Bobby Jindal Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here’s a look at the life of former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
Personal
Birth date: June 10, 1971
Birth place: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Birth name: Piyush Jindal
Father: Amar Jindal, engineer
Mother: Raj (Gupta) Jindal
Marriage: Supriya (Joly) Jindal (October 1997-present)
Children: Slade, Shaan and Selia
Education: Brown University, B.S., Biology and Public Policy, 1991; Oxford University, M.A., Literature, 1994 (Rhodes scholar)
Religion: Born Hindu, converted to Roman Catholicism
Other Facts
First Indian-American elected to Congress since 1956.
First Indian-American governor in the United States.
Son Shaan was born with a heart defect and had surgery as an infant.
Jindal delivered son Slade at home before the EMTs arrived.
As a boy, he insisted on being called Bobby after his favorite character in “The Brady Bunch.”
Timeline
1994-1995 – Associate at consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
1996-1998 – Jindal restructures Louisiana’s Medicaid program from bankruptcy to surplus, while serving as secretary of the Health and Hospitals Department.
1998 – Appointed executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.
1999-2001 – President of the University of Louisiana System.
2001-2003 – Assistant secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
2003 – Runs for governor of Louisiana. Wins the Republican primary but loses a runoff against Democrat Kathleen Blanco.
2004 – Elected to the US House of Representatives and serves two terms.
October 20, 2007 – Elected governor of Louisiana with 54% of the vote, winning 60 of 64 parishes.
2009 – Delivers the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s first address to Congress.
October 22, 2011 – Reelected to a second term as governor with 65.8% of the vote, winning 64 of 64 parishes.
November 2012 – Is named 2013 chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
May 18, 2015 – Jindal announces that he is establishing a presidential exploratory committee.
June 24, 2015 – Jindal announces on social media that he is running for president. He later makes a formal announcement at an event in Kenner, Louisiana.
October 20, 2015 – Jindal’s book “American Will: The Forgotten Choices That Changed Our Republic” is published.
November 17, 2015 – Announces he is ending his presidential campaign.
January 11, 2016 – Leaves the office of governor as John Bel Edwards is inaugurated as his successor.
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