Jennifer Granholm

Jennifer Granholm (2005)

Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959 in Vancouver , Canada ) is an American politician ( Democratic Party ) and former governor of the state of Michigan . Granholm succeeded John Engler on January 1, 2003 , becoming Michigan's first female governor. She held this office until January 1, 2011.

Early years and political advancement

Granholm was born in Vancouver in 1959 and moved to California with her parents when she was four . There she made attempts as a young adult to gain a foothold as an actress, but failed and gave up her efforts at the age of 21. In the same year 1980, she was naturalized, worked for John Anderson's presidential campaign and enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley . She then studied law at Harvard University . Upon graduation, she found employment with the US 6th Court of Appeals under Federal Judge Damon Keith . In 1990 she became a Detroit federal attorney. In 1994 she became a Wayne County Administrative Adviser . This was followed in 1998, the appointment as Attorney General of Michigan. She was the first woman to hold this position in Michigan.

Michigan governor

In 2002, Granholm was elected as the Democratic Party candidate and the first woman to be the governor of her state. Granholm took up her new position in early January 2003. When she was re-elected in 2006, she received around 56 percent of the vote. Due to a constitutional amendment, she could no longer run for a third term in 2010. The Republican Rick Snyder was elected to succeed her .

During her reign, she cut the budget deficit by $ 4 billion. She attaches great importance to promoting family policy. Other goals of their election campaign were the creation of thousands of new jobs, the expansion of the country's infrastructure, and the training of unskilled workers to become skilled workers. So far she has succeeded in getting some companies to invest in Michigan. She visited Japan on two occasions to seek an increase in Japanese investment in Michigan. In order to achieve economic diversification in Michigan, which is traditionally dependent on jobs in the automotive industry , especially in the metropolitan area of ​​Detroit , it promotes the creation of new jobs in future-oriented sectors such as life science and alternative energies. To this end, it advocates the increasing use of renewable energy sources . In October 2008 a law came into force according to which the share of renewable energy is to be increased to 10 percent by 2015, a measure that is also hoped to increase the number of jobs.

She has occasionally been brought up for a future presidential candidacy, but this fails because, as a naturalized Canadian, she could not become president. According to her own statements, she is not interested in it either. At times she was also considered a candidate for the resigned Supreme Court justices , David Souter and John Paul Stevens ; Ultimately, however, US President Barack Obama chose Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan .

Awards

• North Star Order, Commander 1st Class (2010)

Web links

Commons : Jennifer Granholm  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Jennifer Granholm in the National Governors Association (English)
• Jennifer Granholm in the nndb (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Saginaw News May 2, 2007 Article - 1,300 New Jobs Creation in Michigan
2. ↑ Guvernör Jennifer Granholm förlänades Nordstjärneorden av kungen ( Swedish ) In: Sveriges kungahus . The Royal Court of Sweden. October 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010.