Kay Bailey Hutchison facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kay Bailey Hutchison
|
|
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2017
|
|
| 24th United States Ambassador to NATO | |
| In office August 28, 2017 – January 20, 2021 |
|
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Douglas Lute |
| Succeeded by | Julianne Smith |
| United States Senator from Texas |
|
| In office June 14, 1993 – January 3, 2013 |
|
| Preceded by | Bob Krueger |
| Succeeded by | Ted Cruz |
| Treasurer of Texas | |
| In office January 15, 1991 – June 14, 1993 |
|
| Governor | Ann Richards |
| Preceded by | Ann Richards |
| Succeeded by | Martha Whitehead |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 90th district |
|
| In office January 9, 1973 – July 9, 1976 |
|
| Preceded by | Tom Bass |
| Succeeded by | Brad Wright |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Kathryn Ann Bailey
July 22, 1943 Galveston, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Texas at Austin (BA, JD) |
Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey on July 22, 1943) is an American lawyer, TV reporter, politician, and diplomat. She served as the United States Ambassador to NATO from 2017 to 2021. Before that, she was a U.S. Senator for Texas from 1993 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party.
Kay Bailey Hutchison was born in Galveston, Texas. She went to the University of Texas at Austin. Before she became a politician, she worked as a lawyer and a reporter for a TV station in Houston. She was part of the Texas House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976. Later, she became the Texas State Treasurer in 1990. In 1993, she was elected to the U.S. Senate. She was the first woman to become a senator from Texas.
She was re-elected to the Senate in 1994, 2000, and 2006. In 2010, she tried to become the Governor of Texas but did not win the primary election. By the time she left the Senate in 2013, she was the most senior Republican woman senator. After leaving the Senate, she joined a law firm. On August 28, 2017, she became the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, a group of countries that work together for safety.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Kay Bailey Hutchison was born Kathryn Ann Bailey in Galveston, Texas. Her parents were Kathryn Ella and Allan Abner Bailey, Jr. She has two brothers, Allan and Frank. She grew up in La Marque, Texas.
She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962 when she was 19. She was also a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. She later earned her law degree (J.D.) from the University of Texas School of Law in 1967.
Early Career in Politics
.jpg)
After finishing law school, Hutchison worked as a legal and political reporter for a TV station in Houston. She was one of the first women to report news on TV in Texas.
In 1972, Hutchison was elected to the Texas House of Representatives for a district in Houston. She served there until 1976. From 1976 to 1978, she was the vice-chair of the National Transportation Safety Board. She then took a break from politics to work as a bank executive and businesswoman. She returned to politics in 1990 when she was elected Texas State Treasurer.
United States Senate
Kay Bailey Hutchison was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1993. She won a special election to finish the term of Senator Lloyd Bentsen, who had left to join the President's team. She became the first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.
She was re-elected for full terms in 1994, 2000, and 2006. She served on important Senate committees, including those for money (Appropriations) and transportation (Commerce, Science, and Transportation). She was a strong supporter of NASA.
From 2001 to 2007, Hutchison was a leader among Republicans in the Senate. She was the fifth-highest-ranking Republican. From 2007 onwards, she became the fourth-highest-ranking Republican leader.
In 2000, she co-wrote a book called Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate. In 2004, she published her own book, American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country.
Hutchison was generally a conservative Republican. However, she sometimes voted with Democrats on certain issues. In 2011, she announced that she would not run for re-election in 2012.
Key Policy Ideas
Hutchison supported the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act." This bill aimed to change the handgun bans in Washington D.C. The city's law had prevented people from owning handguns and required rifles or shotguns to be taken apart. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that this law was unconstitutional.
She also worked on immigration issues. She supported the ACHIEVE Act, which would offer renewable visas to some undocumented immigrants. She voted to make English the official language of the United States.
In 2006, Senator Hutchison voted to allow federal funding for research using embryonic stem cells. She also supported this research in 2001.
2010 Governor Election
In 2009, Hutchison announced she would run for Governor of Texas. She wanted to challenge the current governor, Rick Perry. She was seen as a more moderate choice. Many important people supported her, including former U.S. President George H. W. Bush. However, she lost the primary election to Rick Perry in March 2010.
United States Ambassador to NATO
.jpg)
On June 29, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Kay Bailey Hutchison to be the United States Ambassador to NATO. The U.S. Senate approved her nomination on August 3, 2017. She officially started her role as ambassador on August 28, 2017.
She served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO until January 20, 2021.
Honors and Recognition
In 2013, a part of the tax code was renamed the "Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA" in her honor. Also in 2013, the Dallas Convention Center was renamed the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Personal Life
Kay Bailey Hutchison married her first husband, John Pierce Parks, in 1967. They divorced in 1969.
She married her second husband, Ray Hutchison, in 1978. Ray Hutchison was also a politician who served in the Texas House of Representatives. They adopted a son and a daughter in 2001. Ray Hutchison passed away in 2014.
As of 2009, Hutchison and her family lived in Dallas. She also owned a house in Virginia while she was a senator. She is a member of the Episcopal Church.
See also
In Spanish: Kay Bailey Hutchison para niños
