Jennifer Granholm
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-born American politician. Since 2021, she has served as the 16th United States Secretary of Energy. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the Attorney General of Michigan from 1999 to 2003 and as the 47th Governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011, as the first woman to hold both offices.
Jennifer Granholm | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2021 | |
| 16th United States Secretary of Energy | |
| Assumed office February 25, 2021 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Deputy | David Turk |
| Preceded by | Dan Brouillette |
| 47th Governor of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2011 | |
| Lieutenant | John D. Cherry |
| Preceded by | John Engler |
| Succeeded by | Rick Snyder |
| 51st Attorney General of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 1999 – January 1, 2003 | |
| 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 |
Daniel Mulhern (m. 1986) |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
| Signature | |
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), Granholm moved to California at age four. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984 and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School 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 was appointed to the Wayne County Corporation Counsel in 1995.
In 1998, Granholm ran for attorney general of Michigan, defeating Republican nominee John Smietanka. She ran for governor of Michigan in 2002 and was elected the state's first female governor. She was re-elected in 2006.
Granholm was a member of the presidential transition team for Barack Obama before he assumed office in 2009. After leaving public office, Granholm took a position at the UC Berkeley and, with her husband Daniel Mulhern, authored A Governor's Story: The Fight for Jobs and America's Future, released in 2011. She became host of The War Room with Jennifer Granholm. In 2017, she was hired as a CNN political contributor.
After President-elect Joe Biden announced his intention to nominate Granholm to head the United States Department of Energy in 2020, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2021.