Nimarata Nikki Haley is an American politician who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017.
108 Facts About Nikki Haley
2.
Nikki Haley was the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations for two years, from January 2017 through December 2018.
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Nikki Haley is the first Indian American to serve as a member of a presidential cabinet.
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Nikki Haley joined her family's clothing business before serving as treasurer and then president of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
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Nikki Haley was the first female governor of South Carolina, the youngest governor in the country, and the second governor of Indian descent.
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Nikki Haley was the first female American governor of Asian American heritage.
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Nikki Haley defended US interests, particularly US support of Israel, at the Security Council, and led the withdrawal of the US from the United Nations Human Rights Council.
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Nikki Haley decided to voluntarily step down as ambassador on December 31,2018.
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Nikki Haley is a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primary for president of the United States in the 2024 US presidential election.
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Nikki Haley's father was formerly a professor at Punjab Agricultural University, and her mother received her law degree from the University of Delhi.
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Nikki Haley's parents moved to Canada after her father received a scholarship offer from the University of British Columbia.
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Nikki Haley's sister, Simran, born in Canada, became a radio host and Fashion Institute of Technology alumna.
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Nikki Haley's brother, Mitti, retired as a member of the United States Army Chemical Corps having served in Desert Storm; her second brother, Charan, is a web designer.
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At age 12, Nikki Haley began helping with the bookkeeping in her mother's ladies' clothing shop, Exotica International.
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Nikki Haley graduated from Clemson University in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in accounting.
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Nikki Haley was named to the board of directors of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce in 2003.
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Nikki Haley became treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners in 2003, and president in 2004.
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Nikki Haley chaired the Lexington Gala to raise funds for a local hospital.
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Nikki Haley served on the Lexington Medical Foundation, Lexington County Sheriff's Foundation, and West Metro Republican Women.
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Nikki Haley was the president of the South Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, and was chair for the 2006 Friends of Scouting Leadership Division campaign.
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In 2004, Nikki Haley ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 87 in Lexington County.
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Nikki Haley challenged incumbent state representative Larry Koon in the Republican primary.
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Nikki Haley was the longest-serving legislator in the South Carolina Statehouse.
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Nikki Haley's platform included property tax relief and education reform.
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Nikki Haley became the first Indian-American to hold office in South Carolina.
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Nikki Haley was unopposed for re-election to a second term in 2006.
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Nikki Haley said that when it comes to women running for office, there will be everybody that tells you why you shouldn't, but that's all the reasons why we need you to do it, and I walked out of there thinking, 'That's it.
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Nikki Haley was elected chair of the freshman caucus in 2005 and majority whip in the South Carolina General Assembly.
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Nikki Haley was the only freshman legislator named to a whip spot at the time.
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When Mark Sanford was governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley voted against a proposed cigarette surtax despite criticism that the revenue from the tax would have been used for smoking prevention programs and cancer research related to smoking.
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Nikki Haley voted for a bill that raised sales taxes from five cents per dollar to six cents per dollar.
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Nikki Haley implemented a plan in which teachers' salaries would be based on not only seniority and qualifications but job performance, as determined by evaluations and reports from principals, students, and parents.
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Nikki Haley supports barring legislators from collecting legislative pensions while in office.
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Nikki Haley believes such pensions should be based on only the $10,400 legislative salary instead of the salary plus lawmakers' $12,000 annual expense allowance.
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Nikki Haley has stated that, as a daughter of immigrants, she believes the immigration laws should be enforced.
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Nikki Haley voted in favor of a law that requires employers to be able to prove that newly hired employees are legal residents of the United States, and requires all immigrants to carry documentation at all times proving that they are legally in the United States.
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Nikki Haley signed an "Arizona-style" law cracking down on illegal immigration in June 2011.
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Nikki Haley describes herself as pro-life and has supported legislation to restrict abortion.
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On May 14,2009, Nikki Haley announced that she would run for the Republican nomination for governor of South Carolina in the 2010 elections.
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Nikki Haley had been persuaded to run by incumbent governor and fellow Republican Mark Sanford.
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Nikki Haley has old ties to the Chicago businessman and the Republican Hindu Coalition founder Shalabh "Shalli" Kumar.
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Nikki Haley was polling in last place in the GOP race before a surprise endorsement from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, three weeks before the primary vote.
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Nikki Haley is considered the third non-white governor elected by a Southern state, after Virginia's Douglas Wilder and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal.
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Nikki Haley faced a challenge in the Republican primary from Tom Ervin.
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Nikki Haley was re-elected on November 4,2014, with a 55.9 percent to 41.3 percent win, almost tripling her margin of victory over Sheheen in the 2010 gubernatorial election.
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Nikki Haley began serving as governor of South Carolina in January 2011.
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Nikki Haley endorsed powerful senate finance chairman Hugh Leatherman's primary opponent in 2016.
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Nikki Haley delivered the official Republican response to President Barack Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address on January 12,2016.
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In 2016, Nikki Haley was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
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Nikki Haley was mentioned in January 2016 as a potential candidate for the vice presidency in the 2016 US presidential election.
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On May 4,2016, after Trump became the presumptive presidential nominee, Nikki Haley denied interest in the vice presidential nomination.
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Nikki Haley was initially against having a Democrat serve as the second-in-command to the governor, but she, along with the Senate, eventually agreed otherwise.
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On December 17,2012, Nikki Haley announced she would appoint Tim Scott to replace retiring Senator Jim DeMint, who had previously announced that he would retire from the Senate to become the president of the Heritage Foundation.
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Nikki Haley earned this seat with the results he has shown.
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In July 2013, Nikki Haley was fined $3,500 by the State Ethics Commission and given a "public warning" for failing to report the addresses of eight donors during her 2010 campaign for governor.
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In July 2015, Nikki Haley signed a bill to authorize removing the Confederate flag from the flagpole on the grounds of the South Carolina Capitol.
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In regard to the state trial of Roof, Nikki Haley urged prosecutors to seek the death penalty against him.
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Nikki Haley stated that "nowhere has the UN's failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel".
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Nikki Haley was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on January 25,2017.
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Nikki Haley met with United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres on January 27,2017, at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
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On March 15,2017, Nikki Haley said she would not support a ban on Muslim immigration to the United States should President Trump choose to enact one.
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Nikki Haley said she did not believe "we should ever ban anyone based on their religion" and that a Muslim ban would be "un-American".
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On March 30,2017, Nikki Haley stated that the US would no longer focus on forcing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to leave power.
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Security Council a day after the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack, Nikki Haley said Russia, Assad, and Iran "have no interest in peace" and attacks similar to this would continue occurring should nothing be done in response.
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Nikki Haley called the strike a "very measured step" and warned that the US was prepared "to do more" despite wishing it would not be required.
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Nikki Haley said the US military could be deployed in response to any further North Korean missile tests or usage of nuclear missiles and that she believed Kim Jong-un understood this due to pressure by both the US and China.
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Security Council approved a resolution adding fifteen North Koreans and four entities linked to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs to a sanctions blacklist, Nikki Haley said the council's vote was "sending a clear message to North Korea today: Stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences".
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Security Council meeting, in response to North Korea launching an intercontinental ballistic missile, Nikki Haley announced the US would within days "bring before the Security Council a resolution that raises the international response in a way that is proportionate to North Korea's new escalation".
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Also in April 2017, Nikki Haley spoke out against Ramzan Kadyrov and the abuse and murder of gay men in Chechnya.
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In July 2017, after the UNESCO voted to designate the Hebron's Old City and the Cave of the Patriarchs as Palestinian territory as well as endangered world heritage sites, Nikki Haley called the choice "tragic on several levels" in a statement.
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In September 2017, Nikki Haley stated that "some countries" were shielding Iran by blocking the International Atomic Energy Agency from verifying Iranian compliance with the international nuclear agreement with Iran.
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In September 2017, Nikki Haley said that her government was "deeply troubled" by reports of atrocities against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
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Nikki Haley even travelled to some countries that voted "No," such as Guatemala and Honduras, and thanked them for their support in the emergency special session.
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Also in December 2017, Nikki Haley accused Iran of backing the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
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Nikki Haley said that "It's hard to find a conflict or terrorist group in the Middle East that doesn't have Iran's fingerprints all over it", but she did not mention the US role in Saudi-led intervention in Yemen and Saudi-led coalition's blockade of Yemen.
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Nikki Haley's resignation emerged a day after an anti-corruption watchdog accused her of accepting seven luxury private plane trips as gifts from South Carolina business leaders.
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Nikki Haley listed these seven flights as gifts on a 2018 financial disclosure, claiming that they are exempt from ethics violations as they were gifted by personal contacts.
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In October 2018, Nikki Haley raised the issue of China's re-education camps and human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority.
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Nikki Haley was succeeded as US Ambassador to the UN by Ambassador Kelly Craft.
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In 2019, Nikki Haley created a new policy group called Stand for America, a group that promotes public policies aimed at strengthening the economy, culture, and national security issues.
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In February 2019, it was announced that Nikki Haley had been nominated to the board of directors of Boeing.
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Nikki Haley has been a loyal and trustworthy VP to the President.
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Nikki Haley supported Trump's January 2020 killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
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In early 2021, Nikki Haley created a PAC to endorse and support candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.
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Nikki Haley hired former NRSC political director Betsy Ankney to be the executive director.
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In October 2021, Nikki Haley was selected to replace David Wilkins for a lifetime position on the Clemson University Board of Trustees.
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Nikki Haley received extensive press coverage for saying the phrase "bless your heart" in response to an attack by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
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Nikki Haley warned that Trump's rhetoric could lead to violent tragedy.
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Nikki Haley has stated that she was "proud of the successes of the administration" and "I'm not going to apologize" for working with Trump.
90.
Nikki Haley described Trump's actions around the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol as "not his finest", but opposed Trump's second impeachment, criticizing Democrats and journalists on Fox News's The Ingraham Angle with Laura Ingraham.
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Nikki Haley went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him.
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Nevertheless, in April 2021, Nikki Haley said she would support Trump for president in 2024.
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Nikki Haley will be the third Indian American politician to seek a presidential nomination following Bobby Jindal and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Nikki Haley had previously claimed that she would not run for the candidacy if Trump sought the nomination.
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Nikki Haley became the second major candidate to announce her run for the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.
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Nikki Haley is the first woman who has been a governor to run for president.
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On February 15,2023, Nikki Haley held a campaign announcement rally with supporters in Charleston, South Carolina and received an endorsement from freedom caucus member Ralph Norman, with him saying that she would have been in the group of Congressional Republicans opposing Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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Nikki Haley was joined by the mother of Otto Warmbier who praised Haley for changing her life following her son's death.
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Nikki Haley announced that she supports congressional term limits and "mandatory mental competence tests for politicians over 75 years old," which received mixed feedback from US Senators.
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The efficacy of Nikki Haley's campaign is debated among experts and commentators.
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However, Politico's Chief Washington Correspondent, Ryan Lizza, wrote that Nikki Haley "shouldn't be counted out just yet" due to her relative youth, the tradition of volatility and upsets in republican primaries, and her electability.
102.
Likewise, Former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia Geoff Duncan wrote that Nikki Haley's candidacy "is a race to watch" while citing her prior executive and foreign policy experience, along with her prior record of supporting popular conservative bills and policies while in office.
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Nikki Haley addressed the issue of abortion as far back as her service in the South Carolina state legislature.
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Nikki Haley listed Iraq, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, China, and Cuba as such countries, and labeled them enemies of the United States.
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In September 1996, Nikki Randhawa married Michael Haley; they celebrated with both Sikh and Methodist ceremonies.
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Nikki Haley attends Sikh services once or twice a year.
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Nikki Haley visited the Harmandir Sahib with her husband in 2014 during her visit to India.
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Nikki Haley's husband is an officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard.