Michael Steele
Michael Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political figure, currently serving as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. He is the first African American to chair the RNC. Steele co-founded the “fiscally conservative and socially inclusive” Republican Leadership Council in 1993, but left in 2008.
Steele won a scholarship to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and received a bachelor’s degree in international relations in 1981. After graduating, Steele spent three years as a seminarian at the Augustinian Friars Seminary at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, but left the seminary prior to taking the vows.
Steele then entered the Georgetown University Law Center, receiving his law degree in 1991. He worked as a corporate securities associate from 1991 to 1997, specializing in financial investments for Wall Street underwriters. Steele left the law firm and founded the Steele Group, a business and legal consulting firm. In 1995, the Maryland Republican Party selected him as Maryland State Republican Man of the Year. He worked on several political campaigns, was an Alternate Delegate to the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego, and a Delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. In December 2000, Steele was elected chairman of the Maryland Republican Party.
In 2002, then-Congressman Robert Ehrlich selected Steele as his running mate in the campaign against Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for governor of Maryland. The Ehrlich-Steele ticket won, with Steele becoming the first African American to serve in a state-wide office in Maryland. As the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007, he chaired the Minority Business Enterprise taskforce and actively sought expanded affirmative action policies in the corporate world. Steele’s most prominent efforts for the Ehrlich administration were reforming the state’s Minority Business Enterprise program, committing $70 million in grants and loan guarantees for small and minority-owned businesses, and chairing the Commission on Quality Education in Maryland.
At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Steele gave the Republican counterpoint to the Democrats’ Barack Obama in a keynote address, Steele’s first major national exposure. Steele ran for a Maryland United States Senate in 2006, but lost to Democratic Congressman Ben Cardin. He also lost his first bid as chairman of the Republican National Committee to President Bush s pick, Mel Martinez, despite having the endorsement of many prominent Republicans.
In February 2007, Stele become chairman of GOPAC, a political action committee that helps fund state and local Republican campaigns around the country and is responsible for the training of future republican candidates. In November of 2008, Steele decided to try for the chairmanship of the RNC another time, winning the position in February of 2009.
After a few rough months of bobbles, questionable statements, and criticism from within party ranks, Steele seems to be finding his voice. In May, a face-off with DNC Chairman and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine on NBC s ‘Meet the Press,’ displayed Steele as aggressive but on-message, winning him support among RNC membership. Weakening poll numbers for President Obama and his agenda have strengthened that support. At August s annual RNC meeting, Steele gave a strong, measured, yet passionate, speech that was received with cheers and a few hoots from among members.
