Mike Huckabee

Michael Dale Huckabee
54th Governor of Arkansas
In office July 15, 1996 – January 9, 2007
Lieutenant	Winthrop Paul Rockefeller (1996-2006)
Preceded by	Jim Guy Tucker
Succeeded by	Mike Beebe
Personal details
Born	August 24, 1955 Hope, Arkansas
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Janet Huckabee
Profession	Minister
Signature	File:Huckabeesig.png

Michael Dale "Mike" Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) was the governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was the third Republican governor of the state since Reconstruction. In November 2005, Time named him one of the five best governors in the U.S. He has officially announced his intentions to set up a presidential exploratory committee for the United States presidential election, 2008.

Early history

Huckabee was born in Hope, Arkansas to Mae Elder and Dorsey W. Huckabee. He was elected Governor of Arkansas Boys State in 1972. He graduated magna cum laude from Ouachita Baptist University, completing his bachelors degree in 2½ years before attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Prior to his political career Huckabee was pastor of several Southern Baptist churches in Arkadelphia, Texarkana, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He served as President of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1989 to 1991 and as President of a religious-oriented television station.

Early political career

In Huckabee's first political race, he lost to incumbent U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers (D) in 1992, receiving about 40% of the vote. However, that same election saw Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton ascend to the Presidency, thus elevating Lieutenant Governor Jim Guy Tucker to Governor. The 1993 special election was held shortly after the general election; Huckabee won the special election and became the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve as Arkansas lieutenant governor. Huckabee was re-elected to a full term as lieutenant governor in 1994.

Governor of Arkansas

Ascent to governorship

On July 15, 1996, he was sworn in as Governor of Arkansas; Tucker had resigned because of a felony conviction in the Whitewater scandal. He rescinded his resignation as Huckabee was preparing to be sworn in, however. Within a few hours Tucker reinstated his resignation, and Huckabee was sworn in.

Soon after taking office, Huckabee signed legislation creating ARKids First, a health insurance program designed to provide insurance to children of families who could not qualify for Medicaid but could not afford private insurance.

First full term

A river in Arkansas.

In November 1998, Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term, receiving the highest percentage of votes for a Republican seeking statewide office in Arkansas history. He defeated retired Colonel Gene McVay of Fort Smith in the primary and Jonesboro attorney Bill Bristow in the general election.

At the beginning of his first full term, Huckabee led a public relations campaign for a bond program to pay for road reconstruction (Arkansas had, at that time, the lowest-rated highway system among the 50 states). Arkansas voters had traditionally shied away from public debt, having experienced a major bond scandal that affected the state's finances for the latter half of the 19th century. This time, however, the voters approved Huckabee's program.

Huckabee also led a campaign to dedicate via constitutional amendment 1/8 of one cent of the state sales tax to improvement of the state's park system and natural resources. As part of the campaign, Huckabee traveled the entire length of the Arkansas River (the part within Arkansas) by boat.

In 2000, Huckabee also led a campaign to funnel 100% of the state's tobacco settlement revenues into the state's health care system, rather than into the general fund.

Second full term

In November 2002 he was reelected to his second (and final) four-year term. By the end of that term, Huckabee owned the third-longest tenure of any Arkansas Governor (only Democrats Orval Faubus, who served 6 consecutive 2-year terms (1955-1967), and Bill Clinton, who served 11 years, 11 months (1979-1981; 1983-1992), had longer tenures).

He was made the chair of the Southern Governors' Association in 1999 and served in that capacity through 2000. He has chaired the Southern Growth Policies Board, the Southern Region Education Board, the Southern Technology Council, and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, and currently serves as Chair of the Education Commission of the States. He is also a member of the Republican Governors Association and former Chairman of the National Governors Association.

On November 21, 2002, the Arkansas State Supreme Court declared that the state's school funding procedure was unconstitutional and ordered the state to produce a fair system. Huckabee proposed a controversial plan that would consolidate many of the state's smaller school districts. School consolidation is very unpopular in rural Arkansas and may be the "third rail" of Arkansas politics. Huckabee's plan was rejected by the legislature, and the court order has not yet been satisfied.

After Hurricane Katrina made landfall and numerous evacuees fled to Arkansas (the total number was estimated at around 70,000), Huckabee ordered state agencies to take care of the them. State parks offered discounts, waived pet restrictions, and bumped other reservations in favor of evacuees. Pharmacists were given emergency authority to dispense prescriptions and provide access to dialysis machines. Shelters opened up in nearly every portion of the state, and Huckabee requested that the entire state be declared a disaster area. Many of these shelters, either closed or set to close, were reopened or kept open to process a "second wave" of Katrina evacuees being moved from Texas in the wake of arriving Hurricane Rita. (See also Hurricane Katrina disaster relief).

In early 2006, Huckabee - along with fellow governors Rick Perry (R-TX); Jim Doyle (D-WI); and Dave Freudenthal (D-WY) - travelled to the Middle East and South Asia as part of Department of Defense-sponsored trip to provide the state leaders with an idea of the conditions under which American forces are serving. While visiting Baghdad and Tikrit, Huckabee and the governors received briefings from Gen. George Casey and Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad.

Health advocacy and personal weight loss

When elected governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee was significantly overweight. During 2003, physicians diagnosed the governor with adult-onset diabetes and informed him that he would not live more than 10 years if he did not lose weight. Prompted by this diagnosis (as well as the subsequent death of former Governor Frank D. White, whose obesity led to a fatal heart attack), Huckabee went on a diet. Huckabee subsequently lost over 110 pounds, according to a New York Times article at a pace so rapid that "it was as if he simply unzipped a fat suit and stepped out."

He has publicly recounted his previous burdens as an overweight man: the steps of the Arkansas capitol building from the entrance of the building up to the Governor's office were so long and steep that Huckabee would be out of breath and exhausted by the time he reached the top of the stairs; Huckabee secretly feared that he would be interviewed by media at the top of the steps, and that he would be unable to respond appropriately due to his overexertion and breathlessness.

Huckabee has talked about his weight loss and made health care reform a major component of his later tenure as governor. This has included a well-received series of productive dialogues between leaders in the food industry and leaders in public health.

Huckabee ran in the 2006 New York City Marathon.

Criticisms

Huckabee has been criticized for his support of creationism. He was quoted in July 2004 on "Arkansans Ask," his regular show on the Arkansas Educational Television Network: "I think that students also should be given exposure to the theories not only of evolution but to the basis of those who believe in creationism." Huckabee also stated "I do not necessarily buy into the traditional Darwinian theory, personally."

Huckabee drew criticism in October 2006 for referring to his significant weight loss as being the result of a stay at "a concentration camp held by the Democrat Party of Arkansas." However, Huckabee responded to a critical statement released by the Democrats: "to make such a far-reaching statement is laughable and is the type of allegation that makes people cynical."

In November 2006, both Huckabee and his wife drew criticism for creating wedding registries in the amount of over $6000 at both the Target and Dillard's web sites, in conjunction with a housewarming party to celebrate a new $525,000 house they had purchased in Little Rock. The Arkansas Times, which first reported the story, noted that wedding gifts represent one of the exceptions to a $100 cap on gifts to political leaders under Arkansas law. Huckabee claimed that the registries were intended only for those who were invited to the event, that he was not involved in organizing the event, and that they were classified as wedding registries only because those sites did not have separate categories for housewarming parties.

Huckabee has also been criticized for his fiscal record as governor, having increased state spending 65.3% from 1996 to 2004 and having supported numerous tax hikes. The Cato Institute, a libertarian non-profit public policy research foundation, gave him an F grade for spending and tax policy in 2006, and an overall grade of D for his governorship.

Huckabee also had supported the release of Arkansan prison authorities to release Wayne Dumond, who was convicted for the rape of Ashley Stevens, a Forrest City high school student. Dummond subsequently sexually assaulted and murdered a woman in Missouri.

Books

Huckabee has authored or co-authored five books:

• Character is the Issue (1997), a memoir (inspired by the crisis surrounding the incidents prior to his taking office as governor)
• Kids Who Kill (1998), a book about juvenile violence (inspired by the Jonesboro massacre, which took place during his tenure as governor)
• Living Beyond Your Lifetime (2000), a guide for leaving a personal legacy
• Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork (2005), a health and exercise inspirational guide (based on his personal health experience) Publisher: Center Street
• From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 Stops to Restoring America's Greatness (2007) Publisher: Center Street

Huckabee also wrote the foreword to My Story Your Story His Story (2006) by Larry Toller

Presidential ambitions

File:Unpoedic huckabee-20070131.jpg

Huckabee addressing supporters in Iowa.

On January 27, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Huckabee planned to file papers to form a presidential exploratory committee. He annouced his run for the White House on Meet the Press on January 28, 2007.

On January 29, 2007, the 51-year-old Huckabee told The Associated Press "I think this is an opportunity to show the American dream is still alive and there's hope and optimism that can be awakened in a lot of people's lives if they think that a person like me can run and actually become president"

James Carville, Clinton's former political consultant, has given Huckabee high praise. He said the folllowing about Huckabee "He likes people, he knows how to relate to people.. His father was a preacher. He can talk the talk. I'm impressed with this guy's political skills". (Carville's statement was mistaken: Huckabee's father was a fireman, not a preacher; Huckabee himself was a preacher.)

Trivia

• Appeared on Canadian comedian Rick Mercer's show Talking to Americans where he congratulated the Canadian government on building a dome over its "national igloo" (apparently a downsized version of the United States Capitol) to protect it from global warming.
• Plays bass guitar in a band called Capitol Offense. Their performance in New Hampshire on August 10, 2006 was shown on C-SPAN. In early 2007, the band played at a National Governors Association staff party in Des Moines, Iowa.
• Appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on January 10, 2007.
• Mentioned on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on January 23, 2007 after a CNN poll showed Huckabee polling at 1%, with a margin of error of ±5%. "According to that poll, Mike Huckabee might be imaginary." --Jon Stewart--
• Ouachita Baptist University recently renamed its School of Education the Michael D. Huckabee School of Education. In addition, his hometown of Hope named a recently-completed lake inside its Fair Park after Huckabee and his wife.
• Huckabee was 1 of 10 recipients of a 2006 American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Impact Award acknowledging his work as a "Health Crusader".
• Huckabee has run the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon, the 2005 and 2006 Little Rock Marathon, and the 2006 New York City Marathon. The 2005 Little Rock Marathon had a contest between Huckabee and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D). Huckabee completed the marathon in 4:38:31, defeating Vilsack by 50 minutes.

See also

• Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2006

External links

• Exploratory Committee
• Mike Huckabee President 2008 blog Huckabee for President grassroots blog
• On the Issues - Mike Huckabee issue positions and quotes
• Mike Huckabee on WMUR-TV New Hampshire
• Mike Huckabee interview with the Washington Post
• Follow the Money - Mike Huckabee campaign contributions for the 2002 Governor race
• The New York Times - Mike Huckabee News news stories and commentary
• Huckabee for president?, Arkansas Times, September 22, 2005
• AARP Impact Award article
• Life Extension Magazine: Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, A New State of Health for America
• Stop Mike Huckabee
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas stating "Mike Huckabee was born on August 24, 1955, in Hope (Hempstead County), the son of Dorsey W. and Mae (Elder) Huckabee."
• Mike Huckabee on Charlie Rose
• TheFinalSprint.com's interview with Mike Huckabee, fitness success story & presidential candidate