Nimarata Nikki Haley is an American politician who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. She was appointed as the 29th United States Ambassador to the United Nations by President Donald Trump and served from January 2017 through December 2018.
Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and earned an accounting degree from Clemson University. She joined her family's clothing business before serving as treasurer and president of the National Association of Women Business Owners. First elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004, she served three terms. In 2010, during her third term, she was elected governor of South Carolina, and she won re-election in 2014. Haley was the first female governor of South Carolina, the youngest governor in the country and the second governor of Indian descent (after fellow Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana). She was the first female governor of Asian American heritage. In 2017, Haley became the first Indian American member of a presidential cabinet.
Haley served as United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 96–4 vote, and sworn in on January 27, 2017. Haley affirmed the United States' willingness to use military force in response to further North Korean missile tests in the wake of the 2017–2018 North Korea crisis. She defended U.S. interests, particularly U.S. support of Israel, at the Security Council, and led the effort to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council. She voluntarily stepped down as Ambassador on December 31, 2018.
Haley is a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries for president of the United States in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. She announced her campaign in February 2023.
