Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Hailey (Eng. Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley) is an American politician. Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010. Governor of South Carolina since 2011, member of the Republican Party. 29th U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN (2017-2018).
Place of Birth. Education. Nikki Haley was born on January 20, 1972 in Bamberg, South Carolina. Her parents, Dr. Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, immigrated from the Indian district of Amritsar, Punjab. Her father taught biology at Voorhees College and her mother started her own business. She has two brothers, Mitty and Charan, and a sister, Simran. Haley graduated from a private high school in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and subsequently received a degree in accounting from Clemson University.
Career. Hailey worked at FCR, a recycling and recycling company, before moving to her mother's high-end apparel firm Exotica International in 1994. The family business soon grew into a multi-million dollar company.
In 1998, Haley was appointed to the board of directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce, South Carolina, and in 2003, to the board of directors of the Lexington, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. Haley became Treasurer of the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs in 2003 and President in 2004. She spearheaded fundraising events in Lexington for the local hospital. In addition, she is a member of the Lexington Medical Foundation, the Lexington County Sheriff's Foundation, and is a member of the Lexington Rotary Club.
Political career. In 2004, Haley was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. She became the first Indian American to hold this position in the state of South Carolina. She was re-elected in 2006 and again in 2008, defeating Democrat Edgar Gomez with 83% of the vote. Hailey was secretary of the medical, military, state and municipal affairs committees.
On May 14, 2009, Haley announced that she would run for governor of the state. Her candidacy was supported by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Movement. On November 2, 2010, Haley defeated Democratic candidate Vincent Shikhin in the general election with 51% of the vote to 47% of her opponent.
On November 4, 2014, she was re-elected, gaining 55.9% of the vote against 41.4% of Democratic rival Vincent Shikhin.
On January 24, 2017, the US Senate approved the appointment of Nikki Haley as United States Ambassador to the UN by President Donald Trump, she received the support of 96 out of 100 senators. She was supported by the majority of Democratic senators, as she does not support the efforts of the Republicans to reduce US funding for the UN. Democratic Senator Ben Cardin also noted that after the annexation of Crimea, Haley said that the island "is not Russian" and spoke out harshly in defense of Ukraine's sovereignty.
On October 9, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced that Haley would officially leave office at the end of 2018.
Views. Hayley is a typical conservative. Hayley is anti-abortion and has consistently voted for bills that restrict abortion and protect the unborn child. Haley believes that public education funds could be used more effectively. She proposed a plan according to which the teacher's salary would be determined not only by experience and qualifications, but also by labor productivity. Their qualification rating will be determined by the assessments and reports of supervisors, students and parents. Haley also advocates tax cuts and the mandatory use of photo ID in elections.
At the same time, in 2015, she achieved the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Capitol building (the flag of the southern slave states during the Civil War, which is still hung on the buildings of institutions in several US states).
Family. Hailey was born and raised in a Sikh family. On September 6, 1996, she married Michael Haley. Ceremonies were held in both the Methodist Church and the Sikh Gurdwara. Hailey identifies as a Christian but, out of respect for her parents' culture, attends both Methodist and Sikh services. Michael Haley is a federal employee of the US Department of the Army and an officer in the South Carolina National Guard. The couple have two children, Rena and Nalin. Haley's brother, Mitty, was an officer and served in the US Army for 20 years.
12/17/2021