Sarah Palin | Biography

American politician

Sarah Louise Palin Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee alongside U.S. Senator John McCain. Palin was elected to the Wasilla city council in 1992 and became mayor of Wasilla in 1996. In 2003, after an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor, she was appointed chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, responsible for overseeing the state’s oil and gas fields for safety and efficiency. In 2006, at age 42, she became the youngest person and the first woman to be elected governor of Alaska. Immense legal fees incurred by both Palin and the state of Alaska from her fights against ethics investigations led to her resignation in 2009.

Sarah Palin

Palin was nominated as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate at the 2008 Republican National Convention. She was the first Republican female vice presidential nominee and the second female vice presidential nominee of a major party, after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. The McCain-Palin ticket subsequently lost the 2008 election to the Democratic Party’s then-U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Throughout the race, her public image and experience came under media attention. Although her vice presidential bid alongside McCain was unsuccessful, the 2008 presidential election significantly raised Palin’s national profile. Since her resignation as governor in 2009, she has campaigned for the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement. In addition, she has publicly endorsed several candidates in multiple election cycles, including Donald Trump in his 2016 run for president. She has also led a career as a television personality. From 2010 to 2015, she provided political commentary for Fox News. She hosted TLC’s Sarah Palin’s Alaska in 2010–11 and Amazing America with Sarah Palin on the Sportsman Channel in 2014–15.From 2014 to 2015, she oversaw a short-lived subscriber-based online TV channel, the Sarah Palin Channel, via TAPP TV. Her personal memoir Going Rogue, written following the 2008 election, has sold more than one million copies.

In the summer of 2022, Palin ran in the special election for Alaska’s at-large congressional seat that was vacated after the death of Representative Don Young, but lost to Democrat Mary Peltola, who completed Young’s unfinished term. Palin faced Peltola and others again in the November general election for the same seat, and again lost to Peltola, who won re-election to serve a full two-year term.

Early Life and Education

Palin is of English, Irish, and German ancestry. When Palin was a few months old, the family moved to Skagway, Alaska, where her father had been hired to teach. They relocated to Eagle River, Anchorage in 1969, and settled in Wasilla, Alaska, in 1972. Palin played flute in the junior high band. Sarah Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, the third child of Sarah “Sally” Heath and Charles R. “Chuck” Heath. Her siblings include Chuck Jr., Heather, and Molly. The family moved to Skagway, Alaska, when Palin was a few months old, and later settled in Wasilla in 1972.

During her school years, Palin was involved in various activities including playing flute, leading the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and participating in basketball and cross-country teams at Wasilla High School. She gained attention as co-captain and point guard of the 1982 Alaska state championship basketball team, earning the nickname “Sarah Barracuda. “In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla beauty pageant and placed third in the Miss Alaska pageant, where she was named “Miss Congeniality.” She pursued higher education at several institutions including the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hawaii Pacific University, North Idaho College, University of Idaho, and Matanuska-Susitna College, ultimately earning a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987.

Early Career

After graduation, Palin worked as a sportscaster for KTUU-TV and KTVA-TV in Anchorage and as a sports reporter for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, fulfilling an early ambition. Sarah Palin was a member of the City Council of Wasilla, Alaska from 1992 to 1996 and the city’s mayor from 1996 to 2002. Wasilla is located 29 miles (47 km) north-east of the port of Anchorage, and is the largest population center in the Mat-Su Valley.

Palin officially entered the political scene as a Republican in 1992, when she ran and was elected to a seat on the Wasilla City Council. Four years later, in 1996, she was elected as mayor of Wasilla, where she served two very successful terms. In 2002, she ran an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor (an office that’s like being vice governor) of Alaska, but she surely didn’t let that stop her from pursing her political career. In 2006, she became governor of Alaska in a historical election as both the first female and the youngest governor Alaska had ever had.

Throughout her time in these various positions, Palin quickly made herself known as a strong, conservative, Christian politician. Her policies were very favorable, marking her as one of the more popular politicians in Alaskan history. Her policies cut some taxes, reduced spending, and put more money into public safety.

Making History as a Woman

As governor, Palin maintained a very conservative point of view and pushed policies that fell in line with those views, which made her very popular with the Republican party of America. Presidential nominee John McCain even selected her as his vice presidential running mate in the 2008 election for President of the United States. This made her the first Republican woman to run for Vice President for a major political party in the United States.

Throughout the campaign, Palin’s popularity declined as her knowledge of bigger political issues proved to be lacking. She and McCain were unsuccessful, and lost the election to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Palin returned to her duties as governor of Alaska, but resigned from the position in 2009.

Governor of Alaska

In 2006, running on a clean-government platform, Palin defeated incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Her running mate was State Senator Sean Parnell. In the November election, Palin was outspent but victorious, defeating former Democratic governor Tony Knowles 48.3% to 41.0%.She became Alaska’s first female governor and, at the age of 42, the youngest governor in Alaskan history. She was the state’s first governor to have been born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood, and the first who was not inaugurated in the capital, Juneau (she chose to have the ceremony in Fairbanks instead).

She took office on December 4, 2006. For most of her term, she was very popular with Alaska voters. Polls taken in 2007 showed her with 93% and 89% popularity among all voters. The Anchorage Daily News and The Weekly Standard called her “the most popular governor in America.” A poll taken in late September 2008, after Palin was named to the national Republican ticket, showed her popularity in Alaska at 68%.A poll taken in May 2009 indicated Palin’s popularity among Alaskans had declined to 54% positive and 41.6% negative.

Palin declared that top priorities of her administration would be resource development, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development. She had championed ethics reform throughout her election campaign. Her first legislative action after taking office was to push for a bipartisan ethics reform bill. She signed the resulting legislation in July 2007, calling it a “first step” and declaring that she remained determined to clean up Alaska politics. Palin frequently broke with the Alaskan Republican establishment. For example, she endorsed Parnell’s bid to unseat Don Young, the state’s longtime at-large U.S. Representative. She publicly challenged then-U.S. Senator Ted Stevens to “come clean” about the federal investigation into his financial dealings. She promoted the development of oil and natural-gas resources in Alaska, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Proposals to drill for oil in ANWR have catalyzed national debate.

In 2006, Palin obtained a passport. In 2007, she traveled to Kuwait, where she visited the Khavari Alawism Crossing at the Kuwait–Iraq border and met with members of the Alaska National Guard. On her return journey she visited injured soldiers in Germany.

Budget, spending, and federal funds

In June 2007, Palin signed a record $6.6 billion operating budget into law. At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second-largest cuts of the capital budget in state history. The $237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects and reduced the capital budget to $1.6 billion.
In 2008, Palin vetoed $286 million, cutting or reducing funding for 350 projects from the FY09 capital budget. Palin followed through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet, a purchase made by the Murkowski administration for $2.7 million in 2005 against the wishes of the legislature. In August 2007, the jet was listed on eBay, but the sale fell through, and the plane later sold for $2.1 million through a private brokerage firm.

A Woman in a Male-Dominated Field

Sarah Palin has made a strong name for herself, not only as a competitive, conservative, Christian, Republican, but also as a woman. Women still struggle to be taken seriously and equally in politics in America, as they do in many other fields. But whether you agree with Palin’s political beliefs or not, her success as a woman in politics is undeniable. Keep reading to learn about all the accomplishments she’s had as a woman in a male-dominated field.

Going Rogue and America by Heart

In November 2009, Palin released her memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, in which she details her private and political career, including her resignation as Governor of Alaska. Palin said she took the title from the phrase ‘gone rogue’ used by McCain staffers to describe her behavior when she spoke her mind on the issues during the campaign. The subtitle, “An American Life,” mirrors the title of President Ronald Reagan’s 1990 autobiography. Less than two weeks after its release, sales of the book exceeded the one million mark, with 300,000 copies sold the first day. Its bestseller rankings were comparable to memoirs by Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Palin traveled to 11 states in a bus, with her family accompanying her, to promote the book. She made a number of media appearances as well, including a widely publicized interview on November 16, 2009, with Oprah Winfrey. In November 2010 HarperCollins released Palin’s second book, titled America by Heart. The book contains excerpts from Palin’s favorite speeches, sermons and literature as well as portraits of people Palin admires, including some she met in rural America on her first book tour.

Personal life

In August 1988, Palin eloped with Todd Palin, her high-school sweetheart, and together they have five children: sons Track Charles James (born 1989) and Trig Paxson Van (born 2008), and daughters Bristol Sheeran Marie(born 1990), Willow Bianca Faye (born 1994), and Piper Indy Grace (born 2001).Palin’s youngest child, Trig, born 2008, was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome.

Palin has eight grandchildren, three by Bristol, two by Track and three by Willow.

Todd Palin worked for oil company BP as an oil-field production operator, retiring in 2009. He owns a commercial fishing business.

Palin was “baptized Catholic as a newborn”, as her mother, Sally, had been raised Catholic. However, the Heath family “started going to non-denominational churches” thereafter. Later, her family joined the Wasilla Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church, which she attended until 2002.Palin then switched to the Wasilla Bible Church. Several news reports posted immediately after McCain named her his running mate called her the first Pentecostal/charismatic believer to appear on a major-party ticket. However, Palin herself eschews the “Pentecostal” or “charismatic” label, describing herself as a “Bible-believing Christian”.

Todd filed for divorce from Sarah on August 29, 2019, citing “incompatibility of temperament”. He requested an equal division of debts and assets, and to have joint custody of their son, Trig. The divorce was finalized on March 23, 2020.

Where Is She Now?

Since resigning as governor of Alaska, Palin has remained in the Republican, conservative scene. She returned to television on Fox News, offering opinions and facts about politics in America. She has also written three books, including an autobiography (a book she wrote about her own life). For a short time, she had a reality show that followed her around the Alaskan wilderness. She has also become involved with the Tea Party, a very conservative political party in America.

Why is Sarah Palin famous?

Sarah Louise Palin (Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009.

Why did Sarah Palin resign?

Palin announced she was resigning her office due to the costs and distractions of battling ethics investigations, describing the “insane” amount of time and money that both she and the state of Alaska had expended responding to “frivolous” legal ethics complaints filed against her.

Who runs Alaska?

The current governor of Alaska is Republican Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy assumed office on December 3, 2018.

Lesson Summary

Sarah Palin made her way in American politics as a woman and as a conservative Republican. She’s held many positions, from major to governor, and was the first woman to run for vice president of a major political party. Agree with her policies or not, her accomplishments as a woman are admirable.

Stay connected with Fact and US for more such news.