Raj also started teaching in public schools.
From a young age, Haley was already breaking barriers.
According toBritannica, the Randhawas were the first Punjabi Sikh family to live in Bamberg, South Carolina.
Haley helped with the bookkeeping aspect of her mother’s store.
Haley is credited with having helped to make this happen as a young adult.
Aside from her accounting skills, though, Haley also contributed to the family business in other ways.
As Lassi With Lavina reported, Haley used to model some of the clothes in fashion shows.
According to Britannica, Haley graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Soon after graduating, she worked as an accounts manager for FCR Corporation.
However, she didn’t stay there long before returning to help out with the family business.
She met Michael Haley in 1989 during her freshman year at Clemson, according toTown and Country.
Aside fromMichael’s occasional overseas deployments with the National Guard, they’ve been inseparable ever since.
Nikki and Michael married in 1996.
For one, their wedding was postponed because of Hurricane Fran.
The category 3 hurricane made landfall in Cape Fear, North Carolina, on September 5.
According to theNational Weather Service, the effects of Fran were also felt in South Carolina.
The Haleys wed two days later, on September 7.
They also had two ceremonies to honor both their family religions.
One was a Methodist ceremony, and one was a Sikh ceremony.
Nikki also converted to Methodism before marrying Michael.
Aside from her career, she and new husband Michael Haley were interested in starting a family.
The couple welcomed their first child less than two years after they were married in 1996.
Their daughter, Rena Haley, was born in June 1998, according toPeople.
Rena just got married earlier in 2023 to boyfriend Joshua Jackson, whom she met while at Clemson University.
Instead, she obtained a nursing degree.
The Haleys became a family of four when Nikki gave birth to son Nalin Haley in September 2001.
“She wouldn’t have done it if just one of us said no …
It took the four of us.”
It encompasses the cities of Orangeburg, Bowman, and Santee.
In 2003, Haley was appointed to another local chamber of commerce, this time in Lexington County.
She was also involved with the Lexington Medical Foundation, according to Biography.
It’s important to note that Lexington County near the city of Columbia, South Carolina’s state capital.
Haley also started getting involved in women’s leadership organizations around this time.
The first position she ran for was a South Carolina House seat in 2004.
Haley beat Larry Koon, who had served longer than any other person in the House, according toPolitico.
She also won reelection in both 2006 and 2008.
It also wasn’t just any Democrat, but Hillary Clinton.
I’m running for office.'"
Furthermore, her win made her only the second Indian-American governor in U.S. history.
The first was Bobby Jindal, who was elected governor of Louisiana in 2007.
First was the racism Haley experienced, which made her a target of hatred from some white politicians.
According to Politico, one state senator called her a racist slur and also questioned Haley’s Christianity.
On top of this, Haley also faced accusations of extra-marital affairs with two different men.
However, these claims were never validated.
Reportedly, in the sign’s place were red, white, and blue balloons.
A more poignant anti-Confederacy moment came in 2015, when Haley was serving her second term as governor.
This was in response to the 2015 mass shooting of Black churchgoers at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston.
At the time, the flag also still flew at the capital in Columbia.
Haley reportedly decided the flag needed to be removed via state legislation.
In the end, Haley wasn’t in her position for long.
She announced her resignation at the end of 2018.
Haley’s resignation fueled speculation over a 2020 presidential campaign that didn’t come to fruition.
According toPolitico, Haley said, “President Trump has not always chosen the right words …
He was badly wrong with his words yesterday.
And it wasn’t just his words.
His actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history.”
In fact, she previously made statements about her reluctance to vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
It has been embarrassing for both parties.
It’s not something that the country deserves, but it’s what we’ve got."
“America is not past its prime,” Haley said in a speech in Charleston the next day.
“It’s just that our politicians are past theirs.”
While Haley’s announcement for president wasn’t shocking.
Rumors of her presidential ambitions had been swirling since she was governor of South Carolina.
But what did perhaps surprise some was Haley’s decision to join the race after her former boss did.
What changed her mind about this is unclear.
The Republican debates have been a key moment for Haley’s campaign.
Senator Tim Scott (he dropped out of the race in November).
“We can’t keep looking to the politicians of the past to fix the problems of today.
Nikki Haley represents a new generation of leadership and offers a bold, positive vision for our future.”
“Thank you for that.”
Interestingly, as Politico noted, Haley has yet to lose any election she’s ever run in.
