Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, both vying for the US presidency as Indian-Americans, found themselves in a spirited exchange during the inaugural Republican Party primary debate. The focal point of their clash revolved around foreign policy matters. The ex-Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, took the opportunity to criticize her fellow contender, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, asserting that he lacks the necessary foreign policy experience and has shown support for Russia.
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Who is Nikki Haley?
Nikki Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to immigrant Indian Punjabi Sikh parents at Bamberg County Hospital in Bamberg, South Carolina. Her father, Ajit Singh Randhawa, and her mother, Raj Kaur Randhawa, immigrated to the United States from Amritsar, Punjab, India. Haley has a sister and two brothers. In 1989, Haley graduated from the private Orangeburg Preparatory Schools. She graduated from Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Haley worked for FCR Corporation, a waste management and recycling company, before joining her family’s clothing business. Haley became treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners in 2003, and president in 2004. She also served on the Lexington Medical Foundation, Lexington County Sheriff’s Foundation, and West Metro Republican Women.
In 2004, she ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 87 in Lexington County. She challenged incumbent state representative Larry Koon, who was the longest-serving legislator in the South Carolina Statehouse, in the Republican primary.
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Haley was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004, where she served three terms. In 2010, during her third term, she was elected governor of South Carolina, and she won re-election in 2014. She was the first female governor of South Carolina, the youngest governor in the country. She was the first female Asian American governor, and in 2017 became the first Indian American in a presidential cabinet.
She married Michael Haley in 1996. The couple have two children, a daughter Rena and son Nalin.
