Terry E. Branstad

Terry Branstad (2017)

Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946 in Leland , Winnebago County , Iowa ) is an American politician ( Republican Party ). He was the 39th governor of the state of Iowa from 1983 to 1999  ; from 2011 to 2017 he held this office again. Since the end of 2015, with a term of more than 21 years, he has held the record for the longest term of office of all American governors.

In May 2017, Branstad was appointed United States Ambassador to the People's Republic of China .

Early years and political advancement

Terry Branstad attended the University of Iowa until 1969 . He then studied law at Drake University until 1974 . He spent the following two years as a soldier in the US Army, during which he saw the end of the Vietnam War .

After serving in the military, Branstad was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives . In 1978 he was elected as a Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Iowa. So he was between 1979 and 1983 the deputy of Governor Robert D. Ray , to whose successor he was elected in 1982.

First term as governor

Terry Branstad in 1984

Branstad took up his new post on January 14, 1983. At that time, at 35, he was the youngest governor in Iowa's history. Branstad was confirmed three more times in the following years. Thus he could serve as governor for a total of 16 years until January 15, 1999. This is the longest governor's term in the state to date. During this period, economic development and educational policy were the governor's main concerns. At that time, all school districts were connected to one another with the help of a broadband network. The government structure was also reformed. In 1995, Iowa was considered one of the best-run US states. Branstad was a member of many governors' associations and other important bodies. Between 1989 and 1990 he served as chairman of the National Governors Association . He was also the chairman of the joint education committee of all US states.

Another résumé

After the end of his governorship, he founded Branstad and Associates LLC . He was also a partner in a law firm and was a financial advisor to Robert W. Baird and Co., Inc . The ex-governor was also a visiting professor at the University of Iowa and was appointed head of a President's Commission for Excellence in Special Education in 2003 . From 2003 to 2009 he was President of Des Moines University . He also served as a member of various supervisory boards. He has three children with his wife, Chris Branstad.

Iowa governor again

In October 2009, Branstad announced that he would run again for governor of Iowa in the November 2010 elections . Before he could meet the Democratic incumbent Chet Culver , he had to prevail in the primary of his party against his more conservative competitor Bob Vander Plaats; this was supported among others by the actor Chuck Norris . With 50.4 percent of the vote, he ultimately prevailed, although he had to do without the advocacy of the tea party movement . Their local chapter in Des Moines had stated that Branstad was "not a true conservative"; during his first term in office, for example, he expanded the state apparatus every year.

The result of the actual election was then in the national trend of this year, which was specifically against democratic incumbents. Branstad achieved a clear success with 53 percent of the vote over Culver, who only achieved 43.3 percent. This allowed the Republican challenger to return to governorship on January 14, 2011 after twelve years. His lieutenant governor was Kim Reynolds .

Branstad was also confirmed with 59 percent of the vote in the gubernatorial election on November 4, 2014. With a total duration of around 21 years as head of government, he replaced the previous record holder George Clinton from New York at the end of 2015 .

In December 2016, US President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would propose Branstad as US ambassador to China. After his approval by the United States Senate , he took office as the successor to Max Baucus on July 12, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Terry E. Branstad  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Terry E. Branstad in the Notable Names Database (English)
• Terry Branstad in the National Governors Association (English)
• Biography at the US State Department

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “Score Card” of the Des Moines Tea Party ( memento of the original from July 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 363 kB) 
2. ^ New York Times: Election 2010
3. ↑ Jennifer Jacobs: Trump Picks Iowa Governor Branstad as China Ambassador. Bloomberg LP , December 7, 2016, accessed December 23, 2016 .