Jennifer Granholm | |
---|---|
47th Governor of Michigan | |
In office January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2011 |
|
Lieutenant | John D. Cherry |
Preceded by | John Engler |
Succeeded by | Rick Snyder |
51st Attorney General of Michigan | |
In office January 1, 1999 – January 1, 2003 |
|
Governor | John Engler |
Preceded by | Frank J. Kelley |
Succeeded by | Mike Cox |
Personal details | |
Born |
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
February 5, 1959
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Daniel Mulhern |
Education |
UC Berkeley (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-American politician, lawyer, educator, author, political commentator and member of the Democratic Party who served as the Attorney General of Michigan from 1999 to 2003 and as the Governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011. She is currently an MSNBC political contributor. In January 2017, she became a CNN political contributor.
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Granholm moved from Canada to California at age four. She graduated from San Carlos High School and briefly attempted an acting career, then held a variety of jobs before attending the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated with a BA in 1984 and then with a JD from Harvard Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She then clerked for Judge Damon Keith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1991 and in 1995 she was appointed to the Wayne County Corporation Counsel.
Granholm ran for Attorney General of Michigan in 1998 to succeed thirty-seven year Democratic incumbent Frank J. Kelley. She defeated Republican John Smietanka, the 1994 nominee and former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, by 52% to 48% and served from 1999 to 2003. She ran for Governor in 2002 to succeed Republican John Engler. She defeated Engler's Lieutenant Governor Dick Posthumus by 51% to 47% and became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003. She was re-elected to a second term in 2006 against Republican businessman Dick DeVos by a large margin and served until January 1, 2011, when she was term-limited. As Governor, Granholm received praise for her focus on renewable energy and in leading the state's automotive industry through the crisis of 2008–10.