Michele Bachmann

Michele Marie Bachmann (/ˈbɑːxmən/; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 6th congressional district from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party, she was a candidate for president of the United States in the 2012 election, but dropped out after the Iowa caucuses.

Born in Waterloo, Iowa, Bachmann moved to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota as a teenager. She earned a bachelor's degree from Winona State University, a Juris Doctor from Oral Roberts University's O. W. Coburn School of Law, and a Master of Laws from William & Mary Law School. She briefly worked in tax law for the Internal Revenue Service before becoming a stay-at-home mother. She became involved in local politics, focusing on education issues.

Bachmann formally entered politics when she was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2000. In 2006, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. After her unsuccessful run for president, Bachmann was elected to another term in the House in 2012. She announced her retirement before the 2014 election.

Since January 1, 2021, Bachmann has been dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University.

Bachmann was born Michele Marie Amble on April 6, 1956, in Waterloo, Iowa, to Norwegian-American parents David John Amble, an engineer, and Arlene Jean Amble (née Johnson). Two of her great-great-great-grandparents, Melchior and Martha Munson, emigrated from Sogndal, Norway, to Wisconsin in 1857. Her family moved from Iowa to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota when she was 13 years old. After her parents divorced when she was 14, David moved to California and remarried. Bachmann was raised by her mother, who worked at the First National Bank in Anoka, Minnesota, where they moved again. Three years later her mother married widower Raymond J. LaFave; the new marriage resulted in a family with nine children.

In Anoka High School, Bachmann was a cheerleader. She graduated from high school in 1974 and, after graduation, spent one summer working at kibbutz Be'eri in Israel with Young Life, an evangelical youth organization. In 1978, she graduated from Winona State University with a B.A. In 1979, Bachmann was a member of the first class of the O. W. Coburn School of Law, then a part of Oral Roberts University (ORU). There she studied with John Eidsmoe, whom she described in 2011 as "one of the professors who had a great influence on me". Bachmann worked as a research assistant on Eidsmoe's 1987 book Christianity and the Constitution, which argues that the United States was founded as a Christian theocracy and should become one again. In 1986, she received a J.D. degree from Oral Roberts University.

A member of ORU's final graduating class, she was also part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved ORU's library to what is now Regent University. In 1988, she received an LL.M. degree in tax law from William & Mary Law School. From 1988 to 1993, she worked for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, she never took the bar examination or obtained a license to become an attorney. Bachmann left the IRS to become a full-time mother when her fourth child was born.

She grew up in a Democratic family and has said she became a Republican during her senior year at Winona State University. She told the Star Tribune that she was reading Gore Vidal's 1973 novel Burr and that Vidal "was kind of mocking the Founding Fathers and I just thought—I just remember reading the book, putting it in my lap, looking out the window and thinking, 'You know what? I don't think I am a Democrat. I must be a Republican.'" While still a registered Democrat, she and her then-fiancé, Marcus, were motivated to join the anti-abortion movement after watching Francis Schaeffer's 1976 Christian documentary film How Should We Then Live?. They prayed outside clinics and engaged in sidewalk counseling, an activity in which anti-abortion activists attempt to persuade women entering clinics not to get abortions. She has since made statements supportive of sidewalk counseling. Bachmann supported Jimmy Carter for president in 1976, and together with her husband, Bachmann worked on Carter's campaign. During Carter's presidency, she became disappointed with his approach to public policy, support for legalized abortion, and economic decisions she held responsible for increased gas prices. In the 1980 presidential election, she voted for Ronald Reagan and worked for his campaign.