Justin Humphrey

AP Gov 2nd Hour

November 23, 2014

President of the United States Barack Obama

The President of the United States is Barack Obama. He was born in Honolulu,
Hawaii and represents the Democratic Party. He is married to Michelle Obama and has
two daughters. He attended Occidental College in Los Angeles from 1979 to 1981and
then graduated from Columbia University in 1983 with a B.A. He later went on to earn
his J.D. from Harvard Law. Obama represented the state of Illinois as a senator from
2005 to 2008, and as a member of the Illinois state senate from 1997 to 2004. In office,
he has received the Nobel Peace Prize and helped stimulate the economy during
Americas economic crisis. Despite this success, he has had several major failures. His
Affordable Care Act was a disaster when first implemented and has yet to have all of its
kinks worked out. In the 2014 midterm, he admitted he was shellacked when the
Republican Party took control of the Senate.

Vice President Joe Biden

Joe Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Joseph R. Biden Sr., and
Catherine Biden. He is the former Senator of Delaware and represents the Democratic
Party. He attended the University of Delaware where he earned his B.A. and attended
Syracuse to earn his J.D. Biden served as a U.S. Senator from 1973 to 2009, when he
became the Vice President. He served as the Chairman of Senate Committee on Foreign

Relations from 2001 to 2003, then from 2007 to 2009. While Vice President, Biden has
received some criticism, but has mostly worked behind the scenes without having too
much publicity.

Secretary of State John Kerry

John Kerry was born in Aurora, Colorado, to Richard J. Kerry, and Isabel Forbes.
He is Roman Catholic and served in the U.S. Navy for 12 years before and during the
Vietnam War. In the War, he earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star and earned 3 Purple
Hearts. After the War, he went to Yale where he earned his B.A., then later attended
Boston College where he earned his J.D. Kerry was a soldier, the 66th Lt. Governor of
Massachusetts from 1983-85, and then the Senator from Massachusetts from 1985
2013. He has served as the Secretary of State since 2013 when he took over for Hillary
Clinton. In his current position he has earned himself a reputation for being aloof,
keeping to himself, and not bothering to read staff memos. Also, he has been criticized
for centralizing the power in the State Department too much.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel

Chuck Hagel was born in North Platte, Nebraska. He is Republican and
Episcopalian. He served as an infantry squad leader in Vietnam, where he received two
Purple Hearts. He went to University of Nebraska at Omaha for his B.A. in History, and
then Brown for Radio and T.V. Broadcasting. He served as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska
from 1997 2009, and then was nominated as the Secretary of Defense by Barack
Obama. Prior to his political career, he cofounded Vanguard Cellular, which made him a

millionaire. In addition, he has also served as the president of McCarthy Group LLC. and
the CEO of American Information Systems. He has been very active in monitoring and
taking action in the Middle East, and in the Ukraine. He has served as the S.O.D. since
2013, and is resigning amid pressure from Obama.

Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew

Born in New York City, New York, Lew comes from a Jewish family. He
received his BA from Harvard and JD from Georgetown Law School, as well as an
honorary Doctorate from Georgetown. Prior to his current office, Lew served as the
Executive VP for Operations at New York University and was the COO at Citigroup. In
the political spectrum, Lew served as the White House Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2013
and as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Clinton and Obama.
He has been in his position since the 2012 election. He has been criticized by William K.
Black, who said Lews direction was an ode to austerity.

Attorney General Eric Holder

Eric Holder is the first African American Attorney General for the United States.
He was born in the Bronx in NYC, New York. He grew up in Queens, and later went on
to attend the university of Columbia to receive his Law degree. Prior to being appointed
the Attorney General in 2008, Holder served in numerous positions. He was appointed as
the Judge of the Superior Court of Washington D.C., U.S. Attorney for D.C., Deputy
Attorney General from 1997-2001. He has had a lot of success at the Attorney General

position, successfully prosecuting 6 confidential government information leakers, among

other things.

National Security Advisor Susan Rice

Susan Rice was born in Washington D.C. She was the Valedictorian at her High
School, and later received her B.A. from Stanford University. She then attended Oxford
as a Rhodes scholar. She served as the 17th Assistant of State for African Affairs from 97
to 01, and the Ambassador to the U.N., before submitting herself as a candidate to
replace Hillary Clinton. After botching information after the Benghazi scandal and U.S.
Embassy attack, she withdrew her name from this spot after heavy criticism from
Republicans and Democrats alike.

Speaker of the House John A. Boehner

John Boehner was born in Reading, Ohio and is Roman Catholic. He was the first
person in his family to go to college. Boehner attended Xavier University where he
received his B.A. John served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from
1985 1990, a U.S. representative since 1991, House Majority leaser from 06-07, and
the House Minority leader from 2007-2011. Boehner has received praise for his candor
and ability to listen, and has perfected the art of disagreeing without being
disagreeable. Despite this, many religious conservatives are not satisfied with his
position on many issues.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy

Kevin McCarthy was born in 1965 in Bakersfield, California and is a Southern
Baptist. He went to Cal State Bakersfield to earn his Bachelors of Science in Marketing,
and then his MBA in 1994. McCarthy has served as U.S. representative from the 22nd
Congressional District from 2007 2013, and then was elected as the Representative for
the 23rd District. He served as the House Majority Whip from 2011 2014, when Eric
Cantor resigned, and McCarthy filled Cantors empty position.

Senate Majority Leader - Harry Reid

Born in Searchlight, Nevada, Reid is a Democratic Senator from Nevada. He
attended Southern Utah, then transferred to Utah State and earned his Political Science
and History Degrees. He later attended George Washington University to earn his J.D. He
served as the 25th Lt. Governor of Nevada from 1971-1975, a U.S. Representative from
Nevada from 83 87, the Majority Whip from 01 03, Minority Whip from 99 -01
and 03 05, the Senate Minority Leader from 05 07, and has served as a Nevada
senator since 1987. He has served as the Majority leader since 2007. Liberals have
criticized him for not doing enough to end military involvement, for serving selfenriching tactics, and even had to apologize to Obama in 2010 for racially charged
comments.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

McConnell was born in Sheffield, Alabama and is a Republican, and Southern
Baptist. He went to the University of Louisville to earn his B.A. in political science, and
then the University of Kentucky to earn his J.D. He has been the Senator from Kentucky
since 1985, and served as the Majority Whip from 2003 2007. He has been the Minority
Leader since 2007. He has been described as one who relishes and cultivates his
reputation as a villain, and Its been McConnell at the table when the big deals have
been finished, alluding to his pull in Congress.