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Jennifer Granholm Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
Jennifer Granholm facts for kids
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Jennifer Granholm
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| 47th Governor of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2011 |
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| Lieutenant | John Cherry |
| Preceded by | John Engler |
| Succeeded by | Rick Snyder |
| 51st Attorney General of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 1999 – January 1, 2003 |
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| Governor | John Engler |
| Preceded by | Frank J. Kelley |
| Succeeded by | Mike Cox |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 5, 1959 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Daniel Mulhern |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-born American politician, lawyer, educator, author, political commentator and member of the Democratic Party who served as the Attorney General of Michigan from 1999 to 2003 and as the Governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011. In January 2017, she became a CNN political contributor.
Early life
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Granholm moved from Canada to California at age four. She grew up in Anaheim, San Jose, and San Carlos. Granholm graduated from San Carlos High School in 1977 and won the Miss San Carlos beauty pageant.
As a young adult she attempted to launch a Hollywood acting career but was unsuccessful and abandoned her efforts at the age of 21. In 1978 she appeared on The Dating Game, and held jobs as a tour guide at Universal Studios and in customer service at the Los Angeles Times and was the first female tour guide at Marine World Africa USA in Redwood City, piloting boats with 25 tourists aboard.
In 1980, at the age of 21 years, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen, worked for John B. Anderson's campaign for President of the United States as an Independent in the 1980 election. She then enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley and graduated in 1984 with a B.A. in Political Science and French.
During a year in France, she helped to smuggle clothes and medical supplies to Jewish people in the Soviet Union and became involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement. She then earned a Juris Doctor degree at Harvard University, also with honors, in 1987.
She then clerked for Judge Damon Keith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1991 and in 1995 she was appointed to the Wayne County Corporation Counsel.
Personal life
While Granholm was at Harvard, she met fellow law student and Michigan native Daniel Mulhern, a theology graduate from Yale University. They married in 1986 and have three children.
As Governor of Michigan, Granholm was afforded the courtesy title of Her Excellency.
On October 21, 2010, Granholm was made a Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star, First Class, by the King of Sweden "for her work in fostering relations between Michigan and Sweden to promote a clean energy economy".
Images for kids
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Left to right: Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Granholm and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue
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Granholm addressing troops returning to Michigan following a tour in Iraq, December 2005
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Granholm at a campaign event in November 2006