Mike Pence

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Mike Pence (2017)
Mike Pence's signature

Michael Richard "Mike" Pence (* 7. June 1959 in Columbus , Indiana ) is an American politician of the Republican Party . As of January 20, 2017, he is the 48th Vice President of the United States in Donald Trump's presidency . From 2013 to 2017, Pence was governor of Indiana and from 2001 to 2013 he was a member of the US House of Representatives .

Family, education and work

Mike Pence with President George W. Bush (2007)

Mike Pence, son of manager Edward Pence, grew up in a Catholic home and wanted to be a priest . After graduating from Hanover College and Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis , he worked as a lawyer and talk show host.

Mike Pence married Karen Sue Batten in 1985 , with whom he has three children. He converted to the evangelical Grace Evangelical Church and is committed to this church with his family.

His oldest brother, Greg Pence , has held the sixth seat of the Indiana state in the United States House of Representatives since 2019 .

Political career

Beginnings

After Pence was a Democrat at a young age and elected Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election, his political outlook changed during his studies.

Member of the US House of Representatives

In 1986 and 1988 , Pence ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives, but lost to long-time Democratic incumbent Philip R. Sharp . In 2000 he ran again and won the seat after the previous mandate holder David M. McIntosh did not run again to run for governor. Pence was subsequently re-elected, most recently in 2010 . Pence was traded in various US media as a possible candidate for the 2008 presidential election , but decided against running.

In May 2011, Pence announced that he did not want to run for a member of the Bundestag again, but would seek the office of governor of Indiana. Therefore, he left the Congress on January 3, 2013.

Indiana Governor

Pence when he was sworn in as governor in January 2013

In spring 2012 he was nominated by his party as a candidate for the upcoming gubernatorial election. The election in early November 2012 decided Pence with 49.6 percent of the vote against 46.4 percent of his Democratic rival John R. Gregg for himself and took up the post of governor on January 14, 2013. He replaced his party colleague Mitch Daniels , who was no longer allowed to run for two terms.

As head of government in his state, Pence made tax cuts that were primarily intended to lead to more economic growth. Pence is an advocate of a lean state, which is why public spending was cut during his tenure. Shortly after taking office, he called for a debt brake to be anchored in the state's constitution. This project passed through a chamber of the state legislature until the beginning of 2016 and is still in parliamentary deliberation. Despite his austerity, Pence managed to increase state grants for education. In 2015, his administration also approved an expansion of President Obama's health care reform, despite his opposition to the 2010 federal reform. The project aims to give more citizens health insurance . Pence came under fire in 2015 when he signed a law allowing shopkeepers to deny service to homosexuals based on their beliefs (known as the Religious Freedom Bill ). After massive protests and threats from some companies to leave Indiana, the bill was significantly defused. The Democrats then accused Pence of homophobia , while Pence said he opposed any discrimination against homosexuals.

His term of office as governor ended as scheduled on January 9, 2017. In November 2016, the previous lieutenant governor Eric Holcomb was elected as his successor .

On March 2, 2017, a US newspaper reported that Pence, as governor of Indiana, used a personal email account regularly for business purposes. A hacker attack was carried out on the account in the summer of 2016.

Trump's running mate in the 2016 presidential campaign

Pence (right) and Trump at the July 2016 Republican nomination convention
Pence campaigning in Arizona in August 2016
Then Vice President Joe Biden and his successor Mike Pence in the White House on November 10, 2016

On July 15, 2016, Pence was introduced by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as his vice presidential candidate for the November 2016 election . Pence had previously commented positively on Trump in the Republican primary in his state on May 3 , but said he would vote for his opponent Ted Cruz . After Trump was confirmed as the party's presidential candidate, the governor declared his support for Trump in the actual election campaign. According to the media, Trump's children, Donald Junior , Ivanka and Eric played a central role in the selection of the runner-up. In the election campaign, Pence was supposed to compensate for the lack of political experience of side entrant Trump. From his time in Congress, he has good relations with key Republican officials and, as governor, Pence gained experience in government work. Pence should also compensate for Trump's extroverted demeanor with his personality, described as calm and objective. As a popular figure among evangelical voters who, as an important Republican voter group, were rather skeptical of Trump, he should also give these voters identification with the election ticket. In addition, Pence is credited with having good connections with traditional campaign donors of the party, who until then had been reluctant to talk to Trump. Pence originally came from an active Catholic family and later became an Evangelical Christian.

Pence had applied for a second term as governor in the upcoming gubernatorial election in November 2016. After winning primary in the spring, his party set him up again. He withdrew this candidacy on July 15, the last possible date. Instead, the Republicans nominated Lieutenant Governor Eric Holcomb , who again met Pence's 2012 challenger John R. Gregg. Trump postponed the performance of pence for a day because of the rampage in Nice ; on July 16, he presented him as his running mate . At the party conference in mid-July , Trump and Pence were formally nominated.

After sound and video recordings of Trump's boasting about alleged sexual harassment were made public in October 2016 and a number of high-ranking Republicans called for Trump to withdraw from the presidential campaign, Pence distanced himself by saying, “As a husband and father, I was outraged by the words and actions described by Donald Trump. ”He also canceled a planned joint appearance with Trump the following day, which the New York Times described as an unprecedented rejection of a presidential candidate by his running mate . On October 10, while appearing on CNN television, Pence stated that it was absolutely inaccurate to assume that at any point he had considered leaving the campaign and that it was the greatest honor of his life to run the Republican Party Mate to have been nominated.

Contrary to most political predictions, Trump and Pence won the election. In the weeks following the election victory, Pence headed the transition team for handing over the business of government for President-elect Trump . He had an advisory role in filling positions for the Trump cabinet .

Vice President of the United States

Pence next to his wife Karen during the swearing in as Vice President at Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2017
Pence with President Trump (2017)

The inauguration of Trump and Pence took place on 20 January 2017th Pence was sworn into his new office at his own request by constitutional judge Clarence Thomas and replaced Joe Biden as deputy president.

On February 7, 2017, Pence, in his role as President of the Senate , cast the tie breaking vote in favor of the new Minister of Education Betsy DeVos . The plenary vote had ended in a 50-50 stalemate as two Republicans ( Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins ) voted with the Democrats. This was the first time in American history that a cabinet member was confirmed by the vice president. Typically, the Vice President, as President of the Chamber of Congress, has no voting rights; in the event of a tie, however, he can cast the decisive vote.

On October 8, 2017 Pence got into the national headlines when he during a running football game left the stadium after some African-American players had knelt during the national anthem to fight against racism on and police violence against blacks protesting . This was preceded by a lengthy controversy, in the course of which President Trump violently attacked some players and accused them of disrespect. As US media reported, Trump had asked his deputy to leave the arena to express his displeasure.

While Pence played a largely invisible, withdrawn role in the first year of Trump's presidency , from the end of 2017 he became more prominent in foreign policy, including through preparatory trips for Trump. Domestically, Pence is playing an increasingly important role as a fundraiser and campaigner for the Republicans.

Political positions

Pence belongs to the conservative spectrum of Republicans and represents economically liberal as well as socio-politically conservative positions. He summed up his belief with "I am a Christian, Conservative, Republican - in that order".

As a measure against illegal migration, Pence questions birthright citizenship , which automatically entitles them to US citizenship when born within the United States, as it no longer entitles immigrants to have a permanent option to stay in the US through the birth of a child. Pence voted for the USA Patriot Act in 2001 . In terms of foreign policy, he supported the Iraq war in 2003. Pence advocates a flat tax system.

His voting behavior in the House of Representatives shows him to be an opponent of abortion and an opponent of LGBT equality. Pence denies the consensus among scientists that global warming is caused by human activity. Pence advocates that in addition to recognized science, creationism should also be taught in schools and that students should be able to decide for themselves what is right. He supports intelligent design , which is directed against the theory of evolution .

Pence is a supporter of Prosperity Gospel and thus of the opinion that, in accordance with the ideas about the predestination of God, material wealth and personal success (or failure) are proof of God's favor (or disfavor), a view that is widespread among followers of fundamentalist free churches and is controversial in society as a whole .

In a 2020 editorial in the scientific journal Science , Pence is explicitly described as a man who "denies evolution, climate change and the dangers of smoking".

Web links

Commons : Mike Pence  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Mike Pence  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mike Pence: Vice: I Am Christian, Conservative, and Republican In: idea , July 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ Pence won't abandon Cubs for Ohio votes , CBS News, October 25, 2016.
  3. ^ Adrianna Pitrelli: VP's sister-in-law on life since the election. INDIANAPOLIS (Statehouse File) - Since casting a vote to nominate her brother-in-law to become the Republican vice presidential candidate in July 2016, Denise Pence has been nothing but proud. In: wthr.com. WTHR , October 6, 2017, p. 1 , accessed April 11, 2019 (English).
  4. ↑ Ballotpedia : Indiana's 6th Congressional District election, in 2018. Elections in Indiana, 2018. In: ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia, p. 13 , accessed April 11, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Trump's VP: 10 things to know about Mike Pence , Indystar.com , July 7, 2016
  6. ↑ Mike Pence has what Trump is missing. In: Tagesschau.de , July 15, 2016; Pence a polarizing governor in Indiana. In: New Hampshire Daily Gazette , July 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ Pence used personal email for state business - and was hacked. In: Indy Star , March 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ Trump wants Pence as vice. In: Tagesschau.de , July 15, 2016.
  9. ^ Mike Pence's Journey: Catholic Democrat to Evangelical Republican. In: The New York Times , July 20, 2016 (English).
  10. ^ Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is Donald Trump's VP pick. In: The Indy Star , July 15, 2016 (English).
  11. ↑ Veit Medick , Roland Nelles: US election campaign: Trump postpones his runner-up freestyle due to an attack. In: Spiegel Online , July 15, 2016.
  12. ^ Trump's anti-Trump. In: Spiegel Online , July 16, 2016.
  13. ↑ This could cost him the presidency. In: SRF.ch , October 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ Jonathan Martin, Maggie Haberman, Alexander Burns: Lewd Donald Trump Tape Is a Breaking Point for Many in the GOP In: The New York Times , October 8, 2016 (English).
  15. ↑ Tom LoBianco: Pence: I never considered leaving Trump ticket. CNN, October 10, 2016, accessed November 20, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Vice President Mike Pence Leaves Football Game After Players Kneel During National Anthem , Time, October 8, 2017.
  17. ^ Ashley Parker: Pence steps into a more prominent role on the world stage. In: The Washington Post , February 7, 2018.
  18. ^ Garcia, Catherine (July 20, 2016). " Pence: 'I'm a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican - in that order' ". The Week. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  19. ↑ Hannah Levintova: Mike Pence Has Led a Crusade Against Abortion Access and LGBT Rights. In: Mother Jones , July 14, 2016 (English).
  20. ^ Anthony Adragna, Dean Scott: Indiana Governor Mike Pence's Views on Climate Change. ( Memento from September 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: Bloomberg BNA , July 14, 2016 (English).
  21. ↑ Boyle, Rebecca (July 15, 2016). " VP Choice Mike Pence Doesn't Agree With Science: Smoking doesn't kill, teach the controversy, and more quotes from the candidate ". Popular Science. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  22. ^ Theory of the Origins of Man. In: Congressional Record , July 11, 2002 (statement from Pence).
  23. ↑ Andreas Robertz: The Gospel according to Michael. Deutschlandfunk, January 19, 2017.
  24. ^ H. Holden Thorp: Do us a favor . In: Science . tape 367 , no. 6483 , 2020, p. 1169 , doi : 10.1126 / science.abb6502 .
personal data
SURNAME Pence, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pence, Michael Richard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Columbus , Indiana