Description
Nimarata Nikki Haley (née Randhawa ; born January 20, 1972) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, and as the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations for two years, from January 2017 through December 2018.
Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and earned an accounting degree from Clemson University. She joined her family's clothing business before serving as treasurer and then president of the National Association of Women Business Owners. First elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004, she served three terms. In 2010, during her third term, she was elected governor of South Carolina and re-elected in 2014.
Haley resigned as governor to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, thereby joining the Trump administration in January 2017. She was confirmed by a bipartisan majority of 96–4 in the United States Senate. She stepped down as ambassador on December 31, 2018.
A member of the Republican Party, Haley is the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet. Haley was the first female governor of South Carolina and the second governor of Indian descent (after fellow Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana).
Haley is a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries for president of the United States in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. She announced her campaign in February 2023.
