Haley, Nikki (1972-…), served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations in 2017 and 2018. She had earlier served as the governor of South Carolina. Haley, a member of the Republican Party, was the state’s first woman governor. She also was the first Indian American to serve in the position. In February 2023, Haley announced that she would seek the 2024 Republican nomination for president of the United States. However, she dropped out of the race in March 2024 after losing almost all the early nominating contests to former U.S. president Donald J. Trump.
Nimrata Nikki Randhawa was born on Jan. 20, 1972, in Bamberg, South Carolina. She has been called “Nikki” since childhood. Nikki’s parents were Indian Sikhs who had immigrated to Canada and then the United States. Her father was a biology professor. Her mother taught sixth grade and later started a shop that sold imported items. Beginning at age 13, Nikki helped keep the shop’s accounts. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Clemson University in 1994. She worked as an accounting supervisor before returning to her family’s expanding business.
Nikki married William Michael Haley, an officer and technician in the South Carolina National Guard, in 1996. She also converted to Christianity. The Haleys have two children.
Nikki Haley won an election to represent a district in Lexington County in South Carolina’s House of Representatives in 2004. She was reelected in 2006 and 2008. As a legislator, Haley supported lowering tax rates and reducing government spending. She also took strongly conservative positions on such issues as gun control, abortion, and immigration.
In 2009, Haley announced that she would seek the 2010 Republican nomination for South Carolina governor. During her successful campaign for the nomination, she gained the support of groups associated with the conservative tea party movement. Haley won the general election in November 2010. She was reelected in 2014.
In 2016, Republican President-elect Donald J. Trump nominated Haley to become the United States ambassador to the United Nations. She continued serving as governor until the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination in January 2017. She resigned from her ambassador position in October 2018. In 2019, Haley founded Stand For America, a conservative public policy advocacy group.
Haley wrote the memoirs Can’t Is Not an Option: My American Story (2012) and With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace (2019). Another book, If You Want Something Done: Leadership Lessons from Bold Women, was published in 2022.
