Haley Barbour
Haley Reeves Barbour[1] (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997.
Haley Barbour
Born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Barbour graduated from the University of Mississippi with undergraduate and law degrees, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Barbour was an active Republican operative during the 1970s and 1980s, and he is often credited with building significant Republican infrastructure in Mississippi during an era when it was still dominated by Southern Democrats.[2] He was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 1982, but lost to incumbent Democrat John C. Stennis.
In 2003, Barbour became the second Republican governor of Mississippi since Reconstruction when he defeated Democratic incumbent Ronnie Musgrove. As governor he oversaw his state's responses to Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the state's two most damaging environmental disasters since the 1927 Mississippi River floods. Barbour was expected to be a candidate for president in 2012, but announced he would not run in April 2011.[3]
Since retiring as governor, Barbour has resumed lobbying as a senior partner at BGR Group, which he co-founded in 1991. He has been described as "one of Washington's all-time mega-lobbyists".[4] His clients have often included foreign governments, oil, and tobacco companies.[5] Barbour currently co-chairs the Immigration Task Force at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Early years[edit]
Barbour was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, where he was raised as the youngest of three sons of Grace LeFlore (née Johnson) and Jeptha Fowlkes Barbour, Jr.[6] Haley's father, a lawyer, died when Barbour was two years old.[7] Barbour's father was a Circuit Judge who had an inmate, Leon Turner, assist him after Judge Barbour became ill. As governor, Haley later gave Turner, who had helped raise him, a posthumous pardon in the closing days of his administration.[8]
His brother Jeptha Fowlkes Barbour III was elected mayor of Yazoo City in 1968 as an independent and served until 1972.[9]
He enrolled at the University of Mississippi School of Law, receiving a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1972.
Subsequently, Barbour joined his father's old law firm in Yazoo City.[10] He was also a law partner of his cousin, William H. Barbour Jr., who later became a federal district judge.[11]
Lobbying career[edit]
Barbour has been described as "one of Washington's all-time mega-lobbyists".[4] He "was a wealthy K Street lobbyist for giant corporations such as RJ Reynolds, Philip Morris, Amgen, Microsoft, United Health, Southern Company, and many others."[5] In 1991, Barbour helped found the lobbying group now known as BGR Group,[17] a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm, with Ed Rogers, a lawyer who formerly worked in the George H. W. Bush administration. In 1994, Lanny Griffith (also a former Bush administration appointee) joined the firm.
In 1998, Fortune magazine named Barbour Griffith & Rogers as the second-most-powerful lobbying firm in America.[18] In 2001, after the inauguration of George W. Bush, Fortune called it the most powerful.[19] The firm "is employed by several foreign countries, as well as oil and cigarette companies".[4] Its role in advocating on behalf of the tobacco industry has been particularly prominent.[20] BGR also "lobbied on behalf of the Embassy of Mexico in 2001 to promote a bill related to Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This provision would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States, through family connections or job skills, without a requirement that they return to their home country for the requisite 3-10 years. This is what's often referred to as 'amnesty.'"[21] "As part of that work, Barbour's firm arranged meetings and briefings with 'Senators, members of Congress and their staffs, as well as Executive Branch Officials in the White House, National Security Council, State Department, and Immigration & Naturalization Service'. Barbour's firm charged Mexico $35,000 a month, plus expenses."[22]
As of 2010, the firm remained one of DC's top 25, but had seen revenues drop both in 2009 and in 2010.[23] As of 2011, Barbour continued to "collect payments from BGR through a blind trust, which was recently valued at $3.3 million".[4]
In early 2014, Barbour and his nephew, Henry Barbour, formed a Super PAC[24] named Mississippi Conservatives,[25] which supported the successful reelection campaign of Senator Thad Cochran.[26]
RNC chairman[edit]
In 1993, Barbour became chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). In 1994, during his tenure as RNC chair, Republicans captured both houses of the United States Congress, taking the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years.[27][28] In 1997, Barbour retired from his position as chairman of the RNC.
Speculated 2012 presidential campaign[edit]
After he visited Iowa in 2009, there was speculation that Barbour might run for the Republican nomination for U.S. president in 2012.[102] An advisor of Barbour stated, "When he surveys what most Republicans consider to be a weak field, he sees no reason he couldn't easily beat them. He's a better strategist and fundraiser than any other candidate currently considering running—and just as good on television and in debates."[103] While considering a potential run, Barbour stated forthrightly in February 2011, "I'm a lobbyist", and said that his K Street past prepared him for the job.[4]
Many commentators were skeptical of Barbour's chances in 2012. David Broder of The Washington Post wrote that "several others would have to stumble before he could get a serious consideration."[104] Statistician Nate Silver argued that "Barbour may have difficulty appealing to voters outside the South, especially after his recent comments[105] about the civil rights era."[106] Salon.com noted that "Barbour has some serious baggage ... he's lobbied on behalf of the Mexican government for amnesty. There's also the issue of his freighted racial history, and whatever pragmatic concerns it raises for November-minded Republicans."[107] Timothy Carney, reflecting on Barbour's history as a lobbyist, concluded: "If the Tea Party still has some wind, it's hard to see how Barbour gets anywhere near the GOP nomination."[5] On April 25, 2011, Barbour announced that he would not run for president in 2012.[108]
Post-gubernatorial career[edit]
After leaving office as governor, Barbour joined Butler Snow, a Jackson, Mississippi law firm (together with his former Chief of Staff Paul Hurst);[109] re-joined lobbying firm BGR Group;[110] and became a client of speakers' bureau Leading Authorities.[111] At a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in June 2012, Barbour suggested that the Republican Party should take a more moderate approach to certain elements of its platform. He suggested barring corporations and unions from making direct campaign contributions, expressed satisfaction with Mitt Romney's moderate brand of Republicanism, and suggested that the party should soften its stance on illegal immigration and reach out to Latino voters: "We need a secure border for lots of reasons, and then we need to recognize that we're not going to deport 12 million people and we shouldn't."[112]
During a private Crossroads fundraiser in Tampa in 2012, Barbour said, of the planned keynote address by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at the 2012 Republican National Convention, "I would love for Christie to put a hot poker to Obama's butt..."[113] He was criticized by some online commentators for the alleged racism of these remarks.[114] He later apologized for his statement.[115]
Barbour was stopped with a loaded handgun in a briefcase by TSA security at the Medgar Evers airport in Jackson on January 2, 2018 as he was boarding a flight for Washington, D.C.; he was briefly detained by airport police and said he would pay the associated fine. The governor said he forgot he had the gun there after an employee had removed it from his car days before.[116]
Public image[edit]
Barbour maintained a positive approval rating in his state during periods when he was governor. A July 2010 Rasmussen Reports poll found that Barbour had a 70% approval rating in Mississippi.[117]
Awards and honors[edit]
In 2009, Barbour was awarded the Honorary Patronage of the University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency headquarters building in Pearl, MS was named in his honor on January 5, 2012.
On October 18, 2012, The Center for Manufacturing Excellence at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi was named in his honor.