a town of just 50 people. She was also accused of abusing her power over her decision to dismiss Alaska's public safety commissioner when he refused to fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law, a sheriff who was in the midst of a divorce with Palin's sister.

Present Day

Republican party leaders took note of voter approval for Alaska's youngest governor and in 2008, Palin was asked to join Senator John McCain as his vice presidential running mate for the U.S. presidency. As the second woman in history to run for a presidential seat, Palin attained party support for her encouragement of school voucher programs, energy independence through oil drilling, small government systems, and the inclusion of faith-based programs in public schools.

At the same time, Palin also gained national notoriety for her lack of foreign policy experience &Open; bracket;she had never traveled outside of North America until 2007&Close; bracket;, inaccessibility to the press and a long list of reported indiscretions such as her use of &Dollar;150,000 in campaign contributions for clothing, hair styling, and makeup for the entire Palin family. When Palin's teenage daughter's pregnancy was revealed just prior to the election, support for Palin withered among Republican party leaders. After McCain lost the election in fall 2008, Palin returned to Alaska where she governed for several more months until resigning in July 2009.

After Palin's resignation, political analysts suspected the former Alaskan governor would attempt to run for the office of U.S. president. After "Time Magazine" named Palin one of the "100 most influential people of 2010" Palin confirmed that she was considering a run for the presidency. Also in 2010, Palin's family had a short-lived TV reality show, "Sarah Palin?s Alaska, " on The Learning Channel (TLC). As of summer, 2011 Palin has not officially announced her candidacy but a political action committee, "SarahPAC" continues to raise funds to promote political agendas supported by Palin. Meanwhile, the former vice presidential candidate continues to make regular appearances as a TV news political commentator and Republican party activist.