Bobby Jindal

* * *

Governor of Louisiana

In office
January 14, 2008 - January 2016
Preceded by  |  Kathleen Blanco
Succeeded by  |  John Bel Edwards

* * *

U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 1st Congressional District
(suburban New Orleans)

In office
January 3, 2005 - January 14, 2008
Preceded by  |  David Vitter
Succeeded by  |  Steve Scalise

* * *

Born  |  June 10, 1971
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Political party  |  Republican
Spouse(s)  |  Supriya Jindal
Children  |  Three children
Religion  |  Roman Catholic

Piyush Jindal, known as Bobby Jindal (born June 10, 1971), is the immediate past governor of Louisiana. He was elected October 20, 2007 and sworn into office on January 14, 2008. At the time, he was the youngest American governor in office.[1] On June 25, 2015, Jindal announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Background
* 2 Political career
* 2.1 Gubernatorial highlights
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## Background[edit]

Jindal was born in the capital city of Baton Rouge to recently arrived Punjabi Indian immigrants, Amar and Raj Jindal, who were attending graduate school. His family is of Punjabi ancestry, his father left India in the 1970s and his ancestral family village of Khanpura. Jindal was raised a Hindu but converted to Catholicism in high school. Jindal adopted the name "Bobby" after watching The Brady Bunch television program at age four. He has been known by that name ever since, as a civil servant, politician, student, and writer. Legally though his name remains Piyush Jindal.

He graduated from Baton Rouge High School in 1987 and went on to attend Brown University where he graduated with honors in biology and public policy. Following his graduation from Brown he attended Oxford University in the United Kingdom as a Rhodes Scholar, having turned down admissions to medical and law schools at both Harvard and Yale.

In 1994, Jindal went to work for McKinsey and Company as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies before entering public service. In 1996, he was appointed Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH). There were many issues that needed resolving during his tenure, not the least of which was the growing deficit in Louisiana's Medicaid program. During Jindal's tenure as DHH Secretary, he rescued Louisiana's Medicaid program from bankruptcy, childhood immunizations increased, Louisiana ranked third best nationally in health care screenings for children, and new and expanded services for elderly and disabled persons were offered.

In 1998, Jindal was appointed Executive Director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. As Executive Director, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the commission, whose work continue to be the driving force behind much of the ongoing debate on how to strengthen and improve Medicare.

At the conclusion of the commission's work, Jindal was appointed President of the University of Louisiana System, the 16th largest higher education system in the country. While serving as president, Jindal worked to establish areas of excellence at each individual institution.

## Political career[edit]

President George W. Bush appointed Jindal to serve as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2001. In that position, he served as the principal policy advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He later resigned from the position in 2003 to return to Louisiana and run for Govenor. In that race, Jindal went from being a relatively unknown candidate for Governor, to receiving the most votes in the primary election. However, with 48 percent of the vote in the runoff, he lost the election.

In 2004 he was elected to the 109th United States Congress representing the First District of Louisiana. In Congress he was elected Freshman Class President and served on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the House Committee on Homeland Security, and the House Committee on Resources. He also served as Assistant Majority Whip. He was re-elected to Congress in November 2006 with 88 percent of the vote.

### Gubernatorial highlights[edit]

On January 22, 2007, Jindal announced his candidacy for governor. Polling data showed him with an early lead in the race, and he remained the favorite throughout the campaign. He defeated eleven opponents in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, including two prominent Democrats. He went on to win the gubernatorial election with 54 percent of the vote and carried Jindal was criticized by liberals for his plans to reject portions of economic stimulus money to extend unemployment benefits to those who would not ordinarily qualify for the funds.[3] Jindal was criticized for a speech he gave in response to President Barack H. Obama, when Jindal questioned the use of some stimulus money, including volcano monitoring.[4]

In his first term as governor, with the political consultant Timmy Teepell as chief of staff and Jimmy Faircloth as executive counsel, Jindal obtained passage of legislation to assist in the recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He also obtained the passage of legislation to bring significant offshore energy revenues to Louisiana and legislation to prevent the Federal Emergency Management Agency from taxing certain recovery grants as income.

Governor Jindal with his wife

Jindal handily won reelection in 2011 against a weak field of opponents who lack name recognition. He won majorities in sixty of the sixty-four parishes. As he began his second term as governor in 2012, Jindal tapped the Democrat-turned Moderate Republican John Alario of Jefferson Parish as the state Senate President, a choice then affirmed by all but one of the sitting senators, Barrow Peacock of Shreveport. Alario was subsequently supported the tax package offered by Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, Jindal's successor.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ "Jindal ... made history in 2007 when, at 36, he was elected the nation's first Indian-American governor and became the youngest governor in office." (CNN)
2. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/us/politics/bobby-jindal-announces-bid-for-president.html?_r=0
3. ↑ "Jindal rejects unemployment money (for those who normally wouldn't get it) in the stimulus," The New Orleans Times-Picayune, date missing.
4. ↑ "Geologist Erupts at Jindal's Volcano Question". FOX News Channel (Undated).

## External links[edit]

* Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal official state site
* March 11, 2009 Interview on Fox and Friends
* February 22, 2009 Interview on Meet the Press
* Bobby Jindal 2016 campaign website