The Democratic Candidates
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Hillary Rodham Clinton was born on October 26, 1947 in Chicago, IL. Hillary went to Wellesley College, where she majored in Political Science. She graduated with Honors in 1969, and entered Yale Law School , where she met her future husband, Bill Clinton. Hillary became the First Lady of Arkansas in 1978, when Bill Clinton was elected Governor of the state. She became First Lady of the United States in 1993, when Bill Clinton was elected the 42nd President of the United States. Bill Clinton served two terms in office, and, after leaving the White House in 2001, Hillary decided to pursue a political career of her own.
On November 7, 2000, Hillary Clinton became a U.S. Senator, representing New York State. She was the first female Senator elected from New York. Hillary serves on five different U.S. Senate committees, including the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
In November 2006, Hillary was elected to her second term as U.S. Senator. In January 2007, she announced her decision to run for President of the United States. Her platform includes universal health care, championing women's rights, strengthening the U.S. economy, eliminating poverty, and fighting global warming. (2)
For more information, please visit www.hillaryclinton.com.
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)
Barack Obama was born on August 4th, 1961, in Hawaii. He grew up in Hawaii, and also lived for a couple of years in Indonesia with his mother. He attended Columbia University in 1983, and continued on to Harvard University in 1991 to pursue a law career. Later, Obama became a civil rights lawyer in Chicago. In 2004, he became the third African American elected to the U.S. Senate since the Reconstruction Era.
Barack Obama believes in uniting people for a common goal beyond political parties, for the common good of all the people. This has been his goal throughout his years in the Senate. He takes part in the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and promotes a greater use of alternative fuels in order to better the environment. Barack Obama is running under the banner of the Democratic Party for the election of 2008, saying that it is time for change. (3) For more information, please visit http://www.barackobama.com/learn/meet_barack.php.
The Republican Candidates
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, 1936. In the summer of 1954, John began his first year at Annapolis, in the U.S. Naval Academy. After graduating the Academy, he continued on to marry and have three sons. In the spring of 1967, he was deployed to Vietnam, where he served until 1973, after being a Prisoner of War for over five years. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 1981.
In 1982, McCain was elected to the U.S. Congress in Arizona, which led to his decision to run for Senate in March of 1985. He was elected, and continued his political career as a U.S. Senator. In 1997, John McCain was elected Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committe. His presidential campaign focuses on solutions to stimulating the American economy while cutting taxes and government spending. (4) For more information, please visit http://www.johnmccain.com/About.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
Mike Huckabee was born on August 24, 1955, in Hope, Arkansas. His hopes for a political future began when he was elected govenor of Arkansas Boys State. After marrying his high school sweetheart, Janet, in 1974, he enrolled in Ouachita Baptist University. He followed his Bachelors in Religion by attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Texas. He served as pastor in several churches before seaking public office.
Huckabee was defeated in his first run for U.S. Senator in 1992, but won an open Lieutenant Governor position. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, and was re-elected in 1998. In 2004, he began to be mentioned as a candidate for the Republican Party for the election of 2008, and has accepted that opportunity to run for president. (5) For more information, please visit http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=About.Home.