Michael Steele | |
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64th Chairman of the Republican National Committee | |
In office January 30, 2009 – January 14, 2011 |
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Preceded by | Mike Duncan |
Succeeded by | Reince Priebus |
7th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland | |
In office January 15, 2003 – January 17, 2007 |
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Governor | Robert Ehrlich |
Preceded by | Kathleen Kennedy Townsend |
Succeeded by | Anthony G. Brown |
Personal details | |
Born | Michael Stephen Steele (after adoption) October 19, 1958 Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Andrea Derritt Steele (m. 1985) |
Children | Two |
Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University (B.A.) Villanova University Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.) |
Occupation | Politician |
Profession | Lawyer |
Religion | Roman Catholic[1] |
Signature | |
Website | Michael Steele's blog |
Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American politician who served as the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee from January 2009 until January 2011.[2] From 2003 to 2007, he was the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, the first African American elected to statewide office in Maryland. During his time as Lieutenant Governor, he chaired the Minority Business Enterprise taskforce, actively promoting an expansion of affirmative action in the corporate world.[3]
In 2006, Steele made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate, losing to Democrat Ben Cardin. He then served as chairman of GOPAC, the political training organization of the Republican party, was a political commentator for Fox News and a partner at the law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP before making his bid for RNC Chairman. He co-founded the Republican Leadership Council, a "fiscally conservative and socially inclusive" political action committee, in 1993.[4] On December 13, 2010, he announced his intentions to seek a second term as Republican National Committee Chair.[5] On January 14, 2011, after four rounds of voting, Steele dropped out of the race and endorsed Maria Cino. Reince Priebus went on to win the election to succeed Steele. He commenced as a columnist for online magazine The Root in May 2011.[6]
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Steele was born on October 19, 1958 at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County, Maryland[7][8] and was adopted as an infant[9] by William and Maebell Steele. William died in 1962.[10][11] Maebell, who had been born into a sharecropping family in South Carolina,[12] worked for minimum wage as a laundress to raise her children. After Michael's father died, she ignored her friends' appeals to apply for public assistance, later telling Michael 'I didn't want the government raising my children'.[12] She later married John Turner, a truck driver. Michael and his sister, Monica Turner, were raised in the Petworth neighborhood of Northwest Washington, D.C. which Steele has described as a small, stable and racially integrated community that insulated him from some of the problems elsewhere in the city.[12] Steele's sister later married and divorced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.[13]
Steele attended Archbishop Carroll Roman Catholic High School in Washington, D.C., participating in the Glee Club, the National Honor Society and many of the school's drama productions. During his senior year, he was elected student council president.[14]
In 1977, Steele enrolled at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where he received a bachelor's degree in international studies.[15]
Steele then spent three years preparing for the Catholic priesthood at the Augustinian Friars Seminary at Villanova University,[16] teaching high school classes in world history and economics for one year at Malvern Preparatory School in Malvern, Pennsylvania.[17] He left the seminary prior to ordination.[18]
He then enrolled at the Georgetown University Law Center, attending classes at night and receiving his Juris Doctor in 1991. He failed the Maryland bar exam, but then passed the Pennsylvania bar exam.[19]
Steele was employed as a corporate securities associate at the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. From 1991 to 1997, he specialized in financial investments for Wall Street underwriters, working at Cleary's Tokyo, Japan office on major product liability litigation and at its London office on corporate matters. He left the law firm and founded the Steele Group, a business and legal consulting firm.[8]
After joining the Republican Party, he became chairman of the Prince George's County Republican Central Committee. He was a founding member of the centrist, fiscally conservative and socially inclusive Republican Leadership Council in 1993 but left in 2008 citing disagreements over endorsing primary candidates,[4] though detractors contend that his departure was a politically convenient effort to boost his chances of becoming the RNC chair.[20] In 1995, the Maryland Republican Party selected him as their Republican Man of the Year.[8] He worked on several political campaigns, was an Alternate Delegate to the 1996 Republican National Convention and a Delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.[9]
In December 2000, he was elected chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, becoming the first African American ever to be elected chairman of any state Republican Party.[8]
In 2002, Robert Ehrlich, who was running for Maryland Governor, selected Steele as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor. The campaign was waged against Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who was running for Governor and Charles R. Larson who was running for Lieutenant Governor.
Steele resigned his chairmanship of the Maryland Republican Party to campaign full-time. The Baltimore Sun praised Townsend's running mate, Larson, for his experience and expertise, stating that: "state GOP chairman Michael S. Steele, brings little to the team but the color of his skin."[21]
In the September primary election, Ehrlich and Steele had no serious opposition. In the November 2002 general election, the Republican Ehrlich-Steele ticket won, 51 percent to 48 percent even though Maryland traditionally votes Democratic and had not elected a Republican Governor in almost 40 years. The Townsend-Larson campaign had been tainted by outgoing Democratic governor Parris Glendening's marital problems and backlash due to his strict enforcement of environmental regulations. During the election, Townsend was also criticized for her choice of running mate; she picked retired Admiral Charles R. Larson, a novice politician who had switched parties only a few weeks before.
Steele's most prominent efforts for the Ehrlich administration were reforming the state's Minority Business Enterprise program and chairing the Governor's Commission on Quality Education in Maryland. Steele garnered criticism for his failure to oppose Ehrlich's reinstitution of the death penalty, despite claims of racial inequities in the use of the death penalty, Steele's own religious beliefs and his prior anti-death penalty pronouncements.[22]
In 2005, Steele was named an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership and was awarded the Bethune-DuBois Institute Award for his continuing efforts to improve the quality education in Maryland.[23]
At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Steele gave the Republican counterpoint to Barack Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address; it was Steele's first major national exposure. In April 2005, President Bush chose him to be a member of the U.S. delegation at the investiture of Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City.[24]
When Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's longest-serving United States Senator, announced in March 2005 that he would not be a candidate for re-election in 2006, top state and national Republican officials began pressing Steele to become their party's nominee for the seat.[22] In April 2005, The Baltimore Sun announced the results of a poll it conducted, stating that Steele would run statistically neck and neck against either former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume, or Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Baltimore County.[25] Steele formally announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate on October 25, 2005.[26]
Steele lost the general election to Cardin on November 7, 2006,[27] 44 percent to Cardin's 55 percent. Steele's former campaign finance chairman later alleged improprieties in Steele's handling of campaign funds, which Steele denied.[28]
One day after Steele conceded defeat in the Senate election, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post reported that Steele was hoping to succeed Ken Mehlman as the chairman of the Republican National Committee.[29] Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, who had the endorsement of President George W. Bush, got the position.
In February 2007, Steele became chairman of GOPAC, a political action committee that helps fund state and local Republican campaigns around the country and is responsible for training future Republican candidates. He succeeded former U.S. Congressman J.C. Watts, a fellow black Republican. In April 2007, Steele joined the international law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, as a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.[30]
At a speech given at the Media Research Center's 2007 DisHonors Awards Gala, Steele said:
“ | I get a question all the time, 'Are you going to run again for office?' And I've thought about that, and I've come to realize that there's still some Democrats out there that I haven't ticked off yet. So, yeah, we're gonna do it again. We're gonna do it again, and all I have to say is, they haven't seen anything yet.[31] | ” |
Steele is considered a possible candidate for Governor of Maryland in the future and said he was "intrigued by the idea" for 2010.[32] He has said that he will not run for President in 2012.[33]
Steele appeared several times on HBO's political show Real Time with Bill Maher, and was on Comedy Central's talk show The Colbert Report on January 23, 2007.[34] He also hosted a PBS Republican Primary debate in Baltimore, Maryland on September 27, 2007.[35]
He coined the phrase "Drill Baby Drill" during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota, where he promoted offshore drilling as an alternative to dependency on foreign oil.[36]
On November 24, 2008 Steele launched his campaign for the RNC chairmanship with the launching of his website.[37] On January 30, 2009, Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.[38] Steele, the Republican Party's first African American chief, was selected in the aftermath of President Obama's election, when many in the GOP saw him as a charismatic counter to the first black president.[39]
2008 RNC Chairman Vote
Source: CQPolitics,[40] and Poll Pundit[41]
Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 |
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Michael Steele | 46 | 48 | 51 | 60 | 79 | 91 |
Katon Dawson | 28 | 29 | 34 | 62 | 69 | 77 |
Saul Anuzis | 22 | 24 | 24 | 31 | 20 | Withdrew |
Ken Blackwell | 20 | 19 | 15 | 15 | Withdrew | |
Mike Duncan | 52 | 48 | 44 | Withdrew |
In December 2010, Steele declared that he would run for re-election as RNC chair.[5][42]
On March 1, 2009 in response to a question on CBS's Face the Nation as to who spoke for the Republican Party, President Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said it was Rush Limbaugh because "whenever a Republican criticizes [Limbaugh], they have to run back and apologize to him, and say they were misunderstood. He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party. And he has been upfront about what he views, and hasn't stepped back from that, which is he hopes for [President Obama's] failure. He said it. And I compliment him for his honesty, but that's their philosophy that is enunciated by Rush Limbaugh."[43][44][45]
In remarks aired by the CNN program D.L. Hughley Breaks the News on March 1, 2009, Steele said he, rather than Limbaugh, is "the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly." On March 2, 2009 Limbaugh said on his radio show that Steele is not fit to lead the Republican Party, asking of him "Why do you claim to lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds?"[46] After the show Steele called Limbaugh to apologize, saying "I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership. I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren't what I was thinking. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he's not."[47] Steele later issued another statement to say that Limbaugh "is a national conservative leader, and in no way do I want to diminish his voice. I truly apologize."[48]
In the fall of 2010, Steele launched the "Fire Pelosi Bus Tour,"[49] with the focus of taking over the United States House of Representatives, and thus "firing" Speaker Pelosi from her position as Speaker of the House of Representatives.[50] The tour began on September 15 and lasted 6 weeks, visiting 48 states in the Continental U.S., with stops in more than 100 cities while covering 14,000 miles.[51][52][53][54] The tours purpose was to "encourage votes for Republicans in districts across the nation."[55] The stops in individual districts gave Steele, "known for his bomb-throwing speaking style," an opportunity to fire up local GOP activists.[56] During the tour, "Steele urged party unity" as the Republicans attempted to take over the House of Representatives and end Representative Pelosi's term as Speaker of the House.[57]
The 2011 Republican National Committee (RNC) chairmanship election was held on January 14, 2011, to determine the next chairman of the RNC, who will serve a two-year term ending in 2013 and will lead the party through the 2012 general elections. After seven rounds of balloting, Reince Priebus was elected chairman over incumbent chair Michael Steele, Saul Anuzis, Ann Wagner and Maria Cino.[58]
Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reince Priebus | 45 | 52 | 54 | 58 | 67 | 80 | 97 |
Saul Anuzis | 24 | 22 | 21 | 24 | 32 | 37 | 43 |
Maria Cino | 32 | 30 | 28 | 29 | 40 | 34 | 28 |
Ann Wagner | 23 | 27 | 32 | 28 | 28 | 17 | Withdrew |
Michael Steele | 44 | 37 | 33 | 28 | Withdrew |
Steele's book, Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda, was released on January 4, 2010;[59] it was published by Regnery Publishing, ISBN 978-1596981089.[59] The Associated Press reported that, "Steele focuses much of the book on familiar GOP denunciations of President Barack Obama's overall policies (a roadmap to failure), the $787 billion stimulus bill (a reckless, wasteful, pork-laden spending spree), liberal views on manmade global warming (A threat to life on Earth? Depends on whom you ask) and other issues. To regain the public confidence, Steele says the GOP should, among other things, expose the reign of error inherent in liberal policies, contrast conservative and liberal principles, and highlight the damage caused by Obama's policies while explaining conservative solutions."[60]
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend |
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland January 15, 2003 – January 17, 2007 |
Succeeded by Anthony G. Brown |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by J. C. Watts |
Chairman of GOPAC February 1, 2007 – January 20, 2009 |
Succeeded by Frank Donatelli |
Preceded by Mike Duncan |
Chairman of the Republican National Committee January 20, 2009 – January 14, 2011 |
Succeeded by Reince Priebus |
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