Mike Huckabee

Michael Dale Huckabee, born August 24, 1955, is an American politician, diplomat, and Baptist minister who serves as the United States ambassador to Israel. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 and sought his party's presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016. He is also an ordained Southern Baptist pastor, musician, public speaker, author, and television and radio host.

Huckabee was raised in Hope, Arkansas, by his parents, Dorsey Wiles Huckabee and Mae (Elder) Huckabee. He worked his first job at age 14 reading news and weather for a local radio station. In high school, he served as student council vice president and president, and was elected governor of Arkansas through the Boys State program in 1972. That same year, he entered the ministry at Garrett Memorial Baptist Church. He married Janet McCain in 1974 and graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in religion before briefly attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Early in his career, Huckabee worked for televangelist James Robison and served as pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Beech Street First Baptist Church in Texarkana. In those cities, he launched 24-hour television stations, producing documentaries and hosting the program Positive Alternatives. He served as president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1989 to 1991 and received honorary doctorates from John Brown University and Ouachita Baptist University.

Huckabee entered public office after winning a 1993 special election for lieutenant governor of Arkansas, later securing a full term in 1994. He assumed the governorship in July 1996 following the resignation of Jim Guy Tucker. Huckabee won full four-year gubernatorial terms in 1998 and 2002, becoming the third-longest serving governor in the state's history.

During his governorship, Huckabee supported tax reforms that provided $505 million for state roads, healthcare, and education. He granted 1,033 commutations and pardons while denying 92 percent of overall clemency requests. For his executive leadership and health initiatives, he received recognition from Time magazine, Governing magazine, the American Public Health Association, and AARP.

After leaving office, Huckabee ran for president in 2008, winning the Iowa caucuses, and ran again in 2016. He hosted the political talk show Huckabee on Fox News from 2008 to 2015 and on TBN from 2017 to 2025. He also hosted a syndicated daily radio program, The Mike Huckabee Show, from 2012 to 2013 and contributed commentary to The Huckabee Report.

In November 2024, then-President-elect Donald Trump announced Huckabee's nomination as U.S. ambassador to Israel. He was sworn into office on April 9, 2025, and presented his credentials to Israeli president Isaac Herzog on April 21, 2025.